Client situation & approach
Our client is a sawmill producing 85 000 sqm of customized sawn timber for carpentry. The sawmill was at risk of being closed due to a declining trend in efficiency in the production process deriving from a high amount of breakdowns, shortstops and quality problems. To stay in business our client needed to increase efficiency from 30 % to 34 %. After conducting an analysis to identify the biggest losses, cross-functional improvement teams were put together to eliminate losses and improve efficiency. In addition to this, all employees were trained in improvement methods.
Results
- Efficiency was increased from 30 % to 38 % on average per week
- Sawmill still operating thanks to the extensive improvement
- Awareness throughout the whole organization on breakdowns, shortstops and quality problems and how these factors affect equipment efficiency
