At Stance, our ‘why’ is powered by five core values that guide the work we do together. Today, two of those core values – Excellence is a Moving Target + Small Things are the Big Things – are exhibited in the recent updates to our manufacturing processes here in Kitchener.
Stance is known for our lean-but-mighty customer service, and remaining nimble is key to maintaining that competitive advantage and delivering product on schedule. With this in mind, Shane Castle, our supply chain and operations director, and production manager Steve O’Neill led the charge to update our production area toward a new gravity conveyor and handling system that increases production and scalability, and promotes transparency at all levels, including for our non-production staff.
As you can see from the before-and-after photos, our new layout – which includes 24 staging locations for material presentation to the Upholstery and Assembly work centers – is streamlined for maximum efficiency. The vision and intent moves us towards a pull flow system as opposed to the current push system, transitioning us from an operator selection of what’s next in line, to a more process-driven flow.
The increased transparency enables our production team to anticipate their workload by better understanding what’s coming down the pipeline. The new flow design promotes top-down, date-driven orders, and results in a faster throughput system since packaging has now been relocated to its own designated space.
We are already seeing the benefits of our enhanced operations, including less downtime and less clutter, thanks to minimized congestion within the work envelope, and an emphasis on ergonomics in the final phase, as assembled product is placed directly in packaging caps. Together, these thoughtful changes, big and small, position us to continue delivering exceptional product customer service in the long-term.
All of this great work is ultimately an investment in our customers, as it allows our team to better facilitate large orders and meet lead-time expectations. We are pleased to see where the new system can continue taking our manufacturing team and the valued customers we serve, as we remain committed to Improving Lives by Design.
