Success Stories : Sears Trostel


ABOUT CAMT CLIENT SERVICES UPCOMING EVENTS SUCCESS STORIES CONTACT US NEWSLETTERS	Sears Trostel - Fort Collins, CO - *Sears Trostel Increases Sales by $4.8 Million!* Sears Trostel provides high quality custom millwork, hardwood and softwood lumber, and plywood to woodworking and building professionals. Founded in 1929 to supply the Fort Collins construction industry, the company began to add services and product lines over the last thirty years to expand into new markets in the region. They now employ over 60 workers at their two Fort Collins locations. Sears Trostel, continuously striving to improve products and services, began investigating Lean Manufacturing in 2000. Sears Trostel contacted CAMT, then MAMTC, to implement Lean principles on their plant floor in 2001 and has continued to utilize CAMT in their continuous improvement efforts to this day. In fact, Sears Trostel is currently embarking on a new growth service from CAMT, Eureka! Winning Ways, to identify and select viable ideas for new product lines, and to access new customers and markets. Starting in 2001, Sears Trostel transformed production lines using general Lean principles, 5S Workplace Organization and Value Stream Mappings of all office and shop floor operations. Since then, lean techniques have been maintained through kaizen blitzes, employee-initiated kaizen events and attendance at CAMT public events, in addition to on-going internal training of new and existing employees. Kaizen blitzes, an intensive and focused week-long approach to process improvement on a product line, have allowed Sears Trostel to improve throughput and productivity by 170%, and improved lead times by 75% while improving quality through eliminating motion in their process and reducing change over times. Likewise, Sears Trostel has honed lean and other skills in staff by participating in public events ranging from lecture events featuring manufacturing greats, such as Lean Guru Masaaki Imai or nationally-known growth consultant Doug Hall, to day-long seminars on Lean tools to Lean Management Working groups in which CAMT clients tackle Lean and Process Improvement challenges together. In seven years of working on continuous improvement efforts with CAMT, Sears Trostel has increased sales by a $4.8 million, retained sales of $750,000 and avoided nearly $1 million in unnecessary labor costs. Last year alone, Sears Trostel increased sales by $2 million in their custom millwork department. “A long-term engagement with CAMT has allowed Sears Trostel to maintain continuous improvement efforts resulting in repeated savings and escalating revenue growth.” -- Curt Viehmeyer, Owner Results: Increased sales by $4.8 million Retained sales of 750,000 Labor Cost Savings of 996,000

Sears Trostel - Fort Collins, CO - Sears Trostel Increases Sales by $4.8 Million!

Sears Trostel provides high quality custom millwork, hardwood and softwood lumber, and plywood to woodworking and building professionals. Founded in 1929 to supply the Fort Collins construction industry, the company began to add services and product lines over the last thirty years to expand into new markets in the region. They now employ over 60 workers at their two Fort Collins locations.

Sears Trostel, continuously striving to improve products and services, began investigating Lean Manufacturing in 2000. Sears Trostel contacted CAMT, then MAMTC, to implement Lean principles on their plant floor in 2001 and has continued to utilize CAMT in their continuous improvement efforts to this day. In fact, Sears Trostel is currently embarking on a new growth service from CAMT, Eureka! Winning Ways, to identify and select viable ideas for new product lines, and to access new customers and markets.

Starting in 2001, Sears Trostel transformed production lines using general Lean principles, 5S Workplace Organization and Value Stream Mappings of all office and shop floor operations. Since then, lean techniques have been maintained through kaizen blitzes, employee-initiated kaizen events and attendance at CAMT public events, in addition to on-going internal training of new and existing employees.

Kaizen blitzes, an intensive and focused week-long approach to process improvement on a product line, have allowed Sears Trostel to improve throughput and productivity by 170%, and improved lead times by 75% while improving quality through eliminating motion in their process and reducing change over times. Likewise, Sears Trostel has honed lean and other skills in staff by participating in public events ranging from lecture events featuring manufacturing greats, such as Lean Guru Masaaki Imai or nationally-known growth consultant Doug Hall, to day-long seminars on Lean tools to Lean Management Working groups in which CAMT clients tackle Lean and Process Improvement challenges together. In seven years of working on continuous improvement efforts with CAMT, Sears Trostel has increased sales by a $4.8 million, retained sales of $750,000 and avoided nearly $1 million in unnecessary labor costs. Last year alone, Sears Trostel increased sales by $2 million in their custom millwork department.

“A long-term engagement with CAMT has allowed Sears Trostel to maintain continuous improvement efforts resulting in repeated savings and escalating revenue growth.”
-- Curt Viehmeyer, Owner

Results:

Increased sales by $4.8 million
Retained sales of 750,000
Labor Cost Savings of 996,000