What do you do when climbing costs and a rising competitive environment clearly dictate the need for re-engineering your order-to-delivery processes?
Automation overhaul may be necessary, but the cost seems prohibitive in terms of money, manpower and ramp-up time.
And then there's the whole issue of getting your personnel on board with technological advances that will clearly drive growth and profit -- an important consideration if you want committed designers and engineers, as opposed to merely compliant ones.
Cook Specialty, a manufacturer of precision metal parts for several industries as well as custom-engineered medical instruments, faced that dilemma, as noted in an article titled "Re-engineering the Small Factory" in Inc. Technology.
But Cook President Tom Panzella knew that declining hardware and software costs made digital solutions a real option for his business.
He also knew that technology would add an edge to the agility that Cook possessed as a small business, giving the company a competitive advantage over larger, more cumbersome manufacturers.
Panzella made the decision to invest in computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM), installing a 30-computer network throughout the plant.
Were money, time and effort spent in getting the hardware installed, getting the software up and running, and getting everyone trained on the new system? Yes. But a powerful synergy ensued as Cook's engineers and designers began to use the new system.
The advantages, as profiled in Inc. Technology, included the following:
- The ability to exchange parts-design information with customers, creating a valuable give-and-take dynamic (Cook assisted Welch Alvin create a new line of laryngoscopes).
- Automatic specifications input into the computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) software, which in turn instructed the production machines what and how to build.
- Instant communication among all members of the manufacturing cell working on a particular project.
- Significant reduction in the need for shop-floor communication, as the technology promoted collective updates visible to any employee at any time.
- Collaboration that allowed each team member to feel unique ownership in the manufacturing process.
- Ongoing communication with customers about key issues as the parts were manufactured.
