St. Louis
Jaffe Book Solutions is a short-run, on-demand book manufacturing service, offering high quality products at competitive prices for publishers and book distributers. Whether a customer needs a paperback book in hardcover, copies of a book that’s out-of-print, or a small quantity of inventory to supply an order, JBS makes it happen with fast, friendly service.
JBS is a division of GL group, Inc. Headquartered in St. Louis, MO with more than 200 full-time employees, GL group Inc. is a privately owned corporation dedicated to finding creative solutions that bring learning and imagination to the world. Our purpose is to enrich the lives of kids of all ages, and we’re passionate about our customers, our employees and the products and services we offer. Since our founding in 1974, our core values – including doing the right thing, fostering a family-friendly culture, and exceeding expectations – have guided our path. We must be doing something right: GL group Inc. was named one of the Best Workplaces by STL Today for 2012 and 2013 and received a spot on Inc. Magazine’s 500l5000 List of Fastest Growing American Companies four years in a row!
Our success presented us with the challenge of meeting ever increasing demand, while maintaining our standards for high quality and fast turnaround. We remembered the great work the Missouri Enterprise organization had done for us in the past, so we sought out their assistance to improve our efficiency.
Missouri Enterprise assisted JBS with the development and implementation of a sustainable system of continuous improvement. The project focused on the principles of Lean Enterprise, beginning with a value stream mapping project to identify areas of waste and opportunities for improvement. Adjustments to the plant layout followed, and specific recommendations for changes to workflow processes were implemented. Missouri Enterprise also provided training for production staff and management.
Nick Ranciglio, General Manager at Jaffe Book Solutions, gives a lot of credit to Missouri Enterprise. “Their guidance really helped us dramatically increase our efficiency and control our inventory. They taught us to understand the principles of Lean and how important they are to our continued profitable growth.”
In six months of working with Missouri Enterprise, Jaffe Book Solutions doubled their throughput from 1500-3000 books a day, while dramatically reducing scrap and waste.