Implemented corporate
lean methodologies across
Three Sites & Multiple Languages
Situation
An American manufacturer of power tools, hardware, and home improvement products planned to move its South American manufacturing plant and headquarters from São Paulo to Ubraba and needed a consulting firm to design the new plant and deliver educational materials in in English, Portuguese, and Spanish. The USA president/CEO for Brazil operations was committed to the concepts of Lean manufacturing. Challenges were keeping a team on the ground in Brazil for nine months, coaching a management team required to move 500 km from their home base, and working with a union with an autocratic leadership style.
Action Plan
- Educated leadership at all levels to create a win-win relationship by coaching them through our Methodologies of MARIS: Mobilization, Assessment, Redesign, Implementation and Sustainability.
- Created all materials and tool sets in English, Spanish, and Portuguese.
- To align consulting efforts with the internal culture of the facility, hired three employees from Brazil who would eventually become employees of the client company.
- Coordinated with the construction team of the new facility to design the plant layout, assuming a 50% reduction in cycle time.
- Created an educational platform for senior management. Piloted and demonstrated the results achievable through a systematic approach.
- Over a 12-week process, mobilized the management team and the hourly operators daily around a visual management board. Created an assessment process and created a value stream map of the pilot line. In weeks three and four, began the redesign process.
- In weeks 5, 6, 7 and 8, implemented a new process with standard work in Portuguese and Spanish. During the next four weeks, implemented over 100 ideas from the operators.
Results
The initial results included a reduction of 75% in cycle time, 25% reduction in scrap, 50% reduction in re-work, 80% reduction in inventory and a 60% reduction in floor space. In nine months, facilitated replicating this process across all major product lines and moved product lines to new facility. For the first time in Brazil, key operators moved their families to a new city for opportunity and personal growth. 70% of the management team made the transition and continued to run the facility.