ORANGEBURG – May 25 -- Orangeburg's Husqvarna plant, a leader in the manufacture of mowing and trimming equipment, is seeking to trim production time at its plant to meet customer demand.
The plant has hired North Carolina-based Rucker & Associates consultants to help implement efficiency methodologies such as Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma strategies to boost production, according to an article published in the Reliable Plant Magazine and Lean Manufacturing Journal last month.
R&A specializes in finding industrial and operational efficiencies.
Lean Manufacturing strategies aim to preserve the value of a product with less work and Six Sigma is a data-driven process aimed at eliminating defects in a process.
Attempts to reach R&A and Husqvarna officials for comment related to this matter were unsuccessful.
The Swedish company employs an average of 1,500 in Orangeburg making riding lawn tractors, tillers and snow throwers.
In the article, David Rucker, company founder and president, said R&A served as a consultant for Husqvarna at its Beatrice, Neb., plant in an effort to increase productivity.
But Rucker said the Orangeburg plant provides a greater challenge simply because of its size, at 1 million square feet.
"We have been thrilled to improve Husqvarna processes in Beatrice," Rucker told the journal. "We believe we can achieve similar results at the cornerstone of their U.S. presence in Orangeburg."
Last month, Husqvarna said the production disturbances due to the transition have resulted in an "increase in material complexity" and a higher number of new products being launched.
This has caused fewer shipments and increasing costs, the company said.
Rucker said the Beatrice production line featured multiple equipment models, each requiring unique assembly methods and different amounts of dedicated assembly time from the operators.
The strategies implemented created a more visual and flexible assembly line, delivering the next two hours' worth of raw materials.
"By changing the way operators worked on the line, we were able to make it easier for Husqvarna to accomplish more, increasing the overall efficiency," Rucker said. "These types of changes make a huge difference in all aspects of the business, from reduced labor costs to on-time delivery."
Last year, Husqvarna announced it would shut down its Beatrice, Neb., plant and move its production lines to Orangeburg.
And then in November, it said it would invest $105 million at its Old Elloree Road plant over the next decade and a half. In the first phase, it plans to invest $30 million in Orangeburg County by Dec. 31, 2013. The second phase will involve a $75 million investment to be completed by Dec. 31, 2024.
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