Household Appliances: Factory Consolidation

for a household appliance manufacturer in China to significantly reduce operating costs by merging two assembly factories, right-sizing the manufacturing footprint. The new structure allowed streamlining material flow and adjusting manning from 8,000 to 6,000 employees, increasing labor productivity by 33%. Involving key suppliers in the planning process brought schedules in sync, so that injection-molded parts could be delivered to assembly lines just-in-time (JIT). Created forecasting model for runners and repeaters, installed supermarkets for frequently-used parts, shortened two oversized assembly lines, and implemented milk runs for electric motors and high-value parts. As a result, on-time delivery performance doubled,  inventory fell from 46 to 18 days, and capacity increased by 20% ($140 million COGM) to accommodate the forecasted demand of a major retailer in the US.