Decagon Devices
Decagon Devices creates culture of continuous improvements thanks to work of Impact Washington
Company Profile
Decagon Devices is a manufacturer of water and soil measuring devices located in Pullman, Washington. They have been in business for over 20 years and currently employ 50 people.
Situation
Decagon Devices is a leader in the water and soil measurement devices industry. They manufacture devices for three industry sectors – food, agriculture research and commercial agriculture – and about one-half of their business is international. They are an industry leader with few competitors that is continually looking to grow their business and maintain the high quality of their products. After attending a Principles of Lean Manufacturing class presented by Impact Washington, they thought that Lean could help them with their long and short-term goals and contacted Impact Washington for assistance.
Solution
Impact Washington brought in Karl Webber of Emergent Technologies (and former project manager with Impact Washington) to do value stream mapping and several Kaizen events. The goals were to address quality, create cells in certain areas, decrease lead time in the repair department and control inventory.
Results
The results of the Lean initiative at Decagon have been great. They include:
- Increased quality in the stenciling area from 35% to 95% by changing from hand stenciling to machine stenciling
- Maintained finished goods inventory levels while increasing sales by 50%
- Reduced turns in the repair department from 120 days to 10 days
- Created cells in several areas that have increased productivity