Consulting firm helps metalcasters cut waste, not jobs.

As manufacturers ponder their futures, many are considering relocating to other states or even going offshore. Others are looking at containing operational costs by cutting jobs in an attempt to cope with the hemorrhage of orders and profits. Yet for many companies, the elimination of jobs of going offshore for cheap labor is a quick fix but not a very realistic one.

Lean manufacturing is a philosophy that uses manufacturing as a competitive weapon and could provide long-term solutions. The lean manufacturing concept calls for the removal of all non-value added activities (those that often cause bottlenecks and other forms of waste) from the production process.

Eliminating waste from manufacturing reduces production time and costs while maximizing quality and customer service. For example, through the elimination of waste, lean manufacturing can reduce inventories, lower the cost of production (including energy costs), save on shop floor and storage space, and save on labor costs without cutting jobs. Although many people might associate lean manufacturing techniques with plants using new technologies, it's just as possible for those using traditional technologies to cut waste and improve efficiencies.

Strategic Materials Corp. (SMC), a steel foundry based in South Gate, Calif., decided to look at lean manufacturing in late 2002 at the encouragement of one of its primary customers. Steve Livingston, SMC president, sought out the help of the California Manufacturing Technology Center (CMTC), Gardena, Calif., a not-for-profit organization with the mission to help small- and medium-sized manufacturers improve their competitiveness. CMTC's areas of expertise include lean manufacturing, quality management, information technology, strategic business and supply chain management services.

SMC was unaware of waste caused by logistics involved in product flow and by misuse of space, the tying up of materials and excessive time in turning out its products. Lean manufacturing training that included the participation of 10 key SMC employees, including production line people, managers and Livingston himself, followed the initial Value Stream Mapping.

"What was especially amazing to me is that we had recently moved into our building, and we had the unusual opportunity to lay out our plant exactly as we saw fit," Livingston said. "But we had made mistakes in the placement of equipment and allocation of storage space, mistakes that were causing us to work inefficiently and tie up materials."

Livingston said that products sometimes traveled through the plant in a "spaghetti-like" fashion. Molds were made too far in advance, tying up space and costly chemically-bonded sand. Also, since some customers no longer did their own cleaning and finishing of cast components, SMC sometimes had to rely on outside machine shops that might require more time than was available.

"Simply by adjusting our logistics and incorporating more efficient building of molds, we were able to make significant progress," Livingston said. "Importantly, this was all done without cutting any jobs.

Livingston said the lean manufacturing concept has ensured that SMC will be able to compete well in the supply chain, delivering products on time without raising prices. He added that so far employees have raised their daily efficiency by a factor of about 1.5-2 hours.

In the case of SMC, the full value of the lean manufacturing process may not be realized for another year or two. But in the meantime, it has helped the company maintain profitability," and successful customer relationships.

Select No. 002 at www.moderncasting.com/info

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]