We started by analyzing the current state and reviewing material flow at each position. We were then were able to establish a redesign goal based on a key strategy of putting the steel rolls back into raw stock. This was unusual in industry; once a coil of steel is put on the line it is usually fully run.

Their requirements were based on demand of 70 pallets per shift. They were initially able to achieve this with 3 full-time packagers. We focused on improving safety and ergonomics, reducing the space needed for the process, and reducing the number of personnel needed to meet demand. This was all possible by reducing the setup times and designing equipment to put the steel back.  This allowed OMS to manufacturer closer to customer needs and make available coils for other unique cutting and slitting needs.

Finished goods inventory was reduced by creating a quick changeover system and reducing lead-times. We also focused on office functions to eliminate errors, redundancies, and the waste of processing in order to speed up the flow of information. The demand for quicker responses came due to the factory putting away the steel and not occupying manufacturing time to run the steel out.  This freed up opportunities to offer unique orders to customers and fulfill more customized needs of the customer. In the end, the customer benefited greatly with more available capacity and variety from each machine line, and able to receive products to match their order needs.

We were able to perform packaging and slitting with personnel in the same area. The 70 required pallets per shift that originally needed 3 dedicated personnel could not be completed with only 2 people. OMS was able to increase capacity per shift in order to shutdown the third shift, saving the costs that went with it.  Finally, the square footage used for WIP and Semi-FG inventory areas was reduced by half.

These improvements allowed OMS to gain more control and stability of cash flow while better matching the movement of the commodity pricing. They were able to build a new raw material warehouse with a direct rail spur, further enhancing their ability to respond to increasing needs of customer orders.

This streamlining of processes, along with shorter lead-times and improved information flow, resulted in great customer service and agility for OMS.

We started with a walkthrough of the processes, gathering data to establish cycle times and customer demands. We simultaneously rooted out and eliminated engineering constraints.  From there, we were able to identify major engineering challenges with the fabrication and testing of the ophthalmic lasers. With this information, we designed simple simulations to experiment with new layouts and processing designs. The optimal layout was then implemented to create standard line flow.

After implementing the new line flow, assembly lead-time was reduced from 17 days to just 15 hours. Productivity increased from 17 to 20 units per week, and this was based on real demand. The space needed for assembly was reduced from 2585 square feet to only 700 square feet. More impressively, we increased the productivity of engineering, assembly, and shipping staff by 367% and reassigned staff to other research projects. When we began, they had $156,000 worth of work-in-process inventory on the line. After implementing our new line flow, they reduced this to $52,000 for a savings of $104,000.

Throughput increase along with component defect reduction and a lower failure-rate of functional tests increased their profitability 225%.

AgSolutions started its transformation by enacting comprehensive production planning changes which enabled rapid flow and process optimizations. Furthermore, we implemented a visual product dispatch planning system to create a response based production system. As a result, new sharing of information was needed. We formed new teams of people and new informational displays to meet the sales needs. These facilitated proper forecasting of customer demands and improved production capacity.

We also developed for AgSolutions their own custom ERP (enterprise resource planning software). This comprehensive application was developed in less than 1 month thanks to our proprietary IP.  This development incorporate older systems and other department software to maintain information flow and increase response times at all levels of the organization.

Finally, we developed and implemented custom CRM (customer relationship management) software for their sales department along with corporate dashboards for real-time analysis of the organization’s, sales, production, financial performance, and investments.

AgSolutions achieved focused all-inclusive change for their business. Lead-time decreased dramatically from 3 months to a single day for most products, and the previous 12 weeks worth of inventory was refined into just 6 days worth of inventory.

With our guidance, each plant was transformed from producing 8 batches per day up to 70 batches per day. This was the result of improving the milling plants’ quality, rising 40% higher than original engineering specifications. The various plants’ capacity increased 158% while halving batch sizes concurrently.

Overall, factory capacity increased 158%, with sales increasing 161% in just 6 months. AgSolutions now enjoys the alignment of its leaders and its owners. We have recently designed a new green field site due to our success and market demand for more of AgSolutions’ products, which provide beef weight gain, field growth, and nutrient gain so farmers can provide superior nutrition to the communities they serve.