Operations expertise: Lean Process Improvement

In 2014 I took over a distressed food truck manufacturer as General Manager and quickly became the Chief Operating Officer. When I started we had $240k in AR, $12k in cash, no credit, $5k in bi-weekly payroll, 6 projects stalled in production, and $120k in working capital required to finish the projects and unlock the AR. Navigating this situation was the biggest test of my ability to align cash flows, processes, and sales. I successfully navigated  this critical period to go on to grow the business to generate revenues of $3.6 M annually. 

• Problem: Production process was inefficient and demand for the product was outpacing our ability to complete projects resulting in costly delays, excessive rework, and many projects coming back for warranty claims .
• Solution: I redesigned manufacturing throughput to level production and meet customer demand. Resulted in a 50% throughput increase. 
• Aligned Procurement Forecasting and Inventory control system with available labor to optimize cashflow. 
• Developed workflow documents and control forms to increase production efficiency and reduce rework by 75%. 

• Identified key stakeholders and assembled project team to draft Project Charter and define the scope of our redesign. 
• Applied DMAIC approach for process improvement. 
• Oversaw every aspect of the project from inception to implementation and ongoing control. 

• Doubling of throughput capacity. 
• 75% reduction in re-work
• 50% reduction in warranty claims