DJO Global, a medical devices products and services provider world-renowned for its rehabilitation products, has combined effective reduction of costs and overall manufacturing excellence to reduce their lead-times by 80% and inventory from 84 to 14 Days.
Re-shoring its production from Asia to the U.S. and Mexico lead to savings and improved operations in the form of reduced lead times (from weeks to days), reduced logistical costs, decreased inventory carrying expenses, stronger IP protections, and the faster development of new products.
Their Tijuana facility has been especially successful at exceeding quality expectations, with the highest productivity of DJO Global’s six worldwide facilities and the lowest parts-per-million defects rate. The 17-year-old Tijuana location has received awards including AME Manufacturing Excellence, IndustryWeek’s “Best Plants”, Shingo’s Prize for Operational Excellent, and is recognized as one of Mexico’s top three places to work.
Overall, both management and employees have utilized Six Sigma, 5S, Value Stream Mapping, First Pass Yield, and Kaizen programs to help DJO Global achieve an average 4.2% growth in 2010 through a combination of operating principles, industry best practices, and continual improvement tools.
