DELPHOS, OHIO – The cloud-based lean manufacturing tech solution provider Leading2Lean helped Lakeview Farms dramatically reduce costs and bolster performance after a restructuring of three production facilities brought together under one roof revealed inefficiencies.
Lakeview Farms, a specialty food maker in Delphos, Ohio, whose brands include Fresh Creations, Gracious Grits, Luisa's, and Señor Rico, said bringing the production of desserts, dips and other specialty food products into one facility in 2013 underscored an outdated system for addressing preventative maintenance and the spare parts inventory. This required cumbersome paperwork and spreadsheets and led to tension of employee relations and excessive overtime.
Six months after implementing Leading2Lean's CloudDISPATCH system, however, Lakeview Farms experienced a 34 percent decrease in line downtime, a 15 percent reduction in repair costs, and a 30 percent increase in maintenance technician efficiency. Also, overtime was reduced to less than 13 percent, down from 30 percent.
Now, maintenance issues aren't based on guesses of which machine might go down or which manager is the most vocal in calling for priority work. With the Leading2Lean solution based on real-time data, all managers and line operators have instant access to detailed line information, allowing them to monitor all equipment and processes and offer solutions for continuous improvement. Gone are three-ring binders, carbon copies and manila folders.
"With one touch of my phone, I can see what's going on at the plant, even when I'm out of town on a business trip," said Todd Parker, plant engineer for Lakeview Farms. "From the top level down, you can make decisions from anywhere you are connected to the internet in real-time. That is invaluable."
Leading2Lean's real-time transparency created a single source of data that could be used throughout the facility, allowing for standardized data collection across all plant floors.
The organization of Lakeview's spare parts department alone more than made up for the cost of implementing Leading2Lean's solution, Parker said. Leading2Lean helped Lakeview Farms discover a significant volume in unknown spare parts inventory in an overflowing and disorganized spare parts warehouse. Everything has now been accurately inventoried, and parts no longer needed have been identified and liquidated.
The cost of implementing Leading2Lean has been gained back tenfold, Parker said.
For more information about Leading2Lean, visit www.leading2lean.com, or call 877-225-5201.
About Leading2Lean
Founded in 2010, Northern Nevada-based Leading2Lean is focused on solutions for multinational manufacturers. Leading2Lean is focused on operational excellence and run by an executive team with extensive experience in manufacturing, engineering, and turning around failing enterprises. Its cloud-based systems provide critical real-time information to help rank-and-file workers do their jobs better and take ownership of their work. A better-focused and motivated workforce produces more and of better quality, and leads to habits of continuous improvement. For more information, visit www.leading2lean.com.
Source: Leading2Lean