Whiting Door Sees Big Improvement Handling Orders for Custom Products

Whiting Door Sees Big Improvement Handling Orders for Custom Products

"We have been able to build upon the framework implemented via this project and use the system that we had developed with Insyte as we continue to refine our processes. Our work with Insyte Consulting helped to ground our team and gave our key people the tools necessary to achieve realistic goals."
Alexandria Whiting, Project Team Leader

Supervisor Brian Skorupski assembling panels for rail car interiors at Whiting’s CLP Division.

Firm Benefits

• Quotation time decreased by approximately one-third.
• Engineering Change Orders reduced by 50%.
• Production startup time reduced by over 50%.
• Customer complaints of non-conforming product and customer returns largely eradicated.
• Whiting Custom Laminated Panels ranked in the 98th percentile or higher on Vendor Scorecards for major customers.
• Increased accountability for each stage of the order process among team members.
• Improved teamwork and communication.

In 1953, T. C. Whiting developed the first practical roll-up door for trucks and trailers and founded what is now Whiting Door Manufacturing Corporation in Akron, New York. Today, Whiting is the leading supplier of roll-up doors in the transportation industry. They have also expanded operations to include swing doors and a custom shop that specializes in laminated panel designs. Whiting Door Manufacturing Corp. headquarters are still located in Akron, and the company continues to be led by the Whiting family.

Since introducing the roll-up door to the trucking and transportation industry, Whiting has grown to have several factory locations across the United States, as well as multiple global partners who manufacture under the Whiting nameplate around the globe. Whiting Door Manufacturing Corporation prides itself on manufacturing quality products in the United States.

Situation – Internal changes needed to improve quality, efficiency & responsiveness to requests for quotations, change orders and order processing

Whiting offers both standard and custom designed products. Manufacturing custom products presents challenges such as modified production processes, identifying and qualifying new suppliers, and developing new product designs. In addition, custom products often involve customers modifying their own designs, which can lead to change orders during the quotation phase and even after orders are placed. Changes to designs during manufacturing can be expensive, time delaying, and disruptive for both customer and manufacturer.

Whiting identified the need to improve its quotation, design and order processes in its Custom Laminated Panels (CLP) division to reduce the probability and impact of change orders while still meeting customer expectations and maintaining profit margins. Insyte Consulting and Whiting developed a project scope to meet the following objectives:

• Streamline the process for CLP sales quotations, ordering, and design changes to insure a faster and higher quality response to customers.
• Establish and meet acceptable lead times for new products that are developed in response to customer requests, market opportunities and internal R&D.
• Design and implement a thorough and uniform quotation system that is aligned with the company's manufacturing system and capabilities.
• Improve alignment and coordination of company departments throughout the quotation, order processing, manufacturing, and delivery processes.

Solution – Improving Whole Value Stream:  Sales –Quotation –Order Processing –Production

Whiting assembled a 10-person cross-functional team that included key personnel from sales, engineering, purchasing, logistics, information technology, operations, human resources and executive management. Team members were located in two separate buildings and some had not previously collaborated on such a broad cross-functional project. Consequently, there was some initial skepticism within the group.

The emerging team began by jointly developing Current State Maps of the Quote Development and Order Fulfillment processes for both existing and new products. This map development helped the team members understand the "big picture" and to appreciate each others' functions, roles and responsibilities. The group then set about to identify, prioritize and implement a long list of opportunities to improve these processes. These opportunities were distilled into a handful of pivotal, high impact goals and related action items. The Insyte consultant worked with Alexandria Whiting, the project's team leader, to develop a system to expedite completion of action items by team members between team meetings. The team met regularly to report progress, share improvements, and to resolve issues. As the project proceeded and improvements were successfully made, the group not only became more comfortable working together, but also developed an increased momentum for executing change, and confidence in making progress on the project.

As improvements were put into place, the Whiting team developed written procedures to clarify and document the processes and activities. This ensured consistent and standardized use of the new procedures, as well as a clear and cohesive understanding of each team member's individual roles and responsibilities. The team also developed templates, checklists and other aids to improve consistency, quality and efficiency. One impressive improvement was the development of a detailed computerized quoting system that addressed the many variations in design that affect cost. The collection of improved cost data improved the accuracy of quotes and ensured that all details were accounted for in the purchasing and production process.

Enhancing Whiting's Website for Sales Growth

With an increased confidence in handling more orders with the existing staff, the team asked the Insyte consultant to assist in making improvements to Whiting's website to attract more customer leads. The goals of this portion of the project were (1) to increase the likelihood that Whiting would be found by someone searching the web for custom panel manufacturers, (2) to quickly convey that Whiting can meet their unique requirements for custom panels, and (3) to lead the viewer to contact Whiting for more information. The driving philosophy was to develop the website as a key marketing tool for engaging persons searching the web for custom panel suppliers.

The team worked to:

• Define Whiting's target audience – identify, understand and prioritize target applications, the top needs of prospective customers and their supplier selection criteria.
• Understand how competitors are marketing themselves.
• Develop a positioning message to differentiate Whiting from the competition and addresses the top needs of the targeted applications.
• Enhance the website's design to incorporate best practice features that encourage visitors to contact the manufacturer.
• Include appropriate keywords to optimize the website's relevance to search engines (SEO – Search Engine Optimization).

Results

Almost a year after project completion, the impact of this project can still be felt at Whiting. Alexandria Whiting notes, "We have been able to build upon the framework implemented via this project and use the system that we had developed with Insyte as we continue to refine our processes. Our work with Insyte Consulting helped to ground our team and gave our key people the tools necessary to achieve realistic goals."

• Quotation time has decreased by approximately one-third due to enforcement of now documented standard procedures and the overall streamlining of Whiting's quotation system.
• Engineering Change Orders are much less frequent due to thorough analysis of customer specifications during the quotation stage rather than at the order entry stage.
• The improved quotation system has reduced production startup time by over 50%.
• Customer complaints of non-conforming product and customer returns have been largely eradicated.
• Increased customer satisfaction with Whiting meeting the delivery commitments they initially state. For the past three quarters, Whiting Custom Laminated Panels has ranked in the 98th percentile or higher on Vendor Scorecards for our major customers.
• Increased documentation of customer order information helped to cultivate accountability for each stage of the order process amongst team members.
• The teamwork and communication continues as the Whiting team maintains a higher level of cross functional coordination and operational performance as they identify and make further improvements.

The CLP group has now become a model within the company for the other product groups to emulate.

A portion of the funding for this project was provided by National Grid’s Manufacturing Productivity Program.