- Increased potential production capacity by 25%
- $3M potential sales increase
- Created 8 new jobs
Who: Catsmo Artisan Smokehouse out of Wallkill, NY produces smoked salmon, artisanal cheeses, and premium caviar. Nestled on a hillside just past the Village of Wallkill, Catsmo runs made-to-order production in order to get the freshest product to their clients. In conjunction with Solex Fine Foods, they have upheld their artisanal practices even through a period of substantial growth. Fresh fish is flown in daily from the icy Atlantic waters and is individually inspected by sight and smell before beginning the production process.
What: The intention of a Lean Process Improvement project is to eliminate waste and streamline the production process. In the case of Catsmo, they have a variety of different processes ranging from inspecting to slicing to smoking and everything in between. While lean philosophies are commonly implemented in the production process, they are also effectively applied to storage methods. For Catsmo Artisan Smokehouse, lean philosophies mesh perfectly with their made-to-order business model. By delving into each step of production, it becomes very evident where efficiency drops off and where improvements can be made.
How: While Catsmo has several open projects with the Manufacturing and Technology Enterprise Center, there has been significant progress made with its Lean Process Improvement.
First, Catsmo worked with our third-party lean expert Phil VanOss to map out their current process flow in order to figure out where improvements could be made. The results of this map directed our expert toward opportunities to improve the inspection, salting and smoking processes. After determining where the inefficiencies were, Phil worked with upper management to perform a demand analysis that would uncover 30 products made up 94% of Catsmo’s revenue. This helped them to make key inventory decisions like determining re-order points and strategic inventory placement.
To start, VanOss along with management, decided to make changes to the smoking process. They designed a system optimized for growth that allowed their smoker to improve from 960 fillets a day to 1440 fillets a day by making changes to the salting process and by adding a third smoking cycle. The goal by the end of the project is to shelve 10,000 lbs of goods in at least 5 days. In addition to the changes made to the smoking process, changes were made to the slicing process that doubled production from 120 fillets an hour to 240 fillets an hour.
While there has been a lot of progress made at Catsmo, there is still much to be done. As mentioned, Catsmo is in a period of growth which includes the addition of a building that will connect their offices to their production warehouse. Phil plans to work with them through this expansion that will involve new equipment, new staff that will need training, and most likely the implementation of a new ERP system that satisfies their needs. During projects like these, the relationship between management and the consultant is very open and transparent. If you think that your company is in a good position to start and would benefit from a Lean Process Improvement project, a Value Stream Map is a great place to begin! Contact us at info@hvtdc.org to get started.