Located in Garland, Texas, KARLEE is a contract manufacturer of precision sheet metal and machined components for customers in the telecommunications, semiconductor and medical-equipment industries. Since beginning in 1974 as a one-man, garage-based machine shop, the company, which employs 550 people, has developed into a one-stop supplier of manufacturing services. Its work ranges from initial design and prototyping to painting and assembly to integration of cabling and power elements.
To guide improvements in manufacturing and service performance, the company makes extensive use of benchmarking studies. Among other things, these comparisons help to eliminate potential blind spots resulting from difficulties in gathering information on competitor performance and capabilities. Annual goals are aligned with the company's five key business drivers: customer satisfaction; operational performance; financial performance; community service; and team member safety, satisfaction, and development. Members of the Steering Committee work with functional and cross-functional teams to translate the goals into improvement projects with measurable objectives.
Read the caselet carefully and answer the following questions:
1. What are the various steps taken by KARLEE to improve manufacturing and service performance?
2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of using benchmarking as an improvement tool?
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