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From constantly putting out fires to a stress free workforce, by taking on lean manufacturing methods, Jones & Sandford Joinery were able to identify opportunities for change and overhaul processes and outputs.
What's in this article
At a glance
As one of the biggest joinery companies in New Zealand, Jones & Sanford could no longer afford all the costly and time consuming errors occurring within the business.
Turning to Callaghan Innovation, through our Lean programme the business was able to get coaching, subsequently identify issues, and implement a range of solutions.
Through lean practices and continuous improvement, Jones & Sandford have been able to triple output from their factory, as well as decrease stress for both employees and clients.
Trying to take back control
Jones & Sanford Ltd Joinery - Lean Journey
[Narrator]
Jones & Stanford Joinery is one of New Zealand’s largest joinery companies.
With management team based in Auckalnd, Wellington and Taranaki, they’ve been
Involved in some of the biggest and most innovative joinery builds across the country.
Back in 2017, despite a good reputation for quality work,
Directory Roger Jones knew things could be improved.
[Director Roger Jones]
We were regarded as the best in the industry, but the phone were ringing hot
and they were saying: ‘Where’s our joinery? Why is it the wrong color? Why is it not on site?”
We used to be really good at heroic rescues, last minute fire fighting. In fact, we were fire fighters,
We had a team of fire fighters, they weren’t joiners, they were fire fighters, and it was stressful.
It was stressful, it was time-consuming, and it cost us a lot of money. And I soon realise that we had to take control of our manufacturing business.
[Narrator]
Roger Jones was confident of the workmanship of his team, and so he looked at the way the
industry was workin and their role in it, and then sought solutions about how to keep the
client at the centre of their operation.
The goal was happier, less stressed clients and less stressed employees.
[Roger Jones]
A Eureka moment for us was when, this thing called ‘Lean’, Lean manufacturing was introduced.
And it just lit me up!
We brought the coach in, he taught us how to manage challenges and problems, and then develope solutions ourselves.
But the biggest part of it was actually understanding what the problem what, so we introduced rigid processes that we know work for us.
[Narrator]
Some of the changes the company made included identifying long lead times
In procurement, and having a high level of detail in the development of sharp drawings.
Vision boards and regular planning meetings allow for easier identification of potential issues.
Jones & Sanford also employed their own, on-site, managers to ensure accurate information was making it back to their design team.
Roger also invested in their own delivery vehicles, so they could be in control of the product,
From inception through to on-site delivery.
The results have been very impressive for Roger and his team.
[Jim Beccard]
The issues I’ve had in the past just don’t happen with J&S
Everything turns up when it should do on-site, everything’s all together.
Every little detail, every scribe panel every filler panel, it’s all been mapped and planned out.
The stress is non-existent, things turn up and they go in, and there’s always
Thing that happens which you have to organise, otherwise I wouldn’t have a job. But,
It seems much calmer working for J&S than previous employer certainly.
[Narrator]
Pleasingly for Roger, a calmer work environment extends beyond Jones & Sanford employees, making for a less stressed allied workforce on-site.
[Roger Jones]
Introducing these processes, we’ve found, has assisted all the other people in the team so
the electricians may want to come to us and have a discussion and it’s a relief for him to find
that we can help him. It might be something as simple as drilling a hole on the the side
Of a panel, but we can do that back here in the factory cause our processes allow us to
Do that.
[Narrator]
A continuous improvement made by the team at Jones and Sanford Joinery has yielded some very pleasing results for the company.
[Roger Jones]
We’ve been able to triple the output in this factory, same factory, four walls, same people,
same machinery, but its the way we do thing, it’s our methodology, it’s our planning it’s early
procurement, it’s discipline, procedure on-site with our regional manager. All of our team
have been involved in this Lean journey.
[Narrator]
Jones & Sanford Joinery is carrying on their commitment to project management efficiency
by thinking about the future energy need of the company.
A recently installed solar array will provide up to 100% of the factory’s power, but Roger
Jones doesn’t want to stop there.
[Roger Jones]
We’re seeing that our clients are wanting their supply chain to display that they’re doing something about the environment, something positive.
We’re doing that right now, by generating electricity for this factory to feed our machine.
That’s happening right now, but the biggest most significant goal for us for 2022 is to be
Carbon-neutral.
[Narrator]
A commitment to efficiency, discipline processes has allowed this joinery company to remain a leader in the industry
And has helped Jones & Sanford Joinery to deliver on their promise of deliver in-full, on-time end specification.
Fire fighters. That’s how Roger Jones, Managing Director at Jones & Sandford Joinery, described his workforce. Not exactly the desired adjective for one of New Zealand’s largest joinery companies involved in some of the biggest and most innovative joinery builds throughout Aotearoa.
“We were regarded as the best in the industry, but the phones were ringing hot, and they were saying ‘where’s our joinery’, ‘why’s it the wrong colour’, ‘why's it not on site’. We used to be really good at heroic rescues, last minute fire fighting. In fact, we were fire fighters,” says Jones.
Jones knew things needed to improve. “It was stressful, it was time consuming, and it cost us a lot of money. I soon realised we had to take control of our manufacturing business.”
Applying a lean approach
The solution for Jones & Sanford involved looking at the wider industry, the ways it was working and their role as a business in it. Workmanship was not the issue, so identifying ways in which they could keep their clients at the centre of their operations was pivotal. They wanted happier, less stressed employees but also happier, less stressed clients.
“A eureka moment for us was when this thing called lean, lean manufacturing was introduced and it just lit me up. We brought the coach in, he taught us how to manage challenges and problems, and then develop solutions ourselves. But the biggest part of it was actually understanding what the problem was. So, we introduced rigid processes that we know work for us,” says Jones.
This coaching came as a result of Callaghan Innovation’s Lean programme, with one of our service providers, Lean Engage, helping Jones and the team to identify challenges such as long lead times in procurement and having a high level of detail in shop drawings.
No more fire fighting
As a result of exploring and introducing lean manufacturing practices, Jones & Sanford have implemented a number of changes throughout the business. Vision boards and planning meetings help identify potential issues easier, employing on-site managers helps ensure accurate information is passed back to the design team, and purchasing its own delivery vehicles has meant more control of the product from start through to on-site delivery.
All up, the changes within the business now equate to a calmer work environment for its staff, but also for the wider allied workforce on site.
“Introducing these processes, we’ve found has assisted all the other people on the team. So, the electrician may want to come to us and have a discussion and it’s a relief for him to find that we can help him. Might be something as simple as drilling a hole in the side of a pane; but we can do that back here in the factory because our processes allow us to do that,” says Jones.
Continuous improvement through lean methodology at Jones & Sandford now runs across the business. It’s a full team approach. And resultantly, the business’ biggest achievement has been to achieve triple the output in the factory with the same people and machinery. There’s no more fire fighting, just the ability to stay true to their promise of delivering in full, on time and in specification.
