Wisconsin Manufacturing Extension Partnership

CFI IconMedalcraft Mint Diversifies Sales

Medalcraft Mint uses Eureka! Winning Ways to find new customers

In 2007, when Jerry Moran bought The Medalcraft Mint, a private mint founded in Green Bay in 1948, he understood that the business faced significant challenges. Medalcraft Mint’s primary products were die struck coins, medals and medallions produced by a very labor-intensive process, and the plant was operating at only 50% capacity.  The company needed to upgrade its production processes, invest in new technology, and grow its business in highly competitive and diverse markets dominated by Chinese manufacturers.

Around this time, Jerry read an article about WMEP’s focus on assisting small and midsize manufacturers through the delivery of a range of services and training, and gave WMEP a call.  Soon, 30 of Medalcrafts’ 100 employees were introduced to “Lean Overview Training” by Davies Wakefield, a WMEP manufacturing specialist with more than 35 years of experience in the metal fabrication industry.

Lean - The First Step in Next Generation Manufacturing

The  training helped improve Medalcrafts’ processes, and it also gave employees a picture of how Lean methods could help improve other aspects of product flow.

Soon, the company engaged WMEP to develop a Value Stream Map to improve product and office work flow.

Moran realized that he needed to take Lean to the next level. The company continued to improve internal processes by implementing a new Customer Relationship Management System (CRM) and other Lean initiatives. But Jerry knew that the company’s biggest challenges were strategic:

  • The award/gift market is sensitive to economic fluctuations.
  • Medalcraft was dependent on a small number of customers for the bulk of revenue.
  • Company manufacturing methods were outdated.
  • Medalcraft was a very small player in a large market dominated by Chinese manufacturers.

In short, Medalcraft needed to re-create itself in order to grow. Through his work with WMEP, Jerry Moran learned about the principles of Next Generation Manufacturing and understood that WMEP had the capacity and depth of experience to help his company resolve the strategic issues it faced.

Eureka! Winning Ways Accelerates Growth

With WMEP’s assistance, Medalcraft successfully implemented processes for continuous improvement on the shop floor and within the office, but needed a methodology to focus on the how to grow demand. WMEP introduced Medalcraft to a program that helps businesses grow and diversify, called “Eureka! Winning Ways”, a scientific method for accelerating profitable growth. Focusing on the customer, this program provides a framework for developing products that customers want based on customer feedback and market research.

The process consists of three steps: Idea Engineering, Idea Validation, and Rapid Commercialization.

In Idea Engineering, the team focuses on a specific customer group to identify the “Overt Benefit” of the product. “Basically, you answer the question ‘What’s in it for me’”, said Moran, “then, you have to prove you can deliver that benefit.”

The Medalcraft Eureka team (consisting of employees from across the company), reviewed internal capabilities and realized the first step would be to explore new markets for existing products. The team learned that nearly $500 million is spent on “challenge coins” each year.

Medalcraft Accepts the Challenge

The coins, bearing the logos of the issuer, are given as awards and recognition, and are a very popular collectible. Through the Trailblazer process of intensive market research and gathering customer feedback on a set timetable, employees learned that agencies of the federal government are a primary market for these coins.

With the Trailblazer process, members of the team are assigned an area to research and must report back to the team each week, with the goal of completing the project in four weeks. One team member said “the timeline and the fact that we have to report back to the team keep the process on schedule. It’s a challenge to continue to do your regular job while also researching new markets, but we do it because we don’t want to let our team down.”

The process yielded valuable information. As team members found, the first step in working with the federal government is to get a General Services Administration (GSA) number, then to identify the individuals with purchasing power in each agency. A relationship had to be built with each purchaser and this issue was quickly resolved by hiring a former distributor based in the Washington, D.C. area to build and maintain these customer relationships.
Additional research found that customers needed an easy way to order product, so in response, the company web site was re-built to facilitate the selection and ordering process, particularly for government purchases.

The Benefits

As a result of this one effort, Medalcraft now earns $250,000 annually in GSA bid business and has become a preferred supplier for many federal agencies. For example, some federal agencies have a requirement that they must “buy American”. Marketing this aspect of their product earned Medalcraft the “single source” designation from the Secret Service.

In addition, WMEP suggested Medalcraft apply for the federal Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program. The program assists companies negatively affected by import competition. With WMEP’s help, Medalcraft completed the application process and received $75,000 in matching funds for continued operational and strategic improvements.

Medalcraft has built on their success in supplying “challenge coins” to the federal government, and now supply a range of items, including plaques, awards, clothing items and other recognition products.  In addition, Medalcraft is the single source for the third consecutive Presidential Inaugural Medallion.

Jerry Moran found the Eureka process yielded more than just idea development “I learned a lot about my company and my customers.”  He’s applied the process to many aspects of Medalcraft Mint to improve processes and diversify markets.

 

Made in the USA

“We’ve leveraged our ‘Made in the USA’ label by investing in new technology that makes us competitive with the Chinese,” said Moran. “With our new manufacturing technology, we can turn around orders for lapel pins in 24 hours, a dramatic difference when competing against Chinese manufacturers.”

“We’ve created a lot of fortunate breaks,” said Moran.  “We’ve developed a sales model that drives business to what we know how to make.  We used to be a job shop, now we mass-produce similar product for a variety of customers in a wide range of markets.”

The next step in Medalcraft’s journey of systemic continuous improvement is Enterprise Business Transformation (EBT), a process that unifies and focuses the entire company to improve operational, financial and productivity results. “WMEP has demonstrated its expertise in both tactical and strategic solutions in my business,” said Moran, “I look forward to working with WMEP as I continue to build Medalcraft into an innovative, nimble business that can out-perform the competition.”

Visit Medalcraft Mint's website at:  www.medalcraft.com

Using the same hand tools and techniques employed by metal craftsmen through the centuries, engravers add depth and detail.
A sculptor hand carves complex dies such as portraits.
The die is subjected to temperatures above 1700 degrees for up to eight hours
Up to 1000 tons of pressure are used to
The minted piece goes through an extensive multi-step hand finishing process depending on customer wishes

Medalcraft Mint Results:

A combination of Lean training, the Eureka! Winning Ways process and new technologies helped Medalcraft capture new business:

  • Medalcraft now earns $250,000 annually in GSA bid business and has become a preferred supplier for many federal agencies
  • With new manufacturing technology, lapel pin turn-around is 24 hours, a dramatic difference compared to Chinese competitors
Submitted by doakes on 2010, August 24 - 1:42pm