ABOUT BOULDER INNOVATIONS
Boulder Innovations, located in the rural town of Bicknell, Utah, manufactures wooden crafts and home décor items. Boulder Innovations is committed to keeping products 100 percent Made in America as they have seen the benefits it brings to their small community. With approximately 3 employees, Boulder Innovations is committed to offering their customers quality merchandise, trendy designs, excellent pricing and value, and superb customer service.
THE CHALLENGE:
With their expanding business, Boulder Innovation’s owner was interested in exploring efficiency and growing production. He was also trying to determine if it was necessary to hire more employees or work with their current workforce in a different way. MEP Utah, a NIST MEP affiliate, was brought in to conduct training to assist with the situation.
MEP CENTER’s ROLE:
MEP came into Boulder Innovation’s manufacturing facility to do training on Lean Manufacturing. The course was very beneficial to the company. Living in a very rural part of Utah, none of the employees had ever had any opportunity to learn Lean principles. MEP was very organized and in one day were able to give everyone a basic understanding of Lean Manufacturing. After some classroom time the employees moved out to where they could do some actual hands on work. This was an excellent simulation of how the employees need to work together as a team. Boulder Innovation’s owner learned that hiring more staff was not the only option. Through the training he learned that many times they are not utilizing their staff to its full potential.
Results:
- $40,000 in retained sales
- $20,000 in labor savings
- $115,000 in new equipment made possible
