Lehigh Valley Plastics specializes in precision plastic machining and custom fabrication, delivering high-quality components that meet the toughest performance demands. As a leading U.S. fabricator and distributor, the company’s state-of-the-art facility and decades of experience enable them to serve a wide range of industries with innovation and reliability.
MRC Training Drives Topline Growth and Production Capacity
“We know that MRC training will be in line with our company values. That’s why we trust them
– – – Shelly McWilliams, President
Situation
Faced with a number of vacancies in the inspection department, Lehigh Valley Plastics sought to give a promising employee the opportunity to step into a leadership role.
Solution
In response, the company leveraged a range of MRC training offerings to fill skills gaps that had opened as employees departed.
One key capability was ISO internal audit. Previously, one senior leadership team member was in charge of quality and ran all ISO certification audits—including the internal audit—every year. When that individual left, the company found itself without the in-house ability to train staffers to perform this key service. Using the MRC, however, they were able to bring a new team member up to speed and stay in compliance.
Lehigh Valley Plastics
Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerance (GD&T), meanwhile, was another area of need. “Our customers are requiring parts with more complexity and tighter tolerances,” says President Shelly McWilliams. “We needed to find an efficient way to train enough people on GD&T within a machining and manufacturing environment.”
In response, the company engaged MRC to host an on-site training program. “Everyone got the same classroom training at the same time,” McWilliams says. She adds that a few of the ten participants even elected to go on to advanced GD&T on more demanding dimensioning, further broadening Lehigh Valley Plastics’ capabilities.
Continuous improvement was another area in which the company sought training in order to meet changing marketplace demands. “As we work to get into new industries and new manufacturing methodologies,” McWilliams says, “CI becomes more important. We can’t do things the same way and expect them to work in new settings and applications.” Once again, training with MRC enabled Lehigh Valley Plastics to identify areas in need of change in anticipation of a series of “next things” coming in the future.
Overall, McWilliams cites a conceptual alignment between MRC’s offerings and their own vision. “We know that MRC training will be in line with our company values,” she says. “That’s why we trust them. And they will always be compatible with industry standards. It’s not “check the box” training—it’s real learning and understanding.”
Results
• Advanced GD&T lets Lehigh Valley Plastics meet more complex customer requirements, driving a 5% increase in topline revenue as a result of the new work.
• The use of new Continuous Improvement tools to advance work processes automation added 10% to the company’s overall production capacity.
To learn more about Lehigh Valley Plastics, please visit their website at Lehigh Valley Plastics.com