RIMES consultants worked with VR Industries to develop a product growth strategy. Shown above, VR Industires enteral feeding pump, which delivers nutrients to patients who are unable to which delivers nutrients to patients who are unable to receive nutrition normally.
Where do you start?
You need someone who understands plant layout and design; somebody else who understands state-of-the-art Management Information Systems, and a third person who can act as your management guru. And since you’re a small Warwick manufacturer, you need all three…at the lowest possible cost.
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Hopeless? Not at all. Manufacturers like VR Industries’ president Fred Pestana who are looking for low cost, cutting edge engineering, management, marketing and technical assistance can now call RIMES, the Rhode Island Manufacturing Extension
Services and find everything under one roof.
Co-sponsored by a division of the U.S. Department of Commerce and the State of Rhode Island, RIMES was created to increase the competitiveness of the Ocean State’s small and mid-sized manufacturers by providing them with access to a wide array of seasoned and affordable consulting experts and business resources.
VR Industries, a company that had just 17 employees in 1996 when it received ISO 9002 certification, is a perfect example of how RIMES can help ambitious or struggling companies solve a variety of problems with just one call.
The ideal shop floor design
Thriving on contracts from the medical, telecommunications, oceanographic, aerospace and commercial markets and wanting to double the size of the shop floor (but lacking space), President Fred Pestana also needed to streamline his manufacturing process. How best to accomplish this?
RIMES engineers came in and studied VR’s product lines and existing processes.
“We gave them a rough outline of how we wanted the production areas set up,” said Fred. “In a month they came back with the layout.”
There were two special advantages of the RIMES blueprint: flexibility and foresight. The RIMES design accommodated not just short-term growth, but anticipated future growth spurts as well. Additional staff and new machinery could be easily integrated as VR Industries, a contract manufacturer specializing in printed circuit boards and electro-mechanical assemblies such as enteral feeding pumps and oceanographic instruments, added new customers and markets.
MIS for the next millennium
Designing the ideal plant layout was only part of RIMES’ work. VR Industries also needed a new Management Information System, one that would take the company into the next millennium.
RIMES tapped the experience of three top MIS professionals. Among them, they had in-depth, hands-on, management-level familiarity with the leading MIS software and hardware options, for accounting, distribution, manufacturing planning and control, as well as financial applications.
Based on VR’s specific needs, the RIMES consultants researched and previewed various systems. They sorted through competing claims and matched each proposed system’s capabilities against VR’s needs, current and future. The RIMES team then selected the four top systems, arranged for demonstrations, and VR Industries made its final decision from among these proven winners.
And management, too
With its plant layout issue solved and computer system updated, VR Industries was ready to tackle strategic issues that would have a significant impact upon future growth. Among the issues here were succession planning and penetration of new markets.
Re-enter the RIMES team headed by a senior management consultant from one of the region’s largest CPA firms, a specialist in quality and customer satisfaction.
Results?
A top-to-bottom internal analysis plus a series of in-depth interviews with customers clearly identified the company’s key strengths and weaknesses. Based on these findings, the RIMES team then suggested appropriate “best practices” and strategies, building on VR’s strengths, and working to eliminate its weaknesses. A market analysis by RIMES helped pinpoint new opportunities for growth…and how to get there.
How much did all this top-level consulting work cost? A fraction of the usual cost for consultants of this caliber.
More and more Rhode Island manufacturers like VR Industries are discovering that RIMES can be the competitive edge that helps them increase productivity, build profitability, and use new technology effectively.
How does VR President Fred Pestana sum up his RIMES experience? “Competent, economical and a valuable resource.”
For more information about RIMES consulting services for small to medium sized manufacturers, call Terry Charles at RIMES, (401)621-5710.
