Company
Since 1991, TMD Friction’s Dublin, VA plant has been designing and manufacturing disc brake pads for passenger cars and light trucks. These parts are then sold to major OEM’s and to the automotive replacement part market. This site currently employs approximately 280 workers.

Situation
The Dublin plant has a reputation for quality and outstanding customer service that has led to steady business growth. At the same time, pricing pressure has continued to increase. The plant was rewarded for its excellent performance with the approval of several million dollars of capital to simultaneously increase plant capacity, and reduce production costs. All this expansion had to be accomplished within the existing property. TMD management saw Lean Manufacturing as the vehicle to accomplishing all these goals.

Response
TMD approached the Manufacturing Technology Center (MTC) based at Wytheville Community College regarding lean implementation assistance. MTC is VPMEP's service delivery partner responsible for manufacturers in southwestern Virginia region. MTC project engineers Nelson Teed, Scott Freeman, and Claire Pickrell worked with TMD Management to develop a Lean Implementation plan modeled after their proven "Lean Roadmap" approach. Principles of Lean 101 workshops were followed by Value Stream Mapping events, and completed with Kaizen events of many types to move from their "current state" to their “future state” production system. Along the way, TMD learned to identify waste in their process, and saw the benefits of the “flow” created by the production cells. They also benefited from more in-depth training on some of the specific lean tools from the 200 level courses such as 5S, Changeover Reduction, TPM, and Cellular Flow.

Results
For the areas of the plant that have been affected, the performance improvements have been dramatic:
- 50% reductions in WIP inventory,
- Process lead times reduced 50%,
- Labor productivity up 20%,
- Floor space reduced 20%,
- Plant floor organization, safety, and cleanliness improved.

TMD's management is continuing the lean effort to eventually encompass the entire organization. TMD continues to train more employees through the Principles of Lean 101 course. They are also completing additional Value Stream Maps of other product families not yet studied. Internal "Lean Champions" have been developed to lead some types of training and Kaizen improvement events without outside support.

Testimonial
" The Manufacturing Technology Center (MTC) is a hands on type of consulting group. Nelson Teed, Scott Freeman, and Claire Pickrell provided TMD with very comprehensive training, lean solutions and lean tools. Since we started the project in 2000, we were able to secure jobs, shorten the lead-time, and save money in the areas where lean principles were implemented. The input of MTC has proven as very valuable and we will continue to use their expertise."
-Torsten Kaffine, Manager Continuous Improvement

View their site!