PROC5000/Anthony Vatterott/SPARTAN HEAT EXCHANGERS, INC/Dalton 1
SPARTAN HEAT EXCHANGERS, INC.
Rick Coyne is the Materials Manager at Spartan, Inc. Until recently, the company has benefitted from excellence in customization and specialized research & development of design with full-service custom unit fabrication. This has historically allowed Spartan to maintain a positive rapport with clients, as their approach allowed for meeting the client’s specific needs. However, the industry trend has changed and competition from international sources has pressured Spartan’s Executive Management to revise the fiveyear development plan to compete with Korean and European firms. The standard for the industry has shifted from customized solutions to a low-price, highly-standardized market. This is not in line with Spartan’s current initiatives and Max Brisco, vice president of manufacturing, has solicited Rick to provide a detailed plan on how to achieve savings and efficiency in a transition to a more competitive manufacturing structure. The most critical step in this reformation is to redesign workflow and job order processing from a job order/job ticket method to a more streamlined and standardized process. This will require re-engineering the workflow of the manufacturing workforce, and offers an opportunity for the research & design component to redirect their efforts away from customized products and toward a working internal manufacturing process.
The use of job shop stations will be modified into a modular workflow, where multiple stations can be working simultaneously in a hybrid method of standardized and modular manufacturing. Next, the standardization of raw materials and the reduction of material suppliers will allow the company to take advantage of added pricing leverage due to higher volume
PROC5000/Anthony Vatterott/SPARTAN HEAT