This process has evolved over the past fifty years and now encompasses three different buildings on multiple levels. Material flow to and from the line is a critical component of effective utilization and the disrupted layout and limited work areas have created varied constraints in the production system. A new facility plan is being considered and improved material flow will be a critical component of this new capital investment justification.

IET evaluated current constraints, inventory and line stocking strategies, indirect labor requirements and overall material flow and worked with the new facility design team to streamline a new single floor facility design. Utilizing at-point-of-use storage, kanban line restocking, visual control systems, and lean inventory strategies, IET supported the new designs to actually reduce planned space requirements by nearly 40%. In addition, IET engineers assessed the specific labor requirements and improved line performance factors to establish confident improvements to assess cost-benefits of the new facility investment. Specific layouts and staffing models were developed to support and minimize the total space requirements. The client is moving forward with the single facility design implementation.