Company Story Developed by: Northwest Industrial Resource Center (NWIRC) in Erie, PA.
Channellock, Inc., located in Meadville Pennsylvania, manufactures high-quality pliers with the famous blue grips. With over 350 employees, Channellock now produces more than 75 different sizes of pliers. The company operates out of two facilities totaling 260,000 square feet, including a recent 35,000 square foot expansion at their second facility.
Over the course of the pandemic, Channellock’s workforce was down 20%, but their order demand continuously increased due to their competitors’ supply chain disruptions. Leadership recognized the opportunity to grow the business by taking a larger market share but needed to increase operational effectiveness to meet the increased demand.
Leadership initiated a design sprint process to help understand their current reality and discover new opportunities to manage operations by visualizing and designing a desired future state. This led to alignment on the critical issues as well as how to address them. Strategic goals were set, alongside key performance indicators (KPIs), which were identified, measured, and monitored on a weekly basis, and extensive training and actions were taken to support a shift in culture within the team.
As part of implementation, there were several major changes in the way operations were managed. Technology, including a dynamic buffer management software, as well as visual productivity indicators were part of the Implementation phase that allowed Channellock to move from a push production system to a pull system in which reliable production lead times and
replenishment cycles were established.
This thoughtful planning and team preparation process will help Channellock integrate additional technologies (as appropriate) in the future.