Jor-Mac’s Lean Journey Reclaims Work from China

Paul Luber, CEO of Jor-Mac Co., thought it was a glitch. A job came into the metal fabrication company with prints in Chinese. But then it happened again. OEMs who had outsourced work to China were bringing it back home. It was no accident that the jobs landed at Jor-Mac’s door.

Seeking a new direction, the Grafton-based company of 85-employees turned to WMEP for help.  Jor-Mac started their Lean journey with an Office VSM of its front end, including quote & order processing and other functions. This led to changes that resulted in a 70% reduction order processing time from 2 weeks down to 1-2 days. They also did 5S/Visual Management and Set-Up Reduction.

Next, they participated in WMEP’s Accelerate model, an innovative supplier development solution thatgives OEMs the chance to support key suppliers with expertise from WMEP in Lean methods. This creates a more local supply chain for the OEM that offers flexibility and rapid response. When an OEM identified Jor-Mac as a key vendor and wanted them to participate, “it was a great vote of confidence,” said Luber. And now Jor-Mac is working with its own suppliers on Supply Chain Improvement.

The results Jor-Mac has seen from these improvement efforts include:

• Increase in inventory turns from 6 to 10 plus
• Reduction in WIP, down 40%
• Reduction in MCT, down 35%
• Reduction in finished goods inventory by 10 percent
• Increased sales of $5,000,000
• Retained sales of $8,000,000
• Estimated cost savings of about $500,000

The use of Lean as a strategy for improvement, as well as supply chain efforts, can help Wisconsin manufacturers be responsive in ways that provide a strong competitive advantage. WMEP provides manufacturers, like Jor-mac, with crucial expertise to help make that happen. “I can’t say enough good about WMEP. You say, this is what we want to accomplish and their sole focus is to achieve that goal,” said Luber.