Continuous Quest Towards Excellence
“Because of HVTDC’s work with us, we are now better positioned than ever to meet today’s challenges and those of the years ahead.”
Ken Kaufmann
President
CEP Technologies Corp. is a metal stamping manufacturer located in Yonkers, NY. The privately held company employs 46 and has over $6 million in annual sales. CEP Technologies Corp. turned to the Hudson Valley Technology Development Center three years ago to help it move forward. The following outlines CEP’s continuous quest towards excellence.
“We’re a metal stamping manufacturer, and that’s prototypical
old economy. Change has not come as rapidly to our industry as it has
to many others,” said Ken Kaufmann, CEP’s president. “We
knew we had to move the company forward, but we’re relatively small
and we were too busy doing our job to devote internal resources to longrange
planning.
In 1996 we called HVTDC to help us move into the new millennium with
a Preliminary Productivity Assessment (PPA), a business assessment report.
“They became a part of our team. They took two months to analyze
every aspect of our operations. Then they gave us a very detailed set
of recommendations covering just about every aspect of our business. It
looked daunting, but we knew it had to be done. So we rolled up our sleeves
and went to work.”
PPA recommendations included organizational structure redesign and job
assignments, staff training, preventative maintenance, changes in the
information system, implementation of performance metrics, ISO 9000 certification,
plant layout and process flow, creation of a strategic business plan,
and continous improvement through Employee Empowerment Workshop. Today,
CEP proudly boasts both ISO 9001 and QS 9000 certification.
“One of the first tasks we tackled was to take a sharp look at the way we were organized. We manufacture parts for our customers, which means we have to design and build tools to make those parts. For one thing, we placed production of parts and tool maintenance under a single manager. In effect he is responsible for day-to-day manufacturing operations. We also consolidated all aspects of tool design and building under a single project leader. Those changes have increased our efficiency and our ability to serve our customers faster and better.”
Results:
Between 6/30/99 and 6/30/00, the company has increased its productivity by 10 percent and has refined its operations to provide a much sharper focus on customers.
The organization has been streamlined.
Operations are more customer focused.
Employees have been better trained to do their jobs.
Information systems have been improved.
Improved workflow on the plant floor, resulting in major upgrading of the facilities.
Created a new strategic business plan through the use of HVTDC’s comprehensive business assessment.
ISO 9001 and QS 9000 certified.