Innovation Program Success Story

Hollingsworth & Vose Company Testimonial
“Hollingsworth & Vose Program Aimed at Streamlining Operations at Worldwide Locations”

Hollingsworth & Vose Company is an international leader in the development and manufacturing of specialty papers and nonwovens that benefit the air that people breathe, the cars they drive, the clothes they wear, and the places where they live and work.

While the company has been successfully developing products to meet customer needs for over 160 years, executives at Hollingsworth & Vose recognized a need to streamline and revitalize its R&D process in order to fight off growing competition.

The company brought in Time Wise Management Systems (TWMS) and Massachusetts Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MassMEP) to help identify opportunities to change the basic development process and make it more effective. With support from a US Department of labor High Skills Training Grant, administer through the Central Massachusetts Regional Employment Board, the project team conducted an enterprise assessment and a technology road-mapping project, focusing on the R&D and product development process. The team identified ways to help them transform the R&D process so they could get those products to market in a more timely fashion.

Hollingsworth & Vose started to implement the recommendations by dedicating a team to develop a formal product development process.

“For those companies struggling with age old paradigms and looking for an opportunity to transform themselves, the assessment provides a rapid-fire and cost effective approach to setting the course for those efforts,” said Doug Klauber, VP of Technology. “Ultimately, we believe our work with the project team will enable our R&D teams to develop and bring new products to the marketplace with increased speed and minimal waste.”