CLIENT SUCCESS: Penmar Industries
Norwalk, Connecticut
16 employees
Company Profile
For the last 42 years,
Penmar
Industries, Inc. has earned a reputation for excellence as a
leading minority supplier of high quality labels, tapes and
packaging supplies. Headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut, Penmar
is committed to providing superb service and customer satisfaction
in every product they design and manufacture. Four more than four
decades, clients have depended on Penmar's expertise to help them
create custom solutions to meet their diverse product needs.
Situation
Back in 2003, Tony Soegaard, president of Penmar Industries,
made the strategic business decision to become registered to ISO
9001:2000. Although achieving certification was not mandated by any
particular client, reaching the quality standard became a primary
goal since all customers would ultimately benefit from Penmar's
commitment to quality. The company's management team also wanted to
advance the registration process before certification became
required by clients. Penmar Industries was already known for
providing great customer service but wanted to take a look at how
to improve efficiency within the company. Their two major
priorities were achieving ISO certification and focusing on Lean
implementation.
Solution
The responsibility was given to Rick Cipot, Operations and
General Manager at Penmar Industries.
Rick looked to CONNSTEP for assistance by contacting Ray
Snyder, CONNSTEP's Team Leader of Quality Services, who assigned
service provider Marty Millea to the task of preparing Penmar for
ISO certification. The management team was initially apprehensive
about adding demanding ISO requirements to the already complex
daily responsibilities of meeting customer demands and operating
the company, yet knew that achieving certification was critical to
future success.
Early in the process, Marty examined Penmar Industries' documentation and practices to determine the degree of compliance to the current ISO9001:2000 standard. Penmar saw that Marty was dedicated to making ISO 9001:2000 approachable, accessible and an affordable solution for the company. He provided ISO-required training and orientation to engage every staff member in the process of improving safety, delivery and lead time through utilizing the tools of documenting, tracking and evaluating. Penmar Industries soon adopted the philosophy that every staff member is a vital part of the quality control team. This outlook was instrumental in empowering employees to realize that no one is impervious to error and all personnel must watch for mistakes to catch them early on.
CONNSTEP's service provider also assisted Penmar's management in the writing of all process documentation as well as the company's quality policy manual. As a result of Marty's assistance, Penmar successfully reached its goal of becoming ISO 9001:2000 certified, and CONNSTEP continues to play an instrumental role by conducting the company's internal quality auditing processes.
Realizing that ISO and Lean should go hand in hand, Penmar soon decided to complement their ISO certification with a renewed focus on implementing companywide Lean practices. They again turned to CONNSTEP to assist with their continuous improvement efforts in the office and on the shop floor. CONNSTEP's Lean Consultants, including Matin Karbassioon, organized a six week program to work with every employee on improving operating processes, employing a 5S system, and utilizing skills developed from a Kaizen Training and Process Improvement event. Although the initial stages were challenging, Penmar employees realized the benefits of having ISO in place, since there were less obstacles to applying Lean practices. Lean allowed them to become more organized in individual and collective roles, eliminate waste and provide outstanding service to clients.
Results
As a result of becoming ISO 9001:2000 registered, Penmar
Industries has become a more profitable and efficient company than
it was several years ago. The time they dedicated to ISO continues
to result in cost cutting, profit building and time saving
throughout the company.
With ISO 9001:2000 registration, they have retained clients and acquired new accounts; $100,000 in new sales and $500,000 in retained sales following their certification, estimating that for every dollar spent with CONNSTEP, they have earned twelve back. They have also seen $5,000 in cost savings and have invested an additional $10,000 in workforce practices.
As a result of ISO certification and routine audits, Penmar has established a system for better documentation, traceability, and accountability in all areas of the production and delivery processes.
Through the enterprise-wide Lean training, Penmar Industries has improved workplace organization and significantly raised all of its 5S scores in less than three months. By applying Lean practices and investing in continuous improvement efforts, Penmar has been able to survive the recession and become more efficient in their practices-realizing that change is hard, but absolutely worth it. By transforming the office into a Lean workspace, Penmar's office staff was able to effectively reduce paper load by 28%. Although the company still faces a multitude of challenges, they know that their improvement efforts will ensure them a successful future.