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Started in 1946, Myers Spring Co. is built on the principles of Walt Myers. His goal was to design and produce quality fine wire precision springs – through attention to detail and the ability to satisfy customer requirements.  In 2000, Todd Miller assumed the presidency of the company his grandfather had founded in a Logansport garage in 1946.  Applying his experience and knowledge from overseas, Todd saw immediate and significant results in employee morale, product quality, and expanded capabilities.  Myers Spring has doubled its production facility to 53,000 square feet and increased its wire range from 0.006” to 0.719”.  Myers Spring – built lean & Green.

Situation:

Myers Spring is always looking to improve – whether that is training, better processes, or better equipment. To sustain continuous improvements, the company hired Purdue TAP to facilitate monthly Kaizen events. As a small company, utilizing someone from the outside is vital to help see past the day to day routine of manufacturing. The “outside eyes” help keep discussions on track and get past the roadblocks of “we've always done it that way,” or “we've never had to do it that way before.”

Solution:

Purdue TAP helped Myers Spring conduct Kaizen events including Value Stream Mapping, Quick Changeover, 5S, and office process improvements. The monthly event results in action items assigned to team members with specific dates for completion. There is then follow up to complete the improvements and confirm the productivity gains. The regularly scheduled events provide hard deadlines and keep the company moving forward – all while producing parts for customers on a daily basis.

Results:

Through process improvements, Myers Spring was able to reduce one setup from 4 hours down to 2 hours. Myers Spring changed a process flow and eliminated double handling of a part, thereby saving 50 hours per month. The office paperwork flow was changed and resulted in electronic savings of eight hours per week of paper handling. Sales and profit have increased for Myers Spring each of the last three years while utilizing Purdue TAP.

“Myers Spring Co. has had fantastic success through our collaboration with Purdue TAP. We've increased sales and profit each of the last 3 years by implementing lean improvements using Kaizen events. Our facilitator comes in monthly and keeps us on track with follow ups, action items, and confirmation of productivity gains! The program has paid back 2x's the cost via ongoing savings, and we will continue to contract through the Purdue TAP program.”

- Jim Parsons, Vice President, Myers Spring Co.