GainSeeker Case Studies
Tech Tip: GainSeeker Dashboard Control – Date/Time Control
You may be asking yourself why I thought something as simple as the Date/Time control on Dashboards is blog worthy. At surface level , it looks like just another date/time feature. If you have not used it before, that could be a logical assumption. What I want to...
Creating a Data-Driven Culture Results in 90% Reduction in Scrap
A multi-plant manufacturer of metal products was ready for a change. They enjoyed an excellent reputation in the marketplace, but the good reputation came at a price. Internal scrap and rework metrics told the story.
GainSeeker Suite Enables Dramatic Decrease in Cost of Goods Sold
Consolidated Container Company (CCC) is one of the largest suppliers of rigid plastic packaging in North America. Many of their facilities were using outdated legacy information systems, and the company had no formal standardized quality data system. According to Vicki Slavik, Corporate Quality Director, the company was “an internally focused company, and quality was a pain point for our customers.”
Matt Simpson, Corporate Quality Systems Manager, was tasked with recommending a single system to deploy across the company. The new system would provide plant-floor personnel with up-to-the-minute information about their asset’s performance. At the same time, the data would be rolled up across production lines and manufacturing facilities so that leadership at the local and corporate levels could easily see what was happening.
Food Manufacturer Reduces Waste by Over 70% in Six Weeks
Dan Wadyka, Assistant Director of Quality Control at Giorgio Foods, was caught between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand, new company leadership was pushing for major growth and change. On the other, some managers and supervisors felt that the current way of working was good enough.
Wadyka saw an opportunity to support the growth initiatives of the leadership and galvanize support for these initiatives among middle management.
Eliminating Paper Enables Improved Business Performance and Cultural Transformation
A boat manufacturer transformed their approach to analyzing warranty situations by digitizing their plant floor.
Multi-National Electronics Manufacturer Improves Quality Across Supply Chain
A multi-national electronics company producing industrial energy management equipment implements a standardized defect tracking system. They realize a significant increase in product quality and supply chain flexibility.
Multi-plant Packaging Company Drives Revenue Improvement by Boosting Line Speeds 15-20% Over Name Plate Capacity
GainSeeker has had a profound impact on the business, enabling increased responsiveness and better customer service. That, in turn has impacted productivity. “We’re running 15-20% above name plate capacity from the equipment manufacturers,” the manager explained. “This is due to the fact that we can better understand our product and our processes. Without that better understanding there is no way we could have increased our line speeds.”
For this business, plant capacity acts as a governor on revenue, so an increase in line speed translates into increased plant capacity, and increased revenue.
PLZ Aeroscience Improves Production Control, Increases Sales
Improvement in control leads to sales growth, more consistent products, and line speeds increasing by up to 20%
Multiplant Foods Company Standardizes Real-time Analytics, Sees Significant Savings
Real-time Analytics delivers savings of $3.4 million.
Multinational Electronics Company Doubles Profits in Two Years With Focus on Data
A multinational electronics company more than doubles profits in two years.
Industrial Products Company Improves On-time Delivery and Reduces Inventory
Improve on-time delivery by 30% and reduce inventory by over 50% by uncovering optimization opportunities hidden deep inside your manufacturing supply chain processes.
Walking the talk – Empowering people with data (Short version)
An industrial goods manufacturer improved on-time delivery and inventory reductions after GainSeeker was integrated with several other business systems. This helped simplify, speed up, and make data more reliable and usable.
Improving on time delivery and reducing inventory
We provide a system that captures data immediately across all aspects of the process so that visibility is improved and processes can be analyzed in more detail.
Using this approach, one industrial products client reported these results: 30% improvement in on-time delivery, >50% reduction in inventory, and Cycle time for improvement projects accelerated by over 10%.
Technology Enabled High Performance Culture
Situation A Vice President of Operations for a US-based electronics manufacturer found his team struggling to identify opportunities to improve their business. Turf wars were common, as were racks of components waiting for rework and retesting. Critical issue Bright,...
Integration increases scrap visibility, drives down defects & costs
Hertzler systems established an integration process between GainSeeker and Exacto Incorporated’s ERP system. Now scrap data from the ERP system is automatically extracted and loaded into GainSeeker. Exacto leadership can now quickly spot trends in the data, and drill down to the root cause of scrap problems, eliminating long delays.
Major Manufacturer Finds GainSeeker® Dashboard System a Big Plus
A customized dashboard helped the largest manufacturer of fabricating equipment and industrial lasers in North America to easily stay on top of numerous data points at once in an industry that allows for zero margin of error where multiple opportunities for errors exist.
GainSeeker ® Real-time SPC Eliminates Costly Guessing
Situation Senior Flexonics – GA Precision, Wisconsin, uses leading-edge technology to manufacture turned and complex metal components for the Aerospace, Medical, Construction, Agricultural, and Automotive markets. No dependable method existed for determining the tool...
GainSeeker® Suite: Corporate Standardization of SPC Software Pays off
Standardizing on GainSeeker Suite SPC software pays significant benefits for a packaging manufacturer with dozens of plants across North America.
Real Time SPC Data Collection: A sensible Investment (short version)
Real time SPC data collection helped a quality manager ensure compliance to stringent federal regulations. GainSeeker Suite turned detailed PLC data into actionable intelligence.
GainSeeker® Suite: Easy – Done
“GainSeeker is a great fit. It seamlessly installs and integrates to existing systems. I was able to install it myself without involving IT. Hertzler Systems and GainSeeker Suite made it easy.”
GainSeeker® Suite Tune-up simplifies system maintenance
A GainSeeker Suite Tune-up simplified system maintenance and proved to be a real time saver for a major consumer products packaging company.
Snack Chips Aren’t Cheap
GainSeeker Score Cards for each worker at the end of each shift increased accountability and visibility at this snack chip manufacturing company. The company realized a Return on Investment in well under year. It’s an investment that will continue to produce savings for years to come.
SPC Software: A sensible investment (Full version)
Calculating a credible ROI in any industry can be a daunting task. Real-time alarms and automated data collection advanced multiple efforts for one Lean Six Sigma-driven quality manager of a consumer goods packaging company. It was an investment that in the end, just made sense.
GainSeeker® ensures compliance; improves usability & data value
A heavy industrial equipment and automotive fabrication company ensured completion of highly intricate, mandatory inspections and gleaned other benefits, including faster issue response time.
GainSeeker® automates CMM data, reduces collection time 81%
GainSeeker enables automatic data extraction and critical inspection data analysis directly from the Coordinate Measuring Machine (CMM). New data is automatically evaluated for stability, and key people are notified about out-of-control situations.
GainSeeker® real-time data KPI dashboards (Short version)
A dashboard customized to meet a production manager’s needs, alerts him to shipping issues and enables quick viewing of where his plant is in terms of monthly sales goal, gross profit margins, on-time deliveries, and first pass yield targets.
SPC software system driving financial results (Short version)
At a food processing corporation with 25 years of experience implementing weight control, one plant realized a savings of $225K in material costs in nine months using GainSeeker. In a half year, the corporation saved about $3.4 million across all of its implemented plants.
SPC software System drives financial results (Full version)
A high-quality foods corporation realizes large gains from implementing an SPC system—$225k savings at just one of its plants in nine months, and $3.4 million combined in six months at its plants where SPC was implemented.
Creating a real-time KPI dashboard with GainSeeker® Suite (Full version)
Setting the “data jockey” free (Short version)
The quality and engineering teams for a tier-one exterior automotive lighting systems supplier dramatically increased the reliability of their collected data and their credibility with their customer in using GainSeeker automated reports. Meanwhile, costs and efforts required to properly service the customer were reduced.
Setting the “data jockey” free (Full version)
The quality and engineering teams for a tier-one exterior automotive lighting systems supplier dramatically increased the reliability of their collected data and their credibility with the customer by using GainSeeker automated reports. Meanwhile, costs and efforts required for properly servicing the customer were reduced.
Creating a data-driven, fix-to-root-cause culture (Short version)
A hi-tech audio equipment manufacturer reported a 171% ROI the first six months after using GainSeeker, 98% of which was derived from increased throughput and improved first pass yield. The other 2% came from reduced costs in data collection.
Creating a data-driven, fix-to-root-cause culture (Full version)
Why would a company invest in technology when most businesses were entrenching in 2008? All the indicators pointed one direction; Crown leadership chose another. Nonetheless, the first six months of using GainSeeker, they reported a 171% ROI, 98% of which was derived from increased throughput and improved first pass yield. The other 2% came from reduced costs in data collection. . . .
Reduce Risk and Cost with Lean & Quality – Video Presentation
Larry Coburn, senior vice president of operations for hi-tech audio manufacturer Crown International, shared his insight into the state of manufacturing and what it takes to be successful in his presentation to the 2008 Aberdeen Manufacturing Excellence Summit.
GainSeeker® Suite turns art into science at baking company (Short version)
Consolidated Biscuit Company (CBC), which produces and packages a combined 100 million cookies and snack products daily at one plant, found a safe method for reducing the amount of product they were giving away in their packaging processes. CBC realized substantial savings and a complete ROI on GainSeeker software, which helped to substantially reduce their overpack.
GainSeeker® Suite turns art into science at baking company (Full version)
Whether the snacks are being made at home or in the 730,000-square-foot McComb, Ohio, facility of Consolidated Biscuit Company (CBC), the process is the same: Raw ingredients are mixed into a dough that is rolled out and cut into shapes, baked in ovens, cooled in lines, then carefully packed to retain its fresh-baked flavor….
Real-time Data Drives a Hole-in-one (Short version)
Long-time GainSeeker user and sporting goods giant Titleist needed a formalized system for rating raw materials and supplier performance for its golf ball manufacturing division, Acushnet. The company now tracks supplier quality for the top 80 percent of their purchasing dollars, in addition to tracking production quality data with great results.
Real-time Data Drives a Hole-in-one (Full version)
In this magazine article, Plastics Business magazine examines Hertzler customer Acushnet (Titleist) Company’s application of SPC using GainSeeker Suite. Ken Welchman, Director of Corporate Quality, says “When you are The #1 Ball In Golf, everyone is gunning for you . . . The quality of our products is judged every day by the best golfers in the world.”
Hormel Foods Weight Control Program – Video Presentation
Marty A. Slagel, Corporate Staff Quality, Hormel Foods, gave a compelling presentation to the Aberdeen Group’s “Manufacturing in the 21st Century” conference, December 2008, in Boston, Massachusetts. Hormel Foods has been a GainSeeker user for several years. You can access the video and view his presentation.
Acushnet Supplier Improvement Program (Short version)
Long-time GainSeeker user and sporting goods giant Titleist needed a formalized system for rating raw materials and supplier performance for its golf ball manufacturing division, Acushnet. The company now tracks supplier quality for the top 80 percent of their purchasing dollars, in addition to tracking production quality data with great results.
Acushnet Supplier Improvement Program – Live Audio Podcast
Ken Welchman, director of quality, Golf Ball Operations, Acushnet Company (Titleist), gave a compelling presentation at the IQPC Six Sigma Summit in Orlando, Florida, in January 2008. It is a fascinating glimpse at what makes Titleist the #1 Ball in Golf. Titleist is a long-time GainSeeker user.
Walking the talk – Empowering people with data (Full version)
This article describes how the Six Sigma effort at Micropump and Hertzler Systems’ software solutions have come together to yield outstanding results. Micropump ‘Walks the Talk’ when it comes to providing data to drive decisions. Micropump, a unit of IDEX Corporation, is a leader in product innovation and also a leader in innovation in Operational Excellence.
GainSeeker® OPC solution boosts OEE from 65% to 75% (Short version)
A manufacturer of work-enabling devices for the transportation industry collected and analyzed downtime information in new ways using GainSeeker. The company now keeps with up with increased product demand without increasing production capacity (no capital investment) or staffing.
GainSeeker® OPC solution boosts OEE from 65% to 75% (Full version)
“In a data driven society, automated data collection is a must,” says John Foley, Network Administrator for Engineering Systems, of Pollak-APD (Actuator Products Division) a Stoneridge, Inc company. “The quicker we get information in hand, the better-off we are.” With this idea in mind, Hertzler Systems recently added some major new functionality to GainSeeker® SPC: support for OPC (Object Linking and Embedding for Process Control).
Down-time Analysis Reduces Waste
Over a six-month period, GainSeeker helped a department of a transmission components supplier reduce the number of work days by two that it needed to keep up with production demands each week. Meanwhile, output increased by 25% as defects and scrap were minimized.
Controlling Net Contents and Reducing Give-Away
Consolidated Biscuit Company (CBC) has used Control Charts for years, but the culture of process control is now permeating the company like the smell of cookies baking. The cost savings attributed to not giving away unnecessary amounts of product is substantial.
McCormick Flavor Division reduces overpack and material costs by 10-30%
“Of all the plants in the McCormick Flavor Division, our plant is consistently at the top of the list for efficiency of material usage, and by a substantial margin. We trace that directly back to our use of the Hertzler [GainSeeker] software,” John Campbell, quality manager, McCormick Flavor Division of McCormick & Company, Inc.
Building a Six Sigma Measurement System in Financial Services
This case study looks at one company’s experience deploying and implementing a set of Six Sigma projects within the context of a robust data systems infrastructure – the establishment of which is a fundamental first step in developing an effective transactional Six Sigma initiative. With such an infrastructure in place, projects can proceed more rapidly and with greater success.
Real-time automated data empowering Precision Machining Industry
Empowering operators with real-time, automated data and drill-down capabilities led to dramatic improvements in first-past yield and reduced scrap costs for a leading Precision Machining company.
