Building a better business: Phoenix, AZ-based PremierGarage melds lean manufacturing initiatives and a strong franchise network to lead the pack in the residential garage enhancement products industry.[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In 1999, PremierGarage founder and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. Mark Loberg, was still in his garage. "When I founded the company, I did everything from the garage of my house, and I outsourced everything," says Loberg. "I originally had a small cabinet shop here in the Phoenix metro area This article is about the music production team. For the article about population centers, see metropolitan area. Metro Area are a Brooklyn-based dance music production team composed of Morgan Geist and Darshan Jesrani. that supplied me with all my cabinet parts. We started manufacturing everything on our own beginning in 2001." These humble beginnings Humble Beginnings was an American pop punk band from New Jersey. While never gaining large-scale success, many of the band's members went on to mainstream success with other outfits. must seem like a distant memory for Loberg, with PremierGarage now a $30 million a year enterprise, with roughly 95 employees and 122,000 square feet of total manufacturing and office space in Phoenix, AZ, and Atlanta, GA. The company also has a healthy franchise system (see sidebar (1) A Windows Vista desktop panel that holds mini applications (gadgets) such as a calendar, calculator, stock ticker and Vonage phone dialer. It is the Windows counterpart to the Dashboard in the Mac. See Windows Vista and gadget. p. 50), with 87 locations in 38 states and three Canadian provinces Noun 1. Canadian province - Canada is divided into 12 provinces for administrative purposes province, state - the territory occupied by one of the constituent administrative districts of a nation; "his state is in the deep south" . Making its second consecutive appearance in the WOOD 100, PremierGarage experienced a 56.40 percent sales growth between 2005 and 2006, with a projected sales growth of 35 percent for 2007. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The company also has won other awards in addition to being named the Best of the WOOD 100. Loberg says that these distinctions build credibility for what the company, and he as the CEO, represent. "It's a tremendous way to build value and confidence in the consumer," says Loberg. "My belief is that consumers are more comfortable dealing with a company that they feel has ethics ethics, in philosophy, the study and evaluation of human conduct in the light of moral principles. Moral principles may be viewed either as the standard of conduct that individuals have constructed for themselves or as the body of obligations and duties that a and credibility, and I think these awards programs bring us that." Loberg sees the garage becoming a bigger area of awareness to the consumer. "The acceptance and the willingness to spend money on this previously forgotten area of the home is certainly growing," he says. "That can be seen not only in the growth of PremierGarage, but also in the growth of the entire category. It's become a very popular segment of home improvement." Getting Leaner All the Time PremierGarage began implementing lean manufacturing Lean manufacturing is the production of goods using less of everything compared to mass production: less human effort, less manufacturing space, less investment in tools, and less engineering time to develop a new product. principles into its Phoenix facility less than one year ago, out of a necessity to change its practices in order to continue to meet the growing needs of its customers. Loberg says the change has made the company far more efficient. "We're still pretty immersed im·merse tr.v. im·mersed, im·mers·ing, im·mers·es 1. To cover completely in a liquid; submerge. 2. To baptize by submerging in water. 3. in getting ourselves fully up to speed on lean," he says. "We've made progress with our operations to the point where I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. how we would be able to handle the volume of business that we currently have if we hadn't implemented lean when we did. We're seeing it in our bottom line. We're seeing it in our margins. Due to the implementation of lean and the benefits and the efficiencies that we've received from it, we've actually gotten better bottom line performance out of slightly less sales." The switch has not been as difficult as Loberg expected it to be, thanks in part to a grant from the state of Arizona, which helped the company obtain the services of the Arizona Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP MEP maximum expiratory pressure. MEP, n muscle energy procedure; diagnostic and therapeutic technique. Pulsed muscle energy techniques (MET) and integrated neuromuscular inhibition technique (INIT) are two examples. ), an organization that helped guide PremierGarage through the transition. The Arizona MEP visited the company's facility numerous times, analyzing processes and performing time studies within the actual working environment. "It was such money well spent, considering lean is a difficult thing to implement on your own," says Loberg. "You can go out and read books and do studies, but there's no substitute for people that are experts in the field and have coached other companies through the process. It took the difficulty out of the implementation as far as I was concerned." According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Loberg, the company is still making the transition to lean. He sees the switch to lean as a continual evolution. "I don't see lean as being the type of thing that has an end to it," he says. "I think we'll always be looking at ways where we can shave shave (shav) 1. to cut at or parallel to the surface of the skin. 2. to remove the beard or other body hair by such a process. 3. to cut thin slices from or to cut into thin slices. some time here or eliminate some waste there, and continually improve how we do things." PremierGarage's Phoenix facility, which produces nearly 80,000 panels a week, currently runs its production on two separate work cells. The first cell contains a Biesse WMT-600 Selco panel saw, a Biesse Stream edgebander and a Biesse Rover 24XL CNC (Computerized Numerical Control) See numerical control. CNC - Collaborative Networked Communication router router Portable electric power tool used in carpentry and furniture making that consists of an electric motor, a base, two handle knobs, and bits (cutting tools). A router can cut fancy edges for shelving, grooves for storm windows and weather stripping, circles and ovals . The second cell contains a Biesse EB-120 Selco panel saw, supported by a Holz-Her Triathlon triathlon, athletic event made up of three contests. Since the 1970s the term has come to mean especially a race combining swimming, bicycling, and running. A notable example is Hawaii's Ironman Triathlon, held since 1978, which features a 2. 1486 edgebander and a Biesse Rover 15 CNC point-to-point machine. The Complete Package PremierGarage began as a company when Loberg recognized a niche that was not being filled. He says some companies were doing cabinetry cab·i·net·ry n. Cabinetwork: finely detailed cabinetry. Noun 1. cabinetry - the craft of making furniture (especially furniture of high quality) cabinetwork for the garage, some were doing flooring, but no one was offering the complete package. "I started to look around at the market, especially here in the Phoenix/Scottsdale area," he says. "They were building a lot of very nice high-end, luxury homes with a lot of really nice amenities in them. But there really wasn't anybody that was focused, especially at the upper-end, on providing everything as kind of a turnkey package for the garage." In addition to packaging the products. PremierGarage places high importance on a professional presentation, visiting the customer at home to customize the layout for each specific garage. The company brings a notebook computer A laptop computer that weighs in a range from five to seven pounds. The term originated when laptops were routinely more than 10 pounds, and those that became lighter were placed in a special "notebook" category. In practice, notebook computer and laptop computer are synonymous. loaded with Cabnetware by Planit, providing the capability to design the project with the customer on the spot. "We have the ability to design it, to print it--everything there on the site," adds Loberg. The company uses a proprietary system for the flooring called PremierOne floor coating material coating material, n a biologically acceptable, usually porous nonmetal applied over the surface of a metallic implant with the expectation that tissue ingrowth will occur in the pores. Often a carbon polymer or ceramic substance. which it developed in collaboration with a polymer chemist (jargon) chemist - (Cambridge) Someone who wastes computer time on number crunching when you'd far rather the computer were working out anagrams of your name or printing Snoopy calendars or running life patterns. May or may not refer to someone who actually studies chemistry. based out of Phoenix. Benefits of the system include the ability to return the floor to service 24 hours after it is completed, rather than the traditional 7-10 days needed for epoxy epoxy Any of a class of thermosetting polymers, polyethers built up from monomers with an ether group that takes the form of a three-membered epoxide ring. The familiar two-part epoxy adhesives consist of a resin with epoxide rings at the ends of its molecules and a curing , as well as the capability to install the system within a very wide temperature range. The product is currently manufactured for PremierGarage under a licensing agreement, but the company is in the process of acquiring the equipment, setting up its plant and putting people in place to take over the manufacturing. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] To get the word out about PremierGarage, the company uses a variety of methods, at both the corporate level, nationally, and through each franchise marketing on its own, regionally. "We do a lot of things to drive people to our Web site with ad words or sponsored search programs," Loberg says. "Our direct mail campaign this year will send out in excess of 7 million postcards to consumers advertising PremierGarage, coming from all different locations where our franchisees reside. So we generate a lot of interest that way. We'll also place ads occasionally to generate national interest to a targeted audience." [ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED] The company also gives its franchisees a subsidy to assist them in regional advertising. In addition, one of the biggest sources of attracting business, especially for the more mature franchisees who have had a substantial tenure in the system, is repeat referral customers. The original franchise in Phoenix, according to Loberg, averages 40 percent of its call traffic coming from this category of customers. What's Next? Even with the considerable growth and success of PremierGarage, the company does not see adding any new manufacturing centers in the near future. Instead, it will concentrate on tweaking tweaking Vox populi Fine-tuning to produce optimal results and refining refining, any of various processes for separating impurities from crude or semifinished materials. It includes the finer processes of metallurgy, the fractional distillation of petroleum into its commercial products, and the purifying of cane, beet, and maple sugar what it already has. "We feel very comfortable with how we're able to cover our real core centers," says Loberg. "Our biggest markets are in the Southwest and the Southeast. Coincidentally co·in·ci·den·tal adj. 1. Occurring as or resulting from coincidence. 2. Happening or existing at the same time. co·in , that's where our manufacturing and distribution centers are located. We have had lots of discussions about--in the coming 24 months--upgrading the equipment in the existing centers to give us more capacity and more efficiency within the same footprint, so we don't have to go out and get more space, just get more efficiency and more productivity out of the same space." PREMIERGARAGE Phoenix, AZ Founded in 1999, PremierGarage manufactures garage enhancement products such as cabinetry, organizers and floor coating systems, for the residential market. The $30 million a year company has two manufacturing facilities, one in Phoenix, AZ, the other in Atlanta, GA. In addition to making its second consecutive appearance in the WOOD 100, the company was named the Best of the Wood 100 for 2007. Three Keys 1. PremierGarage recently implemented lean manufacturing practices, and currently runs two work cells that include a CNC panel saw, CNC router and edgebander. 2. The company currently has 87 franchises in 38 states and three Canadian provinces. 3. PremierGarage designs the layout for a customer's garage on site, and is then able to show the customer the CAD drawings immediately. www.premiergarage.com JUST WHAT MAKES A 'PREMIER' FRANCHISE? Starting with the original in Phoenix, AZ, PremierGarage has offered franchise opportunities all over the continent, with a current count of 87 franchisees. So, what does it take to join the PremierGarage family? [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "The minimum amount you would need to get started is about $75,000 or so in a smaller market," says company founder and CEO Mark Loberg. "That would cover your initial inventories, down payments on vehicles to do the work from, leasing a space to store your entire inventory and run your operation from, and various equipment that you would be required to have available to do the flooring and the cabinetry." When a franchisee signs up to be in the PremierGarage system, he or she is first sent bookwork Book´work` n. 1. Work done upon a book or books (as in a printing office), in distinction from newspaper or job work. 2. Study; application to books. to start the initial training right away, followed by two weeks of on-the-job training at the Phoenix location. This provides the franchisee with the chance to get hands-on acclimation acclimation /ac·cli·ma·tion/ (ak?li-ma´shun) the process of becoming accustomed to a new environment. ac·cli·ma·tion n. 1. to all the actual work that goes on, training in the assembly and installation of the cabinets, performing finite adjustments and learning how the system works. He or she is also trained on the company's ordering systems, as well as being trained on the installation of the floors. Once in the system, franchisees order unit-pack quantities of supplies and products from either the Phoenix or Atlanta, GA, manufacturing facility, depending on the location of the franchise, through a secure online ordering system. PremierGarage then delivers the product straight to the franchisee's door, contracting drivers to pull one of its fleet of eight 48-foot trailers. Loberg says the franchisee typically has a small warehouse with some racking systems and stocks the made-to-size, ready-to-assemble cabinet components on these racks. "They take Cabnetware drawings back to the shop, pull the necessary parts, screw the cabinets together, load them up into a box truck or a trailer, take them to the customer's site, hang the boxes, put the shelves in, knock the doors on, make the adjustments, put handles on, and they're done," he says. |
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