Manufacturing Business of the Year
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raining opportunities provided by the Nebraska Business Development Center are enabling Overhead Door Corporation’s Grand Island, Nebraska manufacturing facility to capitalize on the strengths of its workers and continue a pattern of growth. “Central Nebraska is a good fit for the company because Overhead Door values honesty, integrity, hard work and continuous improvement,” says Human Resources Manager Mike Sondgeroth. “The region provides a culture consistent with our company values.” A quality product coupled with increased buying in certain areas resulted in record sales in the fourth quarter for Overhead Door, the NBDC’s Manufacturing Business of the Year for 2011. “Our commercial business and our agriculture customers are very strong,” says Director of Operations Tom Womack. “People who had been holding off are now spending money.”
The Overhead Door Grand Island facility opened in 1977 with around 30 employees and 115,000 square feet of manufacturing space. Industry growth led to four expansions. The facility now has 200,000 square feet of floor space and more than 200 employees. Over the past couple of years, Overhead Door has provided opportunities for key team members to attend training through the NBDC, where Renee Held was the primary contact. The training, which has concentrated on increasing efficiency and reducing waste, has facilitated growth in team member capability as well as delivered flow improvements within the facility, says Jason Peterson, manufacturing engineer. “The courses give our team members the fundamental foundation in lean manufacturing techniques,” Peterson says. “Through lean tool utilization we have increased throughput, created a more visual work environment, reduced inventory, eliminated some operating expenses and improved the teams’ morale.”
The techniques have a positive impact on the bottom line, Womack says. “Lean projects drive our overall business performance.” He says the strengths of 2011 yield optimism for 2012. “We’re projecting another good sales year,” he says, “in which we will be focusing on increasing customer satisfaction through enhanced delivery lead times, product quality and service.” Pictured from left: Kent Kaiser, Jason Peterson, Tom Womack, Kelly Cumming
OVERHEAD DOOR CORPORATION
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