Main evolutions of my panel builder organization along the time

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optimize flow & surfaces

The revolution in the workshop

At the beginning we had 4 assemblers : each was making his purchase and stock separately.
Then we grew and decided to purchase with annual contracts and to globalize and optimise the inventories. This led to a total re-organisation of the surfaces that we decided to implement after internal working groups, just us, without consultants.

[…]

We reviewed the workshop flows and layout and achieved a 25 % productivity on surfaces, which means that we produce 25 % more than we could imagine.
We also changed our practices in the copper management; we started to place significant orders to play with the stock exchange index; it led us to buy bulk standard dimensions and to create a copper space that we designed with employees, taking into account safety, weight constraints; we have now 2 dedicated persons in this area, serving all the company.

Taking care of employees and customers

We also decided to improve gradually the environment of workers, specifically on:
– better lighting
– nicer colours
– perfect ground floor : before it was always dusty, not very respectful for people but also for products (can you imagine that some circuit breakers are sold the same price than a car ?)
– noise, by isolating all the noisy machines (like metal bending)
We are sure it contributed to increase productivity and in addition it is very appreciated by customers also when they come to inspect an order.

The big improvement in supply chain from my suppliers

Today the performance of suppliers and distributors is so good that we have cut the time and efforts to ensure products deliveries; we are well served, often in 24 hours; and sometimes we have direct computer link with the factory!