Time Wise Management Systems

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 6, 2007

For more information please contact:
Muriel Mosher
Tel: 207-623-0680

TIME WISE® MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS STEER WEST POINT PRODUCTS IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION
Manufacturer Improves Facility Layout, Overall Production Output Increases with Time Wise® Tools

VALLEY GROVE, WV - West Point Products in Valley Grove, West Virginia has found its niche as a leader in the imaging industry. The manufacturer specializes in cartridge re-manufacturing, obtaining printer and copier toner cartridges, recycling and refurbishing them. Their product is then sold to business supply centers and distribution centers nationwide.

The re-manufacturing market is forever expanding, with new laser printing equipment consistently entering the market and the old laser printing equipment remaining. West Point is continuously designing new processes for the new printer cartridge models while maintaining the processes for the existing products.

“Re-manufacturing laser print cartridges is a labor intensive process. Our raw materials, which are empty toner cartridges, arrive in various states of disrepair, and can often slow down production work. We needed to find ways to improve our production process, but needed more than just classroom training. We wanted to take a hands-on approach so we contacted Time Wise® Management Systems for some assistance,” said John Cafarella, Vice President of Operations at West Point Products.

“West Point has seen steady growth since 1998, so much so that production and packaging activities are conducted at two separate facilities,” said Chris Rodrigue, Director of the Program Office at Time Wise® Management Systems. “To help, Diane Morrissey and I performed what is called a “tactical Lean initiative” to train the employees on a number of activities using simulated workshops to eventually increase output on the production lines.”

A tactical Lean initiative is a workforce development tool that includes a day of awareness training and Time Wise® Value Stream Mapping, which is a map of all activities required to bring a product from raw materials to completion. Rodrigue and Morrissey also conducted two Kaizen, or continuous improvement, events focusing on production flow and cell building as well as work in progress (WIP) reduction, standardization of work, batch size reduction and increased throughput.

“We realize Lean is a step by step process, however, we have already experienced a 13 percent increase in throughput on the production lines that Chris and Diane worked on with us. That amounts to a $35,000 annual savings. We’ve drastically improved product flow, product layout and line flow and have created visual signals throughout our production process as well as included standardized work instructions at each station. WIP has also reduced dramatically, more than 80 percent, and we’ve seen a 30 percent space reduction,” said Cafarella. “We are very, very pleased with the level of training. Chris and Diane have really worked well with our employees and we hope to continue using the Time Wise® tools to mirror results on other production lines as well as in our front office.”

Time Wise Management Systems (TWMS) is an industry leader in developing World Class supplier networks with programs in Lean Enterprise, Quality Management Systems and Business Continuity Planning. Time Wise facilitates interaction between industry, government and academia in order to develop highly effective solutions for the related supply base. Client participation in Time Wise Solutions® has resulted in measurable improvements in quality escapes, cost reductions and time savings. For more information on TWMS call 866-9629-9442.

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