MSW Incorporated

Lyndsey ParkerArticles, Client Successes, Continuous Improvement

www.mswinc.com

Joplin

MSW Incorporated is a nationally recognized manufacturer of restaurant furnishings with offices and a manufacturing facility near Joplin. The company was founded in 1959 by Ray McCoy and has grown from one man in a garage to a company that today employs about 90 people in a 75,000 square foot facility.

Their national account roster includes Pizza Hut, Fuddruckers, Steak ‘n Shake, Cheddars, Ruby Tuesdays, McAllister’s Deli, Taco John’s and TGI Fridays.

Their product line includes upholstered booths, food bars, counters, divider systems, salad and buffet bars, table tops and chairs.

Committed to remaining a family run business and faced with an increasingly competitive marketplace, Company President Curt McCoy and Vice President John Stark asked Missouri Enterprise to provide a program of training and implementation assistance focused on state-of-the-art “best practices.” They wanted to enhance productivity and reduce lead time as well as create a culture of continuous improvement.

The Missouri Enterprise program included an Introduction to Lean Enterprise with a simulation for key management and production employees, development of current and future state Value Stream Maps and a series of Kaizen events focused on specific continuous improvement opportunities.

This program has significantly reduced product lead time and has resulted in cost savings of several hundred thousand dollars in inventory, labor and floor space. And, according to the management team, the process improvements and culture that the program helped to create enabled the company to complete a number of new projects that might not have been possible previously.