www.edmondsdentallabs.com
Springfield
Edmonds Dental Prosthetics, Inc. is the largest dental laboratory in southwest Missouri, employing 100 people in a high-tech work environment and producing crowns, bridges, dentures, implants and orthodontic devices for dentists and orthodontists in Arkansas and Oklahoma as well as Missouri.
Although already a successful provider of custom, one-of-a-kind products, management at Edmonds Dental was committed to enhancing productivity and reducing lead time with no decrease in quality.
With assistance from Missouri Enterprise, a “Lean Enterprise” continuous improvement program, including both staff training and hands-on implementation support was initiated.
The first phase of the program introduced employees to “Lean Enterprise” principles. Missouri Enterprise then supported the company’s “Lean” team in developing current and future state value stream maps.
Based on the value stream maps, Missouri Enterprise helped the laboratory’s “Lean” team examine and prioritize continuous improvement opportunities and conduct a series of Kaizen Events to reduce non-value added activities.
The program enabled the company to enhance productivity and reduce lead time. It yielded excellent results, including more than $160,000 in increased sales, $75,000 in cost savings, $40,000 in capital investment and creation of three new full-time jobs.
According to company management, “Missouri Enterprise’s approach demonstrated their professionalism, their commitment to companies like ours and their thorough understanding of manufacturing process improvements. They supported our efforts very effectively and really helped keep us on track.”