Lean Success Story

THE BEAM TEAM GETS LEAN
NH MEP Helps Bensonwood Improve Facility Layout, Increase Production

Over 30 years ago, Tedd Benson brought innovation back to homebuilding by combining cutting-edge thinking with craftsmanship. Benson revitalized the traditional home art of timberframing, and today, Bensonwood Homes is a national leader in residential and commercial timberframe buildings. However, their collaborative approach to building homes and building on their skills lead them to seek continued improvement.

They engaged New Hampshire MEP to implement Time Wise® Principles of Lean Manufacturing, a systematic approach to eliminating waste, reducing manufacturing costs, while increasing productivity.

“Producing one of our custom doors used to take 20 to 22 man hours,” commended Kevin Bittenbender, team leader of the woodworking shop. “Now a door can be completed in 12 hours, which not only gets the job done in about half the time, but frees up the team members to focus on more creative custom pieces and challenges which they all enjoy.”

In building systems the company reduced the batch size from an entire house of parts, to just enough parts to build a “bundle”, which can be moved out of the building with a forklift. “This simple change cut our lead time by 66%, reduced production hours by 11%, and decreased the square footage that our process takes,” said Hans Porschitz, team leader of the building systems.

“The outcome we have experienced from the work we have done with the NH MEP has exceeded my expectations,” added Benson.