Group helps local firms learn manufacturing

Matthew Jahnke, president of ReGen Technologies LLC in Springfield, wanted the company to move to lean manufacturing, but he knew he would need help developing an implementation plan. Like many small- to mid-sized companies, ReGen Technologies contacted the Mid-America Manufacturing Technology Center (MAMTC)-Missouri for help.

Lean manufacturing is a business strategy to maximize profitability through the elimination of waste and reduction of overhead costs.

MAMTC-Missouri is one of the resources available through the Missouri Enterprise Business Assistance Center, a nonprofit organization that works in cooperation with other state and federal programs to provide a variety of consulting services to companies for a fraction of what they would normally cost. Missouri Enterprise's headquarters are in Rolla, but the organization also has a number of satellite offices located throughout the state, including one in Springfield.

When Jahnke contacted MAMTC-Missouri late last year, the organization dispatched a team of business and manufacturing experts who assessed the situation at ReGen Technologies. The team developed a proposal at no cost that defined how MAMTC-Missouri could help and what services it would provide.

After Jahnke accepted the proposal, Dusty Cruise, project director for MAMTC-Missouri, went to work. Cruise, who has more than 24 years of manufacturing and engineering experience, already had helped implement lean manufacturing at other area businesses, such as Engines Plus Inc. of Springfield. However, implementing lean manufacturing at ReGen Technologies, which remanufactures John Deere diesel engines that are used in the agricultural and construction industries, proved to be particularly challenging.

"There are so many variables when it comes to remanufacturing a diesel engine," said Cruise. "You find some parts that were used to make the original engine are obsolete or defective. You also have to deal with multiple part options and environmental issues. Even estimating the correct percentage of replacement parts was hard on this project because ReGen is a relatively new company for John Deere Corp., and it doesn't have a lot of historical data yet. This was particularly important when we began working with suppliers to purchase and receive replacement parts only when they were needed."

Like most manufacturers, ReGen Technologies was using batch and que and other traditional manufacturing methods.

To move to lean manufacturing, the company would have to shift its focus and have one manufacturing process make only what the next manufacturing process needs, when it was needed.

"Basically, our goal is to have a 24-hour turnaround time on the engines we remanufacture," Jahnke said.

"If a farmer is trying to harvest their corn and their tractor breaks down, they won't wait three days for their engine to get fixed. They'll go somewhere else. Providing 24-hour turnaround is tough if you rely on traditional manufacturing methods because it means you have to keep a huge inventory on hand, which also increases your overhead," he added.

To kick-start the project, Cruise conducted a "Lean Manufacturing 101 with Live Simulation" seminar for all of ReGen Technologies' employees.

The seminar provided employees with step-by-step guidance on how to modify their workplace and speed up the time between orders and shipments, which would increase the company's profitability.

According to Cruise, the program was well received, and the employees soon became lean manufacturing's biggest proponents.

"ReGen Technologies has open book management," Cruise said. "That made my job much easier because the employees were already focused on the bottom line."

Following the seminar, Cruise began working on a new plant layout that improved the product workflow. He also set up a Japanese Kanban system, which uses cards and containers to move parts from one workstation to another on the production line.

Under the Kanban system, both the internal and external suppliers only deliver components to the production line as they are needed so there's limited storage in the production area.

According to Cruise, lean manufacturing must be done in stages, and it usually takes six to 12 months to implement. To date, Cruise has spent eight months working at ReGen Technologies, and the project is now 88 percent complete.

"Moving to lean manufacturing has allowed us to do more with less," Jahnke said. "We've added more parts, which has allowed us to take on more work without increasing our costs, and the on-time delivery rate to our customers has increased significantly."