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Exterior Portfolio by Crane

About Exterior Portfolio by Crane
Exterior Portfolio by Crane made their business more competitive and easier to manage by streamlining process, removed redundancy, and making their people say “I can”—and believe it.

 

Exterior Portfolio by Crane is a member of the Crane Group family of companies with manufacturing facilities in the United States, as well as a vinyl siding plant in South America.

Business Needs

Exterior Portfolio needed to simplify its complex business, knowing that long-term, sustainable success would require more than just housekeeping efforts to clean up the plant. They looked for more capacity for future growth – “to simplify the business for easier and more effective manageability.”  Specifically, Exterior Portfolio sought to:

  • Instill a sense of urgency to show customers they could service them before it was too late
  • Create a clean and organized shop
  • Secure greater predictability and reliability by putting manufacturing and distribution in sync.
  • Reduce redundancy and confusion
  • Train people to sustain improvements



 
 Immediate Challenges
  • Account for the 40% growth over the past 3 years
  • Make the best use of high-tenured employees of 20 to 30 years
  • Help develop home grown supervisors
  • Address the lack of formal processes

 



 
 Definity Partners Plan
  • Standardize shift procedures
  • Refine and develop accountability measures for standard operating procedures
  • Create supervisor walk-thru form to provide consistent and appropriate supervisory behaviors
  • Create a culture of accountability through daily huddles, hourly metric boards, and improved supervisor communication
  • Create Champions of Change to help sustain improvements and drive greater results

 



 
 Results

Together Exterior Portfolio and Definity Partners created a culture of continuous improvement in which employees work together to solve problems, achieve goals, and exceed the growing demands of their customers. For Exterior Portfolio this experience was a defining moment because it changed the way they think, manage, and lead their business on a daily basis.

 
In the maintenance area, the results were less searching for tools and parts, defined procedures for work that needs to be completed, and assigned ownership to many of the common areas throughout the plant. Doubts about the ability of the maintenance team to have success with 6S were proven wrong, as they are now one of the strongest departments in the plant.

 

Throughout the engagement, Definity and Exterior Portfolio were able to generate:

  • Greater confidence and employee ownership on the shop floor – employees willing to try-storm ideas and solve problems more quickly – “I can” attitude
  • Improved communication and cross-functional teamwork – “We can” attitude
  • Created culture of discipline and accountability – clear expectations and metrics
  • Reduced stress for employees and management making work more enjoyable

 



 
 The Figures
  • Improved efficiency by 10%
  • Improved regrind usage by 5%
  • Improved uptime by 5%
  • Reduced touches in warehouse from 9 to 5
  • Eliminated idle time in warehouse flow, by implementing 1 piece flow
  • Doubled capacity from 30 orders capability to 60
  • Reduced labor by 25% in warehouse assembly process
  • Developed and began implementation of paperless reporting system (eliminating 7 redundant reports)
  • Cost of manufacturing reduced by 14%
  • Recordable safety incidents were reduced by 53%
  • Selected #1 in quality by Builder Magazine

    ◊ Voted 2008 Supplier of the Year by Select Independent Distributors of Americ

 



 
 Continuous Improvement
     
  • Developed line efficiency metric that translated to schedule adherence to hold manufacturing accountable for providing customers with the product when they order it.
  • Developed 28 auditors for 6S and it is a daily part of their job.
  • Added action plans to the scrap metric and fine tuned the scrap to include inventory accuracy and damaged finished goods.
  • Unified operations from raw material to delivery to the customer. Metrics are evident throughout the whole operation.
  • Developed process control and adherence to procedures on the production floor.
  • Selected #1 in quality by Builder magazine
  • Voted 2008 Supplier of the Year by Select Independent Distributors of America
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What they had to say

“We are all about innovation and customer service. It was time to restructure internally to more effectively manage our growth and to create a safer more enjoyable work place for our employees.”

—Jim Ziminski, President

 

“These efforts gave us a much needed dose of confidence in ourselves. We are more capable than we thought. Now we feel good about saying yes to more business.”

—Jeff Bycynski, Director of Operations

 

“Everything has been very positive. We have always been pretty good at making improvement, but we got to another level with our people and our operations.”

—Jeff Hartley, Director of Warehouse and Shipping Operations

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