DK SPEC : Presentation
DK Spec is a market leader in the conception, manufacturing and commercialization of industrial cutting tools and specialized equipment. They sell their products across to the lumber industries of North America, Europe and Australia. DK Spec employs 90 people and generates more than $20M in yearly revenue. Since its foundation in 1985, DK Spec has been continuously engaged in the development and production of innovative top quality products.
Initial Situation
DK Spec identified an opportunity to improve its performance in “assembled” projects. These projects involve the creation and assembly of non-standard complex pieces of equipment in a very short time. This necessitates a close coordination between the engineering department and the production line. It was necessary for DK Spec to eliminate delays and inefficiencies created by a heavy management process to provide the best possible experience to their clients. DK Spec decided it was necessary to provide their managers with new tools to increase control of operations and improve communication between managers.
Solutions
The implementation of Tervene’s team building app enabled the DK Spec team to develop their management methods from reactive to proactive. The individual coaching provided by Tervene was especially beneficial to improve the skills of junior supervisors who had yet to be trained in the necessities of their new functions.
Results
The new habits of supervisors and the openness of Tervene’s management system has already brought to light several recurring issues and improvement opportunities.
- The rigorous follow-ups helped create solutions to old problems that were known by all but had not yet been solved.
- The Gemba Walks are quicker, more regular and detect more problems than ever.
- Supervisors’ daily walking distance (used at DK Spec to approximate time lost in transit by managers) dropped from 15 000 to 8000 steps.
- Each issue detected is traceable to a specific time, place, person of origin and now has pictures attached.
- Recurring issues detected at every level of engineering or production are transformed into improvement opportunities within hours of having been detected.
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Thomas and Sandro leading improvement with Tervene at DK Spec
Meanwhile, business units improved their communications with the help of better prepared and easily tracked meetings. Tervene’s Meeting tool enables collaboration towards effective meetings and rigorous follow-up of improvement plans. With Tervene’s help DK Spec is now well on the way to standardize and optimize its work processes and to achieve business operation excellence.
Witness statements
“Shift transfers between day and evening shifts were relatively simple because there were meetings between them. Between night and morning and between Sunday and Monday there was no communication. We would lose lots of time looking for information. Now, this has been resolved. Communication is systematic and fluid thanks to Tervene.” Mr. Sandro Caruso, Production Manager
“Our management team got easily involved in the Tervene project because it gives us a frame of reference to work with. Plus, it helps to gradually eliminate the need for paper-based management.” Mr. Sandro Caruso, Production Manager
