Batesville Casket Co., Manchester, Tenn.
Employees: 375, union
Total Square Footage: 430,000
Primary Product/market: Funeral caskets
Start-up: 1970
Achievements: 7.2% drop in hours per unit since 2006; 45% improvement in recordable incidence rates from 2007 to 2008;
2004 IW Best Plants winner
When Batesville Casket Co.'s Manchester, Tenn., plant took its first steps toward streamlining operations 14 years ago, identifying and removing waste was the chief priority. Lean techniques and continuous improvement exercises were adopted on a broad scale.
Those efforts paid off, as Batesville Manchester saw its cost per unit plunge by nearly one-fourth since 1995, while floor space was reduced by more than half, creating the flexibility to create new initiatives. In just the last three years, Batesville Manchester has reduced its costs by 3% above inflation.
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