Exporting to China and South Korea?
HVTDC Helps NYS Company Sharpen Its Techniques
"We are in a better position to compete with the excellent companies in our field. The assistance we received from Most and HVTDC was invaluable."
Chuck Altman,
Manufacturing Manager
The VirTis Company
Ask Chuck Altman about the VirTis Company's overseas markets, and he reels off a string of locations: Europe , South America , South Africa . He pauses for a moment, then adds, with a distinct note of pride in his voice, "and also China and South Korea."
The VirTis Company, a division of SP Industries Inc., headquartered in Gardiner , N.Y., is one of a very small group of American companies that can make that statement. Since it was founded in 1953, it has become one of the major producers of freeze-drying equipment for the biology, biochemical, and agricultural research, pharmaceutical and life sciences industries. It is a part of SP Industries, Inc., of Warminster, Pa., a major manufacturer of laboratory, scientific and industrial equipment.
Altman, the VirTis manufacturing manager, says, "We are an ISO 9001 registered facility, operating in a very competitive worldwide industry. It's very hard to compete on cost alone, so in order to take on the foreign competition we have to be better and more efficient at what we do. VirTis is a low-volume manufacturer. There is a high degree of specialization in our products; we do a lot of single-item fabrication.
"That's why we were very interested when the Hudson Valley Technology Development Center (HVTDC) came to us last year and promoted their services. We were interested in what they could do for us, especially in developing empowered work teams, so we contracted for their services."
VirTis senior management and HVTDC's Arnold Most decided the company needed to achieve three goals:
1. Increase manufacturing space by 20 percent without building additional buildings.
2. Reduce warranty costs.
3. Reduce cycle time.
Those were ambitious goals, but they were achievable - and necessary if VirTis was to continue to compete successfully. VirTis set up a management steering committee, and created 3 cross-functional employee teams to address each one of the goals, and to evaluate the results. Most started working with the company's 70 employees in the fall of 2003. The teams were initially trained by Most before going out and working on the goals. By the end of the year the results were in, and they were dramatic.
"We have added the space that we needed," Altman says. "One team got rid of equipment we were no longer using but that was taking up valuable space. The Team reorganized the flow of work in the factory, and made our manufacturing processes more efficient. The Team not only made us more effective, but with the additional space we were able to take on work from other components of the SP Group." SP products include specialty laboratory glassware, spectroscopy supplies, homogenizers, stability chambers and rooms along with other highly specialized laboratory equipment.
The results in the drive to reduce warranty costs were equally startling. "We were able to reduce warranty costs by 30 percent from 2002," Altman notes. "Another Team identified the main issues, and focused on employee training. The Team suggested bringing in outside trainers to help empower our employees. Everyone responded extremely well, and we achieved results that surpassed our goals."
The drive to reduce cycle time was also successful. "Because we are a low-volume manufacturer we can't really generalize about cycle reduction, but I can tell you that overall , the third team was successful," Altman says. "One product went from ten to three weeks."
With those three goals achieved, VirTis is tackling another challenge. "We are flattening our organization in order to increase efficiency even more," he says. "So, with the help of HVTDC, we are putting together customized courses for training supervisory employees and facilitating communications."
SP Industries Inc. is privately held and does not reveal sales figures. "I can tell you, however, that we continue to reduce our costs and improve productivity," says Altman. "We are in a better position to compete with the excellent companies in our field. The assistance we received from Most and HVTDC was invaluable." The teams that were created will continue with new members to address other challenges. Everyone at VirTis helped make this process a success.
And so the "Made in U.S.A. " label is flowing into China and South Korea , a welcome reversal of a decade-long trend.
For additional information, call 845-896-6934.