MAX HOME IMPROVES PRODUCTION THROUGH LEAN TRAINING AND PLANS TO ADD MORE JOBS
About
Max Home LLC manufactures high-end, custom-upholstered furniture with processes unique from other manufacturers in the industry. There are two plants located in Mississippi, one in Fulton and one in Iuka. The Fulton facility employs 120 people.
The Challenge
Max Home faced a challenge with increasing and expanding production processes. The company called upon the Mississippi Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP.ms), a NIST MEP network affiliate, to provide the knowledge and skills for successful implementation of processes that would improve employee working conditions and increase production.
MEP Center's Role
MEP.ms conducted Lean 101 classes in order to recommend several changes in the company's shop floor layout, material handling and production processes. Through the state reimbursement, the company received financial help on opening two training lines in order to enable new workers with skills for frame builders and upholstery lines. The new layout Max Home selected through the training provided by MEP.ms reduced movement of an average job through the shop. Max Home also reduced production costs by improving its process flow. As a result of this success, Max Home purchased an adjacent manufacturing facility and plans to increase employment by 50 to 60 workers. With MEP.ms' assistance, Max Home has been able to identify and correct problems in their finished products, maintain acceptable efficiency standards and meet federal guidelines.
Results
Projected:
• Reduced costs by $50,000.
• Create 60 jobs.
“Training has helped change employees paradigm. By flowing goods through our plant as opposed to batch processing we have been able to reduce our throughput time and better handle small orders. This has better enabled us to meet our customer’s unique needs. Lean has to be understood and practiced throughout the entire facility and the training we have received has helped to better make that possible.”
Bruno Policicchio, President