ABOUT WILSON ELECTRONICS
Wilson Electronics designs and manufactures easy-to-install cellular signal boosters to help mobile cellular users improve their cellular service and reduce dropped calls in buildings and vehicles. Based in St. George, Utah, Wilson Electronics has 45 employees.
THE CHALLENGE:
With business increasing rapidly, Wilson needed to find immediate ways to manufacture more products in a shorter timeframe without compromising quality. Looking to implement projects quickly and with sustainable impact, the company decided to contract Utah’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP), a NIST MEP affiliate, for a training series on Lean 101 Manufacturing.
MEP CENTER’s ROLE:
Wilson team members from all levels and departments participated in the training. MEP used hands-on simulations, helping Wilson employees see the direct impacts of their newly gained skills. Each month the Wilson team designed and implemented Kaizen improvement projects and shared the results across the company. Over the course of 10 months, Wilson’s team delivered 45 Lean projects. Multiple workplace organization and visual management standards projects transformed the facility. The projects went beyond the manufacturing floor and into the office, where teams reduced turnaround time for marketing material and processing sales orders. Wilson is using the savings to retain jobs, improve plant equipment, and possibly bring some manufacturing back from overseas. As a result of the training, Wilson employees are constantly looking for better and faster ways to perform tasks and improve the bottom line.
Results:
- $1M in cost savings
- Retained 5 jobs
