BEYOND METAL Safety, Quality and Value: Our Core Competencies

Lean Manufacturing is a set of principles, practices and tools that assist in the identification and steady elimination of waste within an organization. As waste is eliminated, quality improves while production time and cost is reduced.

With the implementation of Lean Manufacturing in the shop, Danser has been able to reorganize the production process in order to improve overall customer value. By identifying the steps of the fabrication process, we've created a better workflow to reduce waste and increase productivity. Now, we can contract bigger projects in a larger quantity without ever sacrificing on quality.

Because Danser is a custom steel and sheet metal fabricator, and not an assembly line, Lean Manufacturing is unique to our industry. We've established work "cells" in the shop, arranged to move product out the door and to the customer faster. Tool boards have taken the place of toolboxes for convenience and easy accessibility.

The main goal of Lean Manufacturing is to strive for continuous improvement. Our team is always auditing progress and coming up with innovative ways to improve our processes to bring the most value to the customer.

Simplifying the production process has allowed Danser to grow as a company in both sales and employees. We are proud to be creating new jobs at all levels within the company. All fabrication is done in the USA at one of our two facilities in Parkersburg, WV. Danser, Inc. never outsources labor or compromises on quality. Our priority is to fabricate high quality products with added value for the customer, on time and on budget.

Lean Implementation (start date: March 2006)

• Over $500 thousand in training for all employees
• Visual management systems for shop and field schedules
• 5S program for shop and field
• Value stream map for each project
• Constantly monitoring value–added vs. non–value added time
• Tremendous increase in productivity
• Weekly capacity planning