Winsted, Connecticut
45 Employees  

Company Profile
Founded in 1978, BNB Manufacturing began as a one man shop in the business of producing small machined parts for the Aerospace Industry. As president and founder of BNB, Bernie Nanni launched the company with an emphasis on innovative design and creating high quality products; this standard has sustained the company through three decades of creativity and growth. Over the years, BNB has maintained its aerospace focus while integrating CNC machining and expanding its capabilities into the Power Generation market.

Having grown into a strong mid-sized manufacturer with 45 employees, BNB has developed more than 2,000 distinct parts and assemblies for a number of major clients nationwide. All operations are monitored by the company's engineering team, which works closely with BNB clients on product design and development. Since its inception, the company has been committed to creating a culture of quality and growth in its internal processes from shop floor production to top-level decision making.

Situation
As BNB Manufacturing diversified in scope and product line, the company saw the need to adapt to the growing competition in their broadening market. Bernie and his management team recognized that increasing efficiency and reducing costs depended on implementing Lean initiatives while upholding a high standard of quality for all products. While several staff members had undergone some training in Lean Manufacturing approaches, a BNB customer introduced the management team to the value of adopting Lean practices on a companywide level.

In 2008, Bernie reached out to CONNSTEP after learning about their consulting work through his industry networking efforts, and was put in contact with Jack Crane and Roy Laun. Bernie knew that BNB needed to improve their processes if they wanted to continue to grow and acquire new clients while continuing to satisfy and retain current customers.

He saw two significant needs to be addressed before his company could move forward in creating and sustaining a culture of continuous improvement. The first initiative, focused on management, would require developing a strategic business plan that included clarifying staff roles, assigning individual and collective responsibilities and a establishing a timeline of short and long term goals. After gaining the skills necessary to help the management team become more effective, Bernie knew that a drive towards a Lean Enterprise must follow as a company-wide effort, requiring active participation and commitment from all members of his BNB team.

BNB Manufacturing Co., Inc. Client Profile (.pdf)

Solution
With thanks to the Connecticut Department of Labor, BNB Manufacturing obtained funding for the services and trainings they received from CONNSTEP. Jack Crane, CONNSTEP's Director of Growth Services, initially worked with BNB to launch an assessment of key processes and personnel to analyze current activities and opportunities for future growth. For three months prior to starting their companywide Lean initiatives, Jack met with the leadership team to discuss management interests, current capabilities within the organization, and how to hone existing skills to meet the organizational requirements for company growth.

With additional assistance from CONNSTEP's service provider, Carmen Brickner, the management group learned how to best transition with personnel. Additional discussions included assessing where management members were interested in progressing over a five year time period, learning why they were committed to their positions, and determining training needs to best fulfill expectations. BNB management also addressed marketing needs and worked to clarify the company's mission statement.

Through working with Jack and Carmen, the management team's eyes were opened to the value of thinking in more creative ways to initiate a series of small changes in order to produce the looked for, long term major impact.

Following the organizational assessment, BNB Manufacturing launched a companywide Lean initiative to engage all employees in the process of creating positive change. Of particular focus was the need to maintain BNB's high standard for products while cutting costs and improving process flow. Roy Laun, one of CONNSTEP's Lean Delivery Team members, worked with the staff to establish individual and collective responsibilities to promote ongoing continuous improvement. Roy visited the facility frequently to train the staff and guide them through various Lean projects. These included setup reduction, techniques to improve process flow, developing a value stream map of the company's engineering process, kaizen events, cellular flow implementation, and 5S organization events.

As a result of Roy's training and team-building efforts, the BNB staff gained the skills needed to continue to form project teams within the company, collaborating on Lean initiatives and proactively engaging others in innovative ways to increase efficiency. Although BNB initially struggled with engaging personnel unwilling to change the status quo, eventually the staff grew more receptive as the training and projects continued. Gradually they became committed to a culture of continuous improvement.

In forming project teams, BNB management requested volunteers and nominated staff members to participate. It was encouraging to see which employees emerged as leaders, considering that many were hesitant about participating at the beginning. BNB Manufacturing also formed a Workforce Development Team, which was tasked with developing the programs needed to provide consistent and high-quality training to new and current employees to insure a skilled workforce.

Results
Following CONNSTEP's work with BNB Manufacturing, the company's leadership and staff were able to move forward with a clearer vision of business goals and strategies for continuous improvement. As a result of the Lean Enterprise training and Organizational Assessment, BNB Manufacturing anticipated an increase in $1,200,000 in sales over the next twelve months, and expected to retain 41 jobs within the company.

The company also planned to invest $795,000 in plant equipment, information systems, and workforce training. The management team reaped tremendous benefits from the organizational assessment and strategic planning efforts. In addition, another beneficial aspect of CONNSTEP's involvement was the company's decision to seek input and ideas directly from employees throughout the organization.

Although they encountered struggles and obstacles throughout their Lean journey, Bernie Nanni and his team developed the self discipline and drive to maintain positive change, while continuing to be proactive about implementing new methods for process improvements.

The company, again with further assistance from CONNSTEP, is currently working to becoming registered to the new AS9100C quality standard.