Changes Pay Off for Hilliard Corporation

The Hilliard Corporation manufactures motion control products, oil filtration and reclaiming equipment, starters for industrial engines and gas turbines, and filter presses used in the food and beverage industry. Founded in 1905, the company employs approximately 610 people at three manufacturing sites in Elmira.

To address emerging customer requirements, maintain a competitive edge, and position the company for growth, two years ago Hilliard management decided to more extensively apply the techniques of lean enterprise and quality management. “In particular, we wanted to focus on changes that would improve our lead time and on-time delivery performance,” said Steven Chesebro, Executive Vice President.

In launching this long-term improvement initiative, the company recognized the importance of outside expertise and assistance. “We saw lean in use during an event at Kennedy Valve and started thinking about how it could help us,” Hilliard President Gene Ebbrecht said.

Chesebro had previously worked at Kennedy Valve and was impressed with the before-and-after impact of lean, which focuses on maximizing customer value while minimizing waste. He learned that AM&T had helped Kennedy during the early stages of their program, so it was soon after and with confidence that Hilliard engaged AM&T Principal Consultant Carol Miller to begin their lean journey.

AM&T provided training in lean enterprise concepts for Hilliard employees, combining lecture and hands-on manufacturing simulation to illustrate the impacts of implementing the concepts on a simple manufacturing process. Through Value Stream Mapping, Hilliard employees learned to map out the company’s primary value streams. Teams gathered data to put together a picture map of their current state. Then, by examining where waste and other issues were occurring, the teams developed future state maps and the corresponding improvement plans.

Over an 18-month period, Miller and other AM&T experts conducted Rapid Improvement Events and other workshops to address specific issues and non-value added activities. Hilliard implemented lean concepts and tools in various product lines and areas in all three plants. Most of the improvements required no capital expenditures.

Hilliard’s machine shop was also targeted, where two of the first steps were eliminating clutter and cleaning the machine tools. “A lot of it was common sense, but the gains were huge,” said Ken Hunsicker, a manager in Hilliard’s machine shop. “(Working on lean projects) created a sense of teamwork and it’s something that is now contagious.”

Chesebro explained that one specific goal was to reduce the amount of time it took to process, manufacture and ship an order. “Before lean, in trying to meet customer needs, we had to add staff, increase overtime, and outsource some work. This year our sales and production are up, yet our on-time deliveries have improved by 25%, and that’s without having to increase staff, schedule overtime, or outsource any work.”

Concurrent with the lean projects, AM&T’s Lloyd Johnson guided Hilliard in preparing compliant Quality Management System documentation, reviewed the company’s existing documentation for ISO compliance, and provided detailed feedback regarding changes necessary to meet the ISO requirements - which lead to a successful ISO 9001 certification. Additionally, Jim Cunningham from AM&T conducted a sales training event for the Hilliard management and sales team, focusing on growth and profitability.

Today, Hilliard reports improved communication between employees and management, improved morale, and improved market and competitive position. The company’s pride in these achievements was one reason the doors were opened on National Manufacturing Day last month to show the public the improvements to its manufacturing processes.

According to Chesebro, the company’s accounting department has confirmed the positive financial impact of the lean improvements. Hilliard also reported to AM&T that the lean effort has had a very positive impact on plant efficiencies, inventory and total production capacity.

“We are extremely satisfied with AM&T’s services and expertise. I expect the investment we are making today will serve us very well not only in the near term but well into the future,” said Hilliard President Gene Ebbrecht.

See this and other newsletter articles at http://amt-mep.org/files/8913/8365/8626/2013-11.pdf

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