Home | About Florida MEP | Upcoming Events | Success Stories | Partners & Resources | News | Board of Directors Contact Us | Enterprise Transformation | Performance Based Training | Supply Chain Management | Innovation Long's Wheel & Rim Rolls Lean Practices Into Its New Facility Jacksonville, FL - Since 1968, Long's Wheel & Rim Inc. has been manufacturing almost any type of off-road wheel. Whether the wheels are for agricultural, construction, mining, logging, or industrial equipment, Long's can manufacture them to standard or customer specifications, from up to 60 inches wide by 52 inches in diameter. The company's extensive print library and computer-aided design (CAD) capability ensures accurate and efficient designs for most applications. Long's was among the first to manufacture specialty and high flotation wheels for log skidders and turf maintenance vehicles. With 200 employees at its Jacksonville, Florida facilities, Long's is well positioned to assist customers through its specialty wheel selection process. Long's Wheel & Rim, Inc. has increased its business every year to the point that a bigger facility became necessary. Roger Brodt, Long's owner, became aware of the Florida Manufacturing Extension Partnership (Florida MEP), a NIST MEP network affiliate, through its Management Briefing sessions and found the information discussed at the meetings very helpful in the operation of the business. When the time came to construct a new building, the company contacted the Florida MEP to provide a plant layout of the interior manufacturing space and review company operating procedures to identify improvement opportunities. Florida MEP performed an on-site review of current space allocation and operating procedures. The organization also conducted a productivity study which included in-depth focus on areas such as material flow, issues related to process changes, and identifying bottlenecks. The study allowed Florida MEP to make recommendations to streamline production flow. Florida MEP also interviewed key personnel at Long's to determine the current manufacturing processes. Long's employees participated in an on-site lean transformation event conducted by Florida MEP. Fueled with these reviews and lessons learned from the lean event, Florida MEP provided Long's with a list of areas and processes that could produce substantial improvement results and made features and layout recommendations for the new facility. Long's new facility is experiencing the benefits of product flow and space utilization in the form of company growth and increased sales. The Florida MEP is an affiliate of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) under the U.S. Department of Commerce. The national MEP is a network of manufacturing extension centers that provide business and technical assistance to smaller manufacturers in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Through MEP, manufacturers have access to more than 2000 manufacturing and business "coaches" whose job is to help firms make changes that lead to greater productivity, increased profits, and enhanced global competitiveness. For more information on the Florida MEP program call 1-800-MEP-4MFG.