United Plastics Group's Lean Manufacturing Initiative Speeds Product Time-to-Market; UPG Increases Productivity and Lowers Customers' Costs.
Business Editors
United Plastics Group Inc. (UPG), a full-service manufacturer of injection molded products for the industrial, automotive, electronics, medical and consumer markets, announced today that it is the first plastics manufacturer to fully implement lean manufacturing across their 11 world-class manufacturing facilities.
UPG's lean manufacturing initiative, which began late last year, has produced solid results including reduced costs, decreased time-to-market, decreased manufacturing cycle times and increased productivity.
"A smart company constantly improves productivity, service, delivery, safety, responsiveness, and product quality through a systematic approach. Lean manufacturing is the systematic approach we use to drive improvement in all of the aforementioned areas," stated Bruce Smith, UPG's chief operations officer.
In contrast with traditional manufacturing processes, UPG's lean manufacturing focuses on utilizing multi-skilled teams to reduce product flows and reduce setup times while eliminating waste from conveyance, over-production and mis-processing.
"Our early results have shown that by balancing operator work load and maximizing efficiencies, a productivity increase of up to 138 percent can be achieved. Our customers are already benefiting from the flexibility of our lean manufacturing with lowered costs and decreased time-to-market," commented Chuck Villa, UPG's executive vice president, business development.
UPG's lean manufacturing practices incorporate quick changeover techniques to reduce equipment setup time, cellular manufacturing to facilitate continuous-flow production, and Just In Time (JIT) materials management that reduces cycle times and improves throughput.
"Making continuous improvements across all of our world-class manufacturing plants enables us to quickly deliver the highest quality products to our customers. Maximizing efficiencies, implementing new processes and pursuing unmatched quality is the hallmark that sets us apart," stated Smith.
About United Plastics Group Inc.
United Plastics Group Inc., headquartered in Westmont, is a full-service manufacturer of precision plastics products and value-added services for the industrial, automotive, medical, electronics and consumer markets. United Plastics Group operates state-of-the-art facilities in California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Mexico, Minnesota, Texas, the United Kingdom and China.
