Jones Shirts & Signs is a family-owned and operated company, located in Ogden, Utah, which employs eight people, and has been in business for 17 years. They offer embroidery, signs, stickers, screen printing, transfers, promotional items, gifts, and banners. You can find their work in small and large companies, and in local sports teams and organizations throughout Utah. They strive to create the best products at competitive prices and provide personal, hands-on assistance to each customer.
Project scope: Jones Shirts & Signs wanted to improve product process and flow, work and customer order standardization, and overall operational efficiency.
Solution: Theresa Drulard, Director of the University of Utah Manufacturing Extension Partnership Center (UUMEP), met with Jones Shirts & Signs to identify company needs and methods most critical to achieving their goals. The UUMEP Center engaged one of its partners, Brent Huffaker from BCH Group, to implement a lean continuous improvement project, lead the staff training and value stream mapping, and create the visual indicators for improved product and work flow and overall operational efficiency.
Results: With the help of the UUMEP Center and its partner BCH Group, Jones Shirts & Signs was able to:
- Develop standard work instructions, which led to a 1200% increase in standardized work, and which reduced employee inefficiency by over 104 hours.
- Identify over 35 ideas and implement 16 to increase sales and cash flow
- Implement a new layout and visual indicators for the product development process, which increased employee efficiency by 36%.
- Eliminate five safety issues.
- Train 100% of their staff in lean principles
Impact: Jones Shirts & Signs now benefits from:
- Created cost savings of $20,000
- Streamlined production and work flow process
- Improved operational efficiency and organization
- Robust employee work standards
Client testimonial
“Having my team and Brent from BCH Group work creatively together to resolve the requests of our customers, and to come up with solutions to save time and cost was very productive and informative. Together, we were able to implement some new operational guidelines, organize our work flow, brainstorm ideas to cut costs, and get our staff on the same page. Each person was able to input their ideas and issues to troubleshoot, and then make the best decision for the group as a whole. I would definitely do it again!”
— Jenice Jones, Owner