Kuvia Corp
Menu
Case study · Furniture · Make to order

The best shipping month in company history, three months in

A small make-to-order furniture manufacturer scheduled its plant around one bottleneck and put four numbers on one board. Three months after go-live it shipped its best month ever, carrying about half the inventory.

Record monthbest shipping month in company history, three months after go-live
About halfthe inventory the plant carried before the project
3.0 → 4.2inventory turns a year, before and after
60% → 100%on time and in full; the 60% had needed overtime

Sources: the plant’s own KPI board (inventory turns, on time in full after); our project team (record month, inventory reduction, on time in full before).

The plant

One plant, around 25 people, building furniture to order. Every product comes together from several parts made in different areas: cut, sewn, quilted and glued components that have to meet at final assembly. If one part is missing, the order waits, however far along the rest of it is.

The starting point

  • Only about 60% of orders shipped on time and in full, and getting there took overtime.
  • Inventory turned about three times a year, so cash and floor space sat in material and parts.
  • Every area could be busy while the orders due to ship were still waiting for one part.
  • Only a few people could run some of the steps, so one absence could stall an area.

What we did

  1. Found the bottleneck and measured it. Output was tracked as units per hour through the constrained step, week by week, against the schedule.
  2. One schedule, built around that step. A simple scheduling workbook set the order sequence at the bottleneck; every other area worked to feed it.
  3. Aimed improvement at the bottleneck. The items with the longest cycle time at the constrained step were tackled first, since an hour saved there is an hour gained for the whole plant.
  4. Re-laid the floor. Staging areas for “today” and “next” work at each station, so the parts for an order meet when it is time to close it.
  5. Wrote down the basics. Standard processes for receiving material and for handling customer returns.
  6. Cross-trained the team. A skill matrix across sewing, quilting, gluing, assembly and pack-and-ship, reaching 94.7% of the target skill level.
  7. Put four numbers on one board. Output through the bottleneck, inventory turns, on time in full (returns included) and skill level, reviewed every week.

The results

  • Shipping: the best month in the company’s history, three months after go-live.
  • Inventory: cut by about half.
  • Inventory turns: from 3.02 to 4.20 a year.
  • On time in full: from about 60%, with overtime, to 100%.
Why it worked. Nothing here needed new machines or new software. The plant agreed which step set its pace, scheduled that step, and looked at the same four numbers every week.

Another case study: more output from the same robots, with 40 people short. See all case studies.

Is one step holding your plant back?

Take the free scorecard: ten questions, with an instant result.

Take the scorecard

See it on a plant like yours.

Tell us about your plant. We’ll tell you where we think the bottleneck is, and whether we can help.

Talk to us