When Peggie MacLean takes a rush order from a client, she has now full confidence that her company can deliver quality goods on time.
"Before we got involved in lean manufacturing and improved our production line, we lacked that reassurance. But now we can accurately forecast our capacity to deliver," says the co-owner of L&M Highland Outfitters. The Dartmouth, Nova Scotia-based company crafts and resells high quality Scottish accessories, piping supplies, refurbishing services and custom-designed piping regalia.
MacLean and her team went to BDC Consulting to integrate lean manufacturing tools, get their production line running more efficiently and save valuable time. We had reached a point in our business when we just needed to do things differently and move our company to another level. We especially wanted a fresh perspective and an external point of view," she emphasizes.
Waste not-want not
The first step was working closely with the BDC consultant to do a thorough diagnostic assessment of the plant in order to find out where production could be improved. "After that, we could clearly see where we could eliminate waste, remove bottlenecks and improve our overall workflow. In the end, it's about breaking down all of the steps of production and working out a more efficient process map," says MacLean. For example, the owners realized that preassembled components were essential to speed up their production. The company also completely revamped its inventory management system to reallocate the use of raw materials. "By doing this, we were able to buy larger volumes of key materials and slash the price considerably," she emphasizes.
Dealing with rush orders
"What was particularly important to us was improving the time it took from the entry of an order to the delivery of final product," says MacLean. "Once we had gained the confidence that we could accelerate the process, we were ready to take on those tougher orders," she says. MacLean cites an example of a client order "that made us a part of Canadian history." After the death of Ernest "Smoky" Smith, Canada's last surviving Victoria Cross Winner, her company received an order from one of her clients for 30 customized sporrans in 2 days. "Before we had improved our production line that would have been nearly impossible. But we were able to say yes because we knew how to map out a production line for a custom job and get it done on time."
Communicate well to employees
For MacLean, another important part of the whole process was communicating it well to employees. As part of the lean manufacturing process, employees also received training on how to work more efficiently and adapt their skills accordingly. "If I had one piece of advice to other entrepreneurs who were considering operational efficiency solutions it would be to make sure that everybody is on the same page," she says. "Make sure your employees know exactly what is expected of them, how they fit into the process and what value they can contribute. It can be a painful process sometimes because you have to ask people to change the way they work and that's not always easy," she adds.
Choose the right supplier
"We wanted to work with an organization that wasn't too textbook and was really connected to our needs. We knew very little about lean manufacturing when this all started, so it was important to have a consultant who could bring us on board quickly," says MacLean. "BDC Consulting did a great job in helping us get over some of the hurdles in production planning. You need to work with a consultant who can help you get concrete results," she says. BDC Consulting offers an operational efficiency solution that can help clients eliminate waste and activities that do not add value to the final product or service.
Now that the production line is up and running smoothly, the team behind L&M Highland Outfitters has also gained the confidence needed to tackle the international market. "We just had our first orders from Scotland, so it's moving exactly as we had planned. It's our 40th anniversary this year and that marks a major step for our company," she concludes.
