Contour is unique in several ways. As a supplier of sheet metal parts and assemblies, the company is able to quickly supply complex products of high quality. LMP has laid the foundation for this new approach.

Do our job right the first time! Under this credo the kick-off was given for the “Together (C) on tour” program. In this case, the process started with the team
offering, where the aim was to respond within 1 day to a regular customer request with an appropriate quote. This team included the departments: sales, engineering, calculation / work preparation, quality service and purchasing, with the former naturally leading. After the creation of customary Value Stream maps, it was important to convert the results into concrete improvement activities. Initially, mutual cooperation between the sometimes very different departments proved to be a major challenge. Thanks to the LMP improvement techniques and consistent management support, these folds were smoothed out quickly and the actual improvements could be implemented smoothly. In the second phase of the project, the focus was placed on the process from order execution to producing it Lean in series at production. This included the sales, engineering, quality service, purchasing and production departments. The calculation / work preparation department was leading in this.

The LMP approach also allowed major steps to be taken at Contour. The working method has been standardized so that a quick insight is obtained into the real pain points of a Flow and thus it quickly becomes clear where the first rapid improvement possibilities lie. By going through this process jointly with the key people within an organization, direct support is also created for these necessary changes. Subsequently, the first improvement activities are started immediately by means of so-called Kaizen events. Frequently scheduling these events with changing teams (cross functional) creates an organization that works on Continuous Improvement. Naturally, Contour also covered more extensive projects that were carried out under the guidance of LMP, in addition to the additional training courses to learn the Lean tools and then be able to apply them independently.