P-K Tool & Manufacturing is a Chicago manufacturer located on the Westside of the city with additional plants located in Kentucky, New Mexico, and Juarez, Mexico to provide flexible and timely response to their customers. They were founded in 1944 by the Kaiser family with a continuous pattern of growth serving primarily the automotive and computer industries. All of their plants are ISO certified. P-K Tool & Manufacturing is proud of its record of quality and customer satisfaction.  They combine experience with expertise to meet the customer’s metal-forming needs.

P-K Tool & Manufacturing provides a variety of services in precision metal stamping, metal-forming and assembly. They work with the customer from the initial concept through to the on-time shipment of their product. Their capabilities include presses from 28 to 600 tons, as well as slide-forming, plastisol and nylon dipping, prototypes, and short-run metal fabrication. Their equipment is continually updated to include the latest in die protection technology.

Dennis Kane is Chief Operating Officer at their Chicago plant. In conversations with Dylan Tuttle of the Jane Addams Resource Corporation, Dennis confided that the Chicago plant has suffered from space constraints.  This has had a negative impact on the assembly and packing area in particular, reducing workflow and throughput.  Various workarounds had been attempted with little progress due primarily to space constraints.

P-K Tool & Manufacturing has been a long time supporter of the Jane Addams Resource Corporation. Having used their training services in the past, Dennis was open to considering a new offering focused on management issues. In collaboration with Sean Palmer of SEEAP Consulting and the City of Chicago – Department of Housing and Economic Development, the Jane Addams Resource Corporation was able to deliver a two and a half day kaizen event to right size the work area, improve the flow of materials, and eliminate non-value added activities. When asked if he had any additional comments, Dennis said “very professional.”

A 5S and cell design event was designed in collaboration with the client. The initial sort exercise created line of sight and improved communication, enabling visual management and eliminating 45 to 60 minutes per day in material handling. The set-in-order exercise led to the consolidation of tooling from five to two racks and the elimination of a barrier to material flow. The cell redesign and layout exercise reconfigured the layout to promote efficient material flow and point of use (POU) and established pre-staging areas for work in progress (WIP) and packing materials. The measurable impact included additional floor space, reduced material handling, and reduced scrap totaling over $15,000 in projected annual savings.

These numbers may not seem that spectacular, but as Dennis indicated these are actions that would not have been taken otherwise. Combine this with a teambuilding exercise that helps everyone understand their contribution to the success of the organization and a focus on practical exercises that meet class objectives and the intangible benefits begin to add up.  When asked if they had any additional projects that they might be interested in including in the next round of Multiple Company TIFWorks, Dennis stated that they would be interested in another 5S kaizen event to optimize work flow at their satellite facility also in Chicago.

Growing a manufacturing company is not just about increasing sales. Growth is about changing your strategy to improve both sales and profitability. New strategies require investment, so planning should always begin with finding out where the company is making or losing money.

The following outline describes an assessment process that was designed specifically for small and mid-size manufacturers (SMMs) who manufacture industrial products. It is based on the speaker’s real life experience in manufacturing and a difficult 5-year turnaround situation.

Prescription before diagnosis leads to malpractice. As a patient, you would not want a doctor to prescribe an expensive surgery without doing a careful diagnosis. This same principle applies to manufacturing companies, especially the fragile companies that have been hurt by foreign competition and relentless price discounting.

Deciding on a new growth strategy also requires good information on customers, competitors, and markets. This workshop will show you how to diagnose your company before you prescribe a growth strategy or invest money. The assessment can be tailored to the resources and size of the manufacturing company and is accomplished in 6 steps.

1. Financials – the relationship of sales, profits, and cash flow
2. Evaluation of costs, margins, and prices
3. Analysis of lost orders and current customers
4. Defining the competition
5. Defining the markets you are in
6. Evaluating possible growth strategies

This 4-hour workshop is an interactive event where the manufacturer asks questions on specific problems and the presenter offers solutions that the participant can take back to their plant. The speaker, Michael Collins, used the process described in his book Saving American Manufacturing to assess two industrial divisions that were losing money and market share. He developed a 5 year plan to turn around the divisions. Both Divisions doubled in sales and profitability in 5 years. Maximum 25 attendees.

Michael Collins is on a self-proclaimed mission to save US manufacturers, especially those in the industrial and technology sector, his specialty. He wants to change the tone and tenor of the conversation manufacturers are having about their future and the future of manufacturing in the United States. Why? Because he strongly believes that saving American manufacturing is the key to preventing the decline of living standards for the middle class and preventing other sectors of the economy from deteriorating.

This event will be hosted by the Jane Addams Resource Corporation and is co-sponsored by IMEC. It will take place on Thursday, October 28, 2010 from 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM. To register, visit http://industrialchicago.eventbrite.com/.

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Welcome to Industrial Chicago and thank you for taking a look. You’re probably asking yourself, “Does Chicago really need another industrial initiative?” With all of the demands on your time, what could possibly rise above the noise?

Industrial Chicago is a cluster-based economic development project that complements our sector strategy for workforce development. It’s a return to our roots in industrial retention, but with a twist. By expanding the scope of our job training services to include management training, we are now able to address long-term economic development goals. We understand the competitive environment in which you operate and we want to facilitate the process by which you create and retain jobs.

Process improvement and increasing sales and profitability may seem like old saws, but we hope to introduce a nuance that will be compelling enough to drive you to action. We have gained a reputation for high quality service to the metalworking industry. We have assessed the workforce needs of many companies in your industry and delivered solutions that have improved shop floor controls and order execution. We are now applying that same level of care to order capture and planning processes.

We are leveraging the expertise of industry consultants with years of experience to bring you a cost effective solution to your management training needs. When possible we will leverage public resources to minimize your cost and maximize your return on investment. We want to help you manage and market your capacity so you can continue being a valued asset to the community.