Operational Excellence

Leaders at Our Lady of Victory Homes of Charity knew they could make improvements to direct mail fundraising by refining accounting processes. They also wanted an accurate depiction of the profit, or lack thereof, of each appeal. Adjusting their costing model accomplished both and more: it convinced them to allocate similar attention to their maintenance and power generation services.

At Keller Technology Corporation (KTC) in Tonawanda, staying ahead of the curve is crucial to maintaining and accumulating customers. Key to the game plan is exposing process inefficiencies and conceiving the solutions that destroy them. To invigorate and reinforce this continuous improvement mentality, KTC frequently requests TCIE’s guidance.

When the Girl Scouts of the USA set out to halt and reverse membership declines, it launched a Customer Engagement Initiative to merge people, processes and technology. To avoid disruptions experienced by other councils, the Girl Scouts of Western New York began with a comprehensive review of the entire organization. The approach earned them the nickname “business process queens,” and spurred confidence in achieving broad buy-in for future changes.

On the heels of expanding its general practice, dental and psychosocial services, the Community Health Center of Buffalo, Inc. (CHCB) anticipated a surge in patients due to an impending facility acquisition. CHCB prepared for increased patient activity by achieving greater efficiency with an assessment of the organization’s operations and employment of the Lean Six Sigma methodology.

Faced with increased pressure from New York State budget constraints and other economic demands, Williamsville Central School District examined its overall operational effectiveness with Lean Six Sigma tools. Assessments, brainstorming activities and training saved money and improved operations in the transportation, facilities and child nutrition system departments of Western New York’s largest suburban school district.

Hebeler Corporation – a designer and fabricator of custom pressure vessels, heat exchangers and piping systems – requires continual focus on quality and cost effectiveness to remain competitive. Lean, Six Sigma, ISO and student assistance has been the answer. A new culture and deployment of a structured method helped the company quadruple annual revenues from $20 million to $80 million over nine years.

An assessment of Glauber Equipment Corporation’s quality system confirmed the industrial distributor of pumps and air compressors needed an efficiency makeover. Development of a formalized business management system and implementation of Lean initiatives helped the company persevere through the economic recession of 2008 and emerge as a stronger, more profitable competitor.

Taylor Devices, Inc., designs and manufactures many standard and custom shock absorbers that target safety. The necessity to adhere to numerous regulations, and operate under a significant amount of reporting procedures and stringent specifications, led them to ISO 9001 assistance. Taylor has knocked on TCIE’s door many times since, for further ISO standard guidance to Lean implementation and training.

The management team of Eberl Iron Works, Inc. knew that updating business practices would benefit the metal fabrication and industrial framing company. Avenues to improvement were easy to identify, such as clearing floor space in the constrained production facility and improving product documentation and web presence. Eberl’s partnership with TCIE has included Lean efficiency improvements, CAD drafting support, and soft skills training.