How to Design Office Cells to Reduce Lead Times for Custom Products

When it comes to continuous improvement initiatives, most manufacturing companies primarily target opportunities on the shop floor. However, office operations such as quoting, design and order processing could present a huge opportunity for your business to reduce lead times and grow market share.

Companies offering high-mix, low-volume or custom-engineered products spend significant time and resources in processing quotes, finalizing engineering designs, establishing bill of materials and purchasing critical components. Restructuring your operations into office cells could lead to significant improvements in long lead times, missed opportunities in quoting, delays in order processing, engineering changes, expediting and high costs. 

For more than two decades, the Quick Response Manufacturing (QRM) Center, in collaboration with its member companies, has developed several tools, methodologies and principles to design office cells specifically for high-mix or custom-engineered products.

Join us for this workshop to learn how to design and implement Quick Response Office Cells (Q-ROCs) to improve order capture rate, streamline order processing to reduce hand-offs and release orders to the shop floor faster.

What you will learn:

• Overview: Explanation of the Four Core Principles of Quick Response Manufacturing
• The starting point: Focused Target Market Segment – the nucleus of a production cell
• Designing the cell: Streamline office operations to reduce hand-offs and reduce lead times
• Implementation: Steps to start a Q-ROC at each participant’s company

Office cells: An integral part of the QRM strategy

• QRM fundamentals and the role of your organizational structure
• Key aspects of QRM cells

Where to start: Focused Target Market Segment – the nucleus of a cell

• What is the motivation for creating the cell?
• Ways to identify a Focus Target Market Segment
• Case studies on FTMS creation

Designing the cell: Streamline office operations to reduce hand-offs and reduce lead times

• Using process redesign principles
• Using system dynamic principles

Implementation

• Provides a roadmap to start a Q-ROC in each participant’s company

James Rink

Dr. Rink brings over 35 years of experience in manufacturing, advanced technology, and operational excellence. Throughout his career, he has led global teams in China, Europe, the US, Mexico, and India, driving collaboration, enhancing manufacturing competitiveness, and achieving exceptional results. His tenure at Caterpillar spanned 31 years, concluding in roles as General Manager and Multi-site Operations Manager. Over the past five years, he has successfully managed his own consulting firm, Integrity 360 Leadership, delivering strategic manufacturing insights to companies such as Oshkosh, McNeilus Truck, and L&T Technology Services (LTTS).

Additionally, Jim has served as an adjunct faculty member at Bradley University, teaching manufacturing processes, and currently serves as an adjunct faculty member in the Colllege of Business' Organizational Leadership department at Lewis University.

Jim has a diverse educational background, holding a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering and a master's degree in manufacturing systems engineering from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, an MBA from Northern Illinois University, and a doctorate in Interdisciplinary Leadership and Social Entrepreneurship from Governors State University.

Beyond his professional achievements, Jim is actively involved in his community, serving on the advisory board for the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at the Unviersity of Wisconsin–Madison, and holding director roles on his local Workforce Investment Board and regional economic devleopment organization.