“Knowles Precision Devices (KPD) has benefited from training, coaching, advising, and engineering support from TDO. TDO advisors introduced Toyota Kata to KPD and it has become a primary driver of daily continuous improvement for us. Employees are actively asking for Kata training and coaching. That signals a significant cultural shift toward total employee engagement. With TDO’s help we have been able to show significant improvements in key performance indicators such as an over 50% decrease in lead time and a 20% improvement in unit costs. The associated changes in culture and communication are helping retain employees which is critical for our growing business.”

– Nick Drogo, Director of IT & Continuous Improvement

Results

• Past Due orders were reduced by 66%
• On-time to promise improved from 56% to 83 % and is trending toward a goal of 98%
• Over $750,000 of cost savings and value has been generated.
• Units cost has improved by 20%
• Lead time has decreased by more than 50%
• $10,000,000 in additional business supported

Situation

Knowles has been experiencing significant growth and faces even more in a technically challenging industry. Manufacturing and support processes that were acceptable at smaller scale were being overwhelmed by growth plant wide resulting in decreased delivery performance and customer satisfaction potentially throttling future growth.

Solution

TDO advisors assisted the Precision Devices plant through a combination of onsite coaching, training/skills development, mentoring, facilitating and engineering guidance and support. Toyota Kata was used as the primary approach to develop a culture of daily improvement that pulled in the training and skills needed to reach challenges real time. Engineering and TPM expertise of the primary TDO advisor was used to assist Knowles in increasing machine OEE and extending the useful life of existing machines. LSS Green and Black Belt training and coaching helped drive projects with significant impacts towards completion.

Company Profile

Knowles Precision Devices designs and manufactures Capacitors, RF Filters, EMI Filters, Resonators, non-magnetic components and advanced dielectric materials for use in military, aerospace/avionics, medical equipment, implantable devices, EMI and connector filtering, oil exploration, instrumentation, industrial electronics, automotive, telecoms and data networking applications.