A large retail and commercial printing company was looking for support navigating a growing business model. Through mergers and product innovation, the business had expanded across 3 locations with more than 12 business lines and thousands of SKUs.
The manufacturing team was struggling with the seasonality of demand and lacked the infrastructure to keep up with the growth and expanded product mix.
An assessment with Carpedia identified key opportunities to simplify and standardize the operating model:
- Department schedules and crewing plans were static, leading to periods of over-crewing and under-crewing, without cross department flexibility
- Different approaches to labor planning, budgeting, and costing existed across multiple locations despite similar processes and products
- Manufacturing processes that had been developed in isolation could be standardized across all sites/departments for best practices
- Limited visibility into performance and an inconsistent approach to problem solving and continuous improvement existed across departments and locations
The engagement focused on creating a standard approach to costing, labor planning, process development, material usage, and best practices.
- Implemented a standardized volume-based labor plan across 3 locations and 7 work streams with 21+ operations managers
- Mapped the process flow for each step, with standard speeds, crewing, volumes, downtime, mix, and forecast assumptions
- Created labor flexibility through a standardized approach to labor planning, skill development, and reduction of temp labor costs and overtime
- Created “ramp plans” using proficiency models to ensure onboarding and training met volume demands prior to the Q4 retail season
- Identified constraints and developed changeover compression models to reduce lost time between product changes and improved throughputs
- Introduced measurement tools: Visibility Boards, Daily Operating Reports, Process Audits, and Daily Resource Planning Reviews
- Implemented active management practices via Carpedia College, ‘lunch and learns’, and on-the-job training
The Results
The engagement led to a significant improvement in both labor and material costs per unit across 20+ operations teams. Employees were given the opportunity to train and develop across multiple work streams, creating growth opportunities for all teams. Managers were also given the coaching and tools required to sustain success and momentum well into the future.
Specific results included:
- 12% improvement in units/labor hour
- ~$1M improvement in material cost
- 115% attainment to estimated benefit
- 2:1 ROI
Beyond throughput gains, the project strengthened a key business line (Field Services) and enhanced critical support functions, including Engineering, Sales, and Quality Assurance. Together, these improvements established a structured management system that positioned the organization for continued, sustainable growth.
