Great Lakes Packing Corporation

Great Lakes Packaging Corporation (GLPC) had identified that it needed to expand the productivity of its corrugated printing and converting business. The company did not know in what way it should take on expansion – adding a 3^rd shift, upgrading equipment, or building addition space for a new piece of equipment. GRAEF teamed with GLPC to review the production and operations to determine what process efficiencies in the facility could be gained and how productivity could be increased.

GRAEF’s systematic approach included data collection and evaluation, employee input workshops, gap analysis, Value Stream Mapping, and production layout. The results of the study determined that layout reconfiguration, product family grouping, and equipment upgrades (specifically to material handling and automation) would provide an estimated increase in total plant throughput of 28%, without constructing a building addition or adding a 3^rd shift to the operations.

Once the resulting plan of the study had been fully reviewed and approved by GLPC, GRAEF then conducted a comparative study on finances, productivity, and return on investment between variations of the plan. Items reviewed and calculated included facility improvements, overhead and profit, scrap, material handling, direct and indirect labor, and equipment improvements. GRAEF found that the quantified data of the plan provided a minimum payback period of 43 months and a total cost savings of more than $650,000 per year.