Success – Woodgrain Millwork

Operational Excellence

Woodgrain Millwork

Nampa, ID

Lean Helps Woodgrain Shave $18 Million of Waste

Family-owned Woodgrain Millwork is a diversified wood products company focused on producing high quality doors, windows, and moldings. With over 50 years in the Millwork Business, Woodgrain continues to build on its tradition of excellence as a market leader and has grown to become one the largest Millwork Companies in the world.

Project

Woodgrain wanted to eliminate waste from activities that did not provide value to customers. Company managers asked TechHelp, a member of the MEP National Network™, to develop a standardized Lean training program for its Continuous Improvement Managers. Dr. Larry Stauffer of TechHelp and the University of Idaho developed a Lean program that fit Woodgrain’s needs.

Results

• Initial Kaizen activities at Woodgrain plants generated $3 Million in cost savings.
• Woodgrain’s Lean initiative helped drive timely & accurate shipping, improved safety, and first-pass quality, and drove Lean benefits company-wide.
• Woodgrain purchased its own Lean simulation kit in order to provide continuous improvement training to Lean Champions and other workers.
• Lean helped Woodgrain weather the “great recession” in the housing industry and prepared the company to come out of the slowdown positioned to benefit from the recovery.