FEDCO is pleased to announce the successful completion of a comprehensive manufacturing upgrade project. This initiative has significantly enhanced the company's operational capacity, efficiency, and customer engagement, setting a new standard in the industry.

Upgrading FEDCO's manufacturing capacity began just over a year ago, as the company saw record activity across its business. Greg Thomas, VP of Operations, shared, "In addition to securing more large projects than ever, we saw more activity on small and medium orders. Increasing our manufacturing capacity enables us to maintain this growth while maintaining our customer commitments."

Smarter Investments, Smarter Operations

Thomas saw the challenge of doubling production capacity as an opportunity to streamline FEDCO's manufacturing processes. The key thought process driving the upgrade was to remove technical and information bottlenecks to unleash the full potential of the team's skills.  "One option would have been just to replicate what we already had, but we took some extra time and thought about doing things better to remove bottlenecks and roll out productivity gains. Ultimately, we doubled manufacturing capacity with a 17% increase in our team's headcount." Targeted investment in cutting-edge machinery has reduced time lost to setting up and retooling machines and has automated some parts of the manufacturing process. "We put much time into developing new fixturing and changeover devices and spent extra money on tooling, so we have redundant tooling in different machines," he stated. "Many of our machines can run unattended now, so one person can run two, in some cases, three machines at a reasonable pace." The team also paid attention to the physical journey of parts throughout the manufacturing process. "We did a lean study to help guide our layout and estimate that we've removed 387 miles per year of distance traveled across the shop floor."

Empowering Teams with Real-Time Scheduling Tools

In addition to the 8 new machines on FEDCO's shop floor, TV screens showing a real-time stream of upcoming jobs are now installed across the operation. These screens enable a flow of information that is crucial to driving the manufacturing operation. "We aren't running an assembly line here - this is a flexible, highly skilled, and engaged workforce delivering custom-engineered equipment. The team wants to ship on time and deliver for our customers, so the intent is to give the team the information they need to make that happen. These visual management boards and scheduling tools have removed communication bottlenecks and empower our team to make autonomous decisions to ensure smooth production."

A Commitment to Innovation and Excellence

FEDCO's manufacturing upgrade marks a significant investment in technology and talent, underscoring the company's commitment to innovation, quality, and service. This initiative has positioned FEDCO to meet rising demand with improved efficiency and responsiveness, ensuring that clients receive high-quality, precision-engineered solutions on time and within budget.

For more information, please contact at marketing@fedco-usa.com