'Cross-training' to speed manufacturing response

Electrical Apparatus, Sep 2005

When Trans-Coil, Inc., of Milwaukee found it was running late, often weeks late, filling orders, it switched to "quick response" manufacturing methods to minimize the time it took for products to flow through the factory.

The first thing Trans-Coil did was to cross-train production workers to almost every job in the plant so they could switch jobs on a moment's notice.

"It was a huge change from the old days when employees rarely stepped out of their designated work areas," wrote Rick Barrett in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "Under the new method, employees are much more involved with the entire manufacturing process."

It hasn't always been easy, but TransCoil has reduced product lead times by 90%.

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