Persistence and Perseverance Drives a Lean Transformation

Company Profile

ControlTek, Inc. is a Vancouver, Washington manufacturer of custom-printed circuit boards, each unique to the needs of the end product. ControlTek Inc. was founded in 1971 by George LaFrazia in Portland, Oregon.

When George retired in July of 2000, his oldest son, Andy LaFrazia became President. Prior to this, Andy had served as VP of Operations and VP of Engineering for the company.

Today, ControlTek is one of the leading electronics design and manufacturing providers in the Northwest. Our experienced staff and impressive range of electronics design, manufacturing, and test capabilities allow us to serve a broad range of industries from consumer products to highly technical and regulated industries including Medical and Aviation/Space and Defense (ASD).

Situation

ControlTek contacted NIST MEP affiliate, Impact Washington, seeking continuous improvement initiatives that would help them maintain their competitive stature.

Lean Manufacturing did not initially seem like a worthy option for them because management considered their products too unique. Impact Washington convinced them that lean training could work for the company.

Solution

ControlTek worked with the Impact Washington team of resources to initiate Lean 101 training and Lean Language training for their employees. They used Kaizen improvement sessions to develop common objectives and annualized goals as well as execution plans. They standardized what they could, worked to eliminate waste wherever feasible and found new opportunities for cost reduction and containment. They use the lean tools and language to run their organization, making it the standard practice. They also learned the Kaizen process so they could have employee-run events in order to facilitate continuous improvement opportunities regularly. They used lean training and lean manufacturing to secure their competitive position and improve their business processes on an ongoing basis.