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A chip manufacturer had just won the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, but discovered that production teams were using quality tools to attack each other. Interact conducted focus groups to identify interdependencies and areas of friction. Training focused on resolving these issues, and more than 400 supervisory and non-supervisory people were trained. Quality and cycle time both improved, even as budgets were reduced. The manufacturing manager was promoted to a corporate position, and brought Interact into all of his divisions.
Custom Furniture
A manufacturer of custom furniture was struggling financially. Interact analyzed the firm’s order fulfillment process, and found that production delays were leading to cancelled orders. We implemented workteams, trained the teams, and made them accountable for delivery times. Within six months the teams had reduced the fulfillment time from 10 weeks to 10 days, resulting in a three million dollar turnaround in performance.
Automotive
A large transmission plant had implemented a new machining line, but had only achieved 40% of the throughput they expected. A poor union/management relationship was a contributing factor. Interact worked with the leaders of the management team and union local, and made the new machining line a focus for improvement. Foremen and union local reps co-trained hourly employees in teamwork and problem solving. These hourly reps joined engineering teams to troubleshoot the new line. Within a year the machining line had achieved 100% throughput. The plant manager, the industrial relations manager, and the union local president attributed the improvement to the Interact training.