Groov-Pin Corporation Success Story

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Longtime Partnership Leads to Impactful Results for Manufacturer

Company Profile: Groov-Pin Corporation, located in Newnan, Georgia, specializes in manufacturing industrial fasteners such as Grooved Pins, Tap-Lok Threaded Inserts, Speedserts, Precision Turned Components, and Barb-Serts. The company was founded in 1926 and has served multiple industries including automotive, aerospace and defense, and telecommunications for more than 95 years.

Workbench organized using 5S within a manufacturing facility.

Situation

Groov-Pin’s goal is to continuously improve its processes to produce immediate results and prevent future problems. To help achieve this goal, the company has been a long-time member of the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership (GaMEP) at Georgia Tech’s Advanced Manufacturing Consortium. The Consortium is a member-based peer-to-peer learning group committed to driving innovation and continuous improvement through shared knowledge and experience.

Through participating in this program, the company identified some specific projects that they needed help with and called in Sam Darwin, GaMEP operational excellence project manager, to assist with their lean implementation efforts.

Solution

Darwin worked with the company to improve different operational areas by introducing 5S principles, conducting multiple Kaizen events to create a more efficient and safer workspace, and establishing a Training Within Industry (TWI) program to capture knowledge from retiring employees. The efforts were so successful that the company now has Kaizen events regularly scheduled every 6 months to tackle projects.

Results

By working with GaMEP, Groov-Pin has:

  • Reduced delivery time for one of their main product lines from 14 weeks to 6 weeks.
  • Created a quick-ship program by cataloging similar product parts into a “kit” that can be sent next day to customers.
  • Improved overall delivery time from 72% to 96% by reprioritizing orders by ship date instead of by revenue.
  • Reduced machine set-up time from 8 hours to 2 hours.
  • Established a leadership group for an ideation Kaizen project to help brainstorm new products.
  • Begun to execute lean projects at the company’s Rhode Island headquarters in addition to the projects at the Georgia facility.

Testimonial

“I like working with GaMEP folks… they push us and ask open-ended questions to try and get people who are in the event to get information and ideas out of their head. They keep everyone engaged and let them know that they are an important part of the process. I like their style.”

– Scott Bunn, Operations Manager, Groov-Pin