Serving multibillion-dollar organizations, scientific equipment makers and art distributors, Albuquerque’s Certified Packing & Crating Inc. (CP&C) has been in the business of packing, crating and customized product handling for 17 years. When the current owners, a husband and wife team formerly employed at Intel, purchased the company in 2012, they knew they needed help.
Having experienced the Lean Manufacturing philosophy at Intel, they were intent on exploring Lean techniques, especially as CP&C was losing revenue due to rework, inefficiencies, cash flow, and crating techniques. The owners turned to NM MEP for help in several areas: standardization of processes; clarifying for all employees “the Why” behind efficiency and Lean Manufacturing philosophy; identifying reorganization options in merging administrative, manufacturing communication and error proofing; and finally leveraging these improvements to establish more of an assembly line to the entire Value Stream.
NM MEP helped CP&C begin a transformation path using a bundle of tools and a set of projects for mapping value across both manufacturing and administrative functions; adding mobile technologies into the error proofing and order fulfillment processes; and clarifying the company’s “Why” and attendant messaging. Following the action items of the two mapping projects, CP&C was able to improve cash flow and materials supply within 90 days. Training staff to see the total workflow and attendant administrative steps allowed for innovations in linking back office documents with on-site field work, as well as error-proofing information flow from the field through the order intake, quoting, supply management and customer fulfillment processes. Finally, with NM MEP’s help, CP&C reviewed company beliefs, establishing its “Why” as a firm and then deploying that messaging in the marketplace. The company’s clear messaging helped them acquire a significant new customer as well as enter a niche market in high-value art that was not previously part of their revenue stream.
CP&C’s exceptional efforts in leveraging NM MEP’s transformation bundle resulted in real cost savings, new sales, and avoided investment costs to the family business. The company identified a 25% increase in revenues from new sales attributed to both belief-system messaging and improved processes that allowed staff to manage the increased volume of rare defects. Furthering the bottom line, the transformation projects led to a $260,000 cost savings to the company in materials, time, fuel, defects, and avoided investments. Additionally, increasing revenues and decreasing costs allowed CP&C to make needed investments totaling nearly $85,000.
“As a small-business owner, I will be forever grateful to New Mexico MEP. New Mexico MEP helped shape our culture through lean training and systems development. A good portion of our core business processes was overhauled leading to significant financial benefits. I would have never had the time or the knowledge to make it happen without New Mexico MEP.”
– Dave Slavens, Vice President, Co-Owner