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| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 2008 |
For more information please contact: Muriel Mosher Tel: 207-623-0680 |
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NH MEP Assists Manufacturing and Packaging Company, Increases Sales, Doubles Output LANCASTER, NH - Nestled in New Hampshire’s White Mountains for more than 100 years, P.J. Noyes specializes in contract manufacturing and packaging needs. The company offers packing options such as flexible plastic and laminate tubes, rigid plastic tubes, flexible foil pouches, bottles, jars, and automated cartoning. Their manufacturing capabilities include over-the-counter pharmaceuticals and dietary supplements, personal care products, lotions, creams, soaps and other chemical specialties. In order to keep costs down and improve production capacity, Vice President of P.J. Noyes, Dennis Wogaman, felt that Lean principles could help find the solutions they were looking for. He had attended a Principles of Lean event, held by the New Hampshire Manufacturing Extension Partnership (NH MEP), and met with project manager Jane T. Ely. “We chose to work with the NH MEP because I knew they would provide the assistance we needed,” said Wogaman. “When Jane came to our facility, we first set out to double the output of units per shift in the Liquids Packaging area, due to increased demand. We thought the machines could be capable of much more output, so Jane worked with a cross-functional team of P.J. Noyes associates on a Value Stream Mapping (VSM) event to pinpoint areas of concern, and find out what we could do to increase the output.” “They needed to reduce waste in this area, so we performed Kaizen events, activities designed to make small improvements that result in large productivity gains,” said Ely. “The VSM showed where we needed to do this. Within one week of the event, Line #2 in the Liquid Packaging area went from producing 6,900 units per shift to 12,800 units per shift. A Quick Change-Over (QCO) Kaizen was also conducted. The change-over at the line was videotaped and then analyzed. This not only showed where the waste was but also was used to develop a procedure that balanced the work of the changeover among all team members and established when a task required two people instead of one.” Videotaping the changeover showed the value of point of use storage; putting tools and materials near where they are used. The team also began utilizing more visual signals for employees for work instruction. “Because of all these improvements, production in Liquids Packaging has doubled and sales in the company have increased by more than $400,000. The team is keeping up with demand while increasing capacity to meet new challenges, and have even added new customers,” added Wogaman. “Not only has it given us great results, it has provided a lot of laughter along the way. My personal fulfillment was watching people become believers in what they can do by setting lofty goals and achieving them.” |
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