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Issue link: https://pf.epubxp.com/i/657349
Continued on page 20 A Look Inside Products Finishing Top Shops : Top Shop: Electro-Spec Jeff Smith has rebuilt his company after a devastating fire into No. 1 in our survey. Captive shop: Moen Plumbing fixture-maker Moen meets own high expectations in finishing. Practices/Performances: SWD Inc. Chicago's SWD Inc. gives the quality touch to over a billion parts a year. Technologies: BFG Manufacturing New plating lines spur BFG Manufacturing Services to improved productivity. Training and HR: TechMetals Training is key for Techmetals', which boasts 19 Certified Electroplater-Finishers (CEF). Business Strategies: Lindgren Group The Lindgren Group's twin shops in the Twin Cities have seen great growth. COMPARING TOP SHOPS VS. OTHER SHOPS Top Shops Others All Shops Order lead time days Median 4.00 5.00 5.00 Average 4.68 12.77 10.21 80th Percentile 5.00 15.00 9.00 20th Percentile 3.00 3.00 3.00 On-time delivery rate Median 97.00 95.00 96.70 Average 95.22 93.21 93.85 80th Percentile 99.00 99.00 99.00 20th Percentile 92.20 90.00 90.00 First-pass quality yield rate Median 99.00 98.00 98.00 Average 98.19 94.50 95.69 80th Percentile 99.73 99.00 99.38 20th Percentile 97.00 93.00 95.00 Scrap/rework rate Median 0.5 1.3 1.0 Average 1.2 4.6 3.4 80th Percentile 2.0 3.8 3.0 20th Percentile 0.1 0.5 0.2 Finishing hours per day Median 16.0 12.0 14.0 Average 16.8 14.1 15.0 80th Percentile 22.2 20.0 20.0 20th Percentile 10.0 8.0 9.0 Lincoln from his father. "We simply asked ourselves, 'How can we create more value for the customer outside of just finishing?' It was then that we took a bigger view of what we could do to get more business." LeBaron gives an example of a part manufacturer who must find a raw material supplier, a diemaker, a stamper, a polisher and a finisher to get the part completed. Where Lincoln was filling the last spot in the chain, LeBaron saw his company managing the entire process for the manufacturer. "Our thought process was that we would spend 10 cents more per piece on material and get a semi-finished part," he says. "And I will find a stamper who, instead of sending the parts tumbling down the chute where it will get nicked and dinged, I'll have him hand stack it in foam and then we'll finish the product here. We will spend 60 cents more, but we can charge the customer $2 less because we don't have as much polishing or repair work." It was the approach to provide more value to manufac- turers and optimize the supply chain that caused Lincoln to explode in the 1990s into one of the largest plating operations in the world, if not the largest in North America, according to the company, with a robust 27 plating lines and dozens of polishing and buffing stations. "We simply asked ourselves, 'How can we create more value for the customer outside of just fnishing?'" PRODUCTS FINISHING — PFonline.com 17 THE VOICE OF FINISHING 80 YEARS TOP SHOPS Top Shops Benchmarking Survey Reports Shops that completed the Products Finishing Top Shops Benchmarking Survey will receive a series of data reports that separate the survey data into categories, including type of finishing business (job shop, contract shop or captive operation), number of employees and number of parts produced. In addition, we'll send an Executive Summary comparing responses between the Top Shops benchmarking group and the rest of the survey participants. This benchmarking group represents the top percentage of electroplating shops determined by totaling the points assigned to select business- and technology-related questions. These reports not only serve as a baseline "report card" of sorts, but also provide hard data that will eliminate the need to rely on gut feelings as a method of identifying and prioritizing improvement efforts.