The Cornerstone team had boots on the ground within days to evaluate the situation at the facility.
Given workforce instability and pandemic-related travel restrictions that prevented the supplier's leaders from traveling to Mexico, Cornerstone consultants temporarily assumed day-to-day management roles to stabilize operations and reduce back orders.
The Cornerstone team quickly jumped in to perform an audit of existing operations—a critical first step that informs the execution of the Operational Excellence (OpEx) method. The comprehensive assessment of operations, staffing and supply chains helped the consultants to define solutions that would restore order at the facility. For example, the Cornerstone team developed complete work instructions and redefined workflow to balance the manufacturing line after completing a time study using the Modular Arrangement of Predetermined Time Standards (MODAPTS).
The top priority was to return operations to balance, focusing first on outfitting the unfinished trucks to ensure orders could ship and meeting daily production goals to eliminate backlog. Once all past due orders were fulfilled, the Cornerstone team turned their attention to establishing the supplier as a shelter service company and claiming VAT rebates to recover millions in paid taxes, which helped with overall cost savings.
Finally, the Cornerstone team worked to improve inventory accuracy to optimize operational performance. Realizing that the supplier did not yet have an inventory system, the consultants compared a modified daily cycle count against customer orders to establish a “days on hand” metric that proved effective until a more systems-based approach could be implemented.