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Lean Manufacturing Training Triples Production While Eliminating Overtime
With the help of: Arkansas Manufacturing Solutions
About
Started in 1985, WWBeds Custom Furniture provides their customers high quality products at affordable prices. Each custom designed piece is constructed with quality and function in mind. Founder Gary Davis began operations under the name of Waterful Wonderbeds and has been in the business for over 40 years. Gary started producing furniture in his garage and has been manufacturing quality furniture since. Prior to that he gained quality experience building aircraft interiors.
These days, Chris Davis, 3rd-generation builder and owner, personally does the designing and some of the building. He is responsible for every custom-designed piece of furniture that is produced at WWBeds. Chris, the eldest son of WWBeds' founding owner, Gary Davis, has been in the family business for almost 30 years. A graduate of the University of Central Arkansas at Conway, Chris holds a bachelor's degree in business management. He has taken courses in aircraft modification and installation, which have provided beneficial skills that he uses daily in his custom woodwork.
The Challenge
Our success has been driven by two main factors: increasing the capacities of our existing personnel and expanding our team through standardization. The most significant change has been in our production capacity. Historically, we were constrained by our output; while we had ample sales, we couldn't produce the product quickly enough. By analyzing our processes through a value stream perspective, we were able to balance production more effectively. Learning to create job instructions enabled us to delegate tasks previously known only to a few, thereby boosting our production capacity even more. Additionally, the skills gained from applying KATA have empowered us to address specific challenges, such as quality control and improving our work environment. We wouldn't have survived the 'COVID months' without the skills and knowledge we gained from our learning. Additionally, the project consultant reached out with weekly calls to offer their assistance, which was invaluable.