Improving Production Capacity

CLIENT CHALLENGE

LIFTKET develops and manufactures electric chain hoists with a high level of in-house production for industrial applications, use in wind turbines, and the event industry. Due to a continuously growing demand in the market, LIFTKET faced the exciting challenge of significantly expanding its production capacity to meet the nearly 100% increase in demand. The goal was to make this expansion efficient without increasing inventory levels. At the same time, it was necessary to introduce an integrated planning approach to sustainably improve delivery performance.

H&Z APPROACH

H&Z utilised its comprehensive expertise in business and process optimisation to support LIFTKET on its growth trajectory through targeted actions. Together with the project team, the H&Z experts developed and aligned a vision for LIFTKET and initiated a series of optimisation initiatives. A key outcome was the halving of delivery times for standard products by decoupling manufacturing and assembly with the introduction of a supermarket. Additionally, assembly supply was made more flexible by designing and implementing a make-or-buy approach as well as introducing performance tracking for key suppliers. Concurrently, the order management process was optimised with a focus on realising efficiency gains and significantly improving planning quality.

Through a targeted analysis and resolution of bottlenecks, output was significantly increased. Among other improvements, bottlenecks were eliminated by developing new tooling concepts for CNC centres. By optimising machining programs, processing times were reduced by 25 to 40% depending on the component. The sustainability of this measure was ensured through detailed training of selected plant programmers by H&Z experts.

To secure the desired optimisations through a continuous improvement process, shop floor management and a KPI-based reporting cascade were introduced. This was also accompanied by a comprehensive leadership development program, which includes both coaching and the introduction of structured problem-solving techniques.

Following the short- and medium-term optimisations in various areas, H&Z developed a detailed manufacturing concept, which includes defining appropriate, forward-looking manufacturing methods and specific types of equipment.

The innovation for LIFTKET from the manufacturing concept was the significant reduction in processing times and the increase in autonomy through part-specific optimised station linking and targeted automation.

In conjunction with the project, the H&Z experts and the LIFTKET management designed a target organisation for the areas of production, logistics and production support. The underlying goals and principles were recorded in a LIFTKET vision and visualised under the motto “All in sync for maximum propulsion.” This image is now widely used within the company and helps to secure the agreed orientation towards future successes.

RESULTS

• Achieving the top-down management goal of increasing output by over 40%
• Increase in productivity in the direct area by over 40%
• Reduction in delivery time by 60% while simultaneously increasing delivery reliability by over 150%
• Reduction in total inventory by an average of 10%
• Sustainable EBITDA increase > 5% (immediate project impact)
• Identification of additional short- and medium-term cost-saving potentials in direct and administrative areas of approximately €2 million