Lloyd Mats

Lloyd Mats, located in Northridge, is the industry’s largest aftermarket manufacturer of custom fit carpet floor mats for passenger cars, trucks, vans and SUVs. The company’s exact fit, precision mats are available for virtually all types and models of vehicles. The products are available in various materials, including all weather rubber and clear vinyl, in over 100 colors. The organization is employee-owned with 60 employees.


Challenge

While sales were solid, Lloyd Mats wanted to become more efficient and improve their production process. Material pileups and delays were frequently causing disruptions and leading to wasted materials and increased production costs. Any unexpected spikes of business or peak periods made it particularly challenging to keep the production process organized. Without the ability to more effectively meet demand, the organization couldn’t accept larger orders and become more competitive in the market. 

 

Solution

Lloyd Mats connected with CMTC to evaluate their needs and it was decided that the company would participate in a Lean Enterprise program. The goal of the program was to train employees in the principles of Lean manufacturing and utilize multiple tools to identify weaknesses and improve operations.

Team members participated in various training sessions over the subsequent five months. The organization learned how to use the Value Stream Mapping tool and participated in a Rapid Improvement (Kaizen) event. Then CMTC worked with Lloyd Mats to revamp their overall production process. This included reorganizing their equipment on the production floor to improve the flow of operations, resetting their machine locations and production lines, and removing unnecessary equipment and supplies.

One of the biggest changes was the transition from a batched production process to a single flow production process. The new single flow production enabled employees to work on products individually and created a steady flow of finished products throughout the week. The new processes and layout allowed Lloyd Mats to realize cost savings by reducing excess materials and prevented material pileups and halts in the production flow.

 

“CMTC’s Lean Enterprise program helped us revamp our production process, enabling our company to improve efficiencies and accommodate more demand. We project that the improvements will lead to $100,000 in cost savings and $250,000 in increased sales.”

- Brendan Dooley, President

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