How do you consistently deliver booth ends parts when deadlines are shorter than production timelines? It helps to rethink the problem and ask an entirely new question.
THE CHALLENGE
Laminate Works guarantees to fill every customer's order on time, as expected. In this case, our customer knew exactly which parts they would need for each order, but they didn't know how many of each part they would need at any one time. It was possible to have up to 5 orders stacked on top of each other. They also knew lead times would be short, potentially exceeding the capacity of what we could produce in their timeframe. The easy solution was to push back on this customer’s timeline or to ask for more lead time up-front. However, that wouldn't help solve the problem, and it's not now we do business. So we had to come up with an alternate plan.
THE QUESTION
Can we change our manufacturing process to make sure we’re never more than seven days away from delivering finished parts for up to five restaurants?
THE SOLUTION
Now, at all times, our warehouse holds the raw materials to make booth ends for no less than five restaurants and HPL laminated panels in all required colors to make booth ends for at least two restaurants.
When orders come in, we use already-laminated panels to make the requested parts. We replace the HPL panels using the in-stock raw materials. Then, we order the raw materials needed to replenish inventory. This way, our customer’s booth-end orders can be shipped out within four or five days, meeting or exceeding deadlines.
THE RESULTS
To date, we’ve delivered over 300 orders to our customer and achieved a 92.40% Quality On Time rating. This number represents ANY issue that might effect our client receiving their order on time and to their satisfaction, including: supplier delays, natural disasters and inclement weather. Providing this level of service allows our customer to keep their promises to their customers, re-open their locations on time, and drive profitability and growth.
If you could benefit from working with a manufacturing partner who values communication and delivers as promised
Learn more about our capabilities and the industries we serve.
