Growth Manufacturers Case Study
- American Surgical Company
- Need service category
American Surgical provided the “Rolls Royce of Neuro Sponges” while increasing productivity
The Challenge
In 2009, American Surgical realized it needed to make some strategic changes if they wanted to grow their business and expand into new markets. At the time, they had a Workforce Training Fund grant to provide continuous improvement training for their employees, and ultimately hired MassMEP to provide the training.
American Surgical recognized the importance of implementing change within the organization if the company was going to be able to achieve sustainability. MassMEP conducted Value Stream Mapping and Kaizen events with the full staff. The training provided everyone with a common understanding of process improvement, in addition, since the company has no intentions of outsourcing any of their manufacturing production, they knew that in order to keep everything here they had to improve internally.
With the improvements made, new products were launched in 2013 and 2 new products will be launched in new markets in early 2018. Their products are now in 6 continents; 44 companies and they have a goal of 50 countries by the end of 2018.
When American Surgical’s senior management attended the Lean Management in the Fast Lane session, provided by MassMEP, they experienced best practices in work efficiency and quality checks on training. Since implementing these practices, American Surgical has developed better training programs, which is important because, in addition to the improvements on the shop floor they have also grown the company. American Surgical now has R&D, quality and sales and marketing departments.
The Results
25%
increase in productivity
40%
improvement in units per man hour
2
new products launched early 2018
Doubled
production with 2 additional employees
The employees were very receptive to change and recognized the importance of changing in order for the company to grow. It was like a light switch went off and everyone saw the benefit. Our suppliers are helping the company and provide recommendations. On a recent visit, one supplier stated, ‘Their products are like the Rolls Royce of neuro sponges.’
About American Surgical Company
American Surgical Company, located in Salem, MA, is a global medical technology company with 30 employees, focused on developing and selling creative and smart surgical technologies. ASC’s manufacturing facility and corporate headquarters is based in Salem, Massachusetts, USA. All ASC products are made in the United States and certified to ISO 13485 standards.
ASC strives for unequivocal product quality and manufacturing excellence with a Six Sigma quality target of no more than 3.4 defects per million opportunities. They continue to put the patient first.