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Cedar Works
Situation Cedar Works, a manufacturer of cedar bird/squirrel feeders and mail boxes, was growing both its client base and market share.Cedar Works needed to consolidate multiple off-campus facilities onto their main campus to reduce overhead and support long-range business plans. Cedar Works’ Research and Development (R&D) and maintenance departments had designed their own state-of-the-art manufacturing equipment and work cells, but lacked the space to implement. Managing cedar scraps from the manufacturing process was also a labor intensive process, requiring the incorporation of a scrap conveyor that would be accessible for the assemblers without obstructing or hindering their processes. Solution AHS assisted Cedar Works in not only designing a materials handling equipment system, but more importantly, connecting the existing building to the new building.The team designed a system to deliver raw materials from the manufacturing facility through an outside enclosure, delivering and sorting to the appropriate work cells. A multi-level system was installed which accomplishes the following: Delivery of raw materials on the middle line. Return of empty totes to manufacturing on the upper line. Removal of scrap on the lower line, where it is conveyed to a shredder, shredded, bagged, and sold as bedding for pets. Result Shortly after completion, the system was faced with its first opportunity.Cedar Works received multiple large orders from clients such as Wal-Mart, which posed a challenge to their outbound production capabilities. It was apparent after a few days of production that the system implemented far exceeded everyone's expectations. |
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