Since 1992, Allentown-based FMI has formulated, and manufactured a wide variety of products for companies in personal, health, and home care markets, filling and compounding in accordance with Current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) protocols.
“[MRC] ‘gets’ manufacturing. They really do understand it and the challenges we face.”
– Kevin Rhodes, CEO & Founder..
MRC Delivers Effective Lean Expertise.
Situation
Allentown-based Fragrance Manufacturing Inc. (FMI) has nearly 35 years of experience formulating, compounding, and filling fragrance products for clients in a range of markets. The company has used MRC for a variety of training programs throughout its existence and recently turned to its MEP partner once again to enhance their in-house Lean capabilities.
Solution
FMI CEO & Founder Kevin Rhodes says that in addition to proximity to the company’s operations, they appreciate that “…MRC just ‘gets’ manufacturing. They really do understand it and the challenges we face.” FMI employees have taken part in Supervisor Boot Camp, Yellow Belt Certification, a customized Kaizen-based assembly line improvement project, a 10-week leadership development program, and more.
Most recently, though, the company has taken increased advantage of MRC’s Lean training offerings. Craig Stark, FMI’s Operations Manager, says the company’s Lean journey included 5S training classes for all leadership.
“That foundation was excellent,” Stark explains. “It drove us into Lean processes, studying and improving cycle times, identifying and reducing waste, and more to improve on-the-floor results.“ He adds that FMI expects those projects to pay dividends for years to come. “Having that expertise in the building will help tremendously. Starting with leadership and then involving floor people was a huge help. When it comes to 5S and Lean, the more people understand, the more people will understand why we’re making changes.”
Rhodes adds that two engineering department staffers recently completed Green Belt Certification classes and are now working on the project phase of the training. Specifically, that project will entail an effort to be more data-driven in decisions and drive more data-driven analysis throughout the organization.
“Having those individuals certified and executing an instructor-approved project here at FMI, applying what they’ve learned, it solidifies their learning,” says Rhodes. He adds that there is also a measurable benefit to FMI. “The two programs will improve scheduling processes by helping us understand vendor reliability. In the end we will have a vendor scorecard to help assess and improve their performance.”
The second project will study fill levels to optimize accuracy; tighter tolerances enable precise filling in order to match printed volumes without overfilling, thereby improving margins. “We tend to overfill to make sure we meet the minimum weight,” Stark says. “This will help us reduce the tolerance and save on material costs.”
Results
• Applying 5S principles to the bottle filling operation has enhanced organization, improved productivity and minimized wasted movement, resulting in a 6% perfume line output improvement
• Implementing a kitting-focused Kaizen improved productivity in that area by at least 5%.
To learn more about FMI, visit their website at Fragrance Manufacturing Inc.