The Difference in DeSCo

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Results

Improved accuracy by 25%

Reduced cycle time by 10%

Reduced scrap by 5%

Testimonial

“We choose MTS for our SPC training because they had qualified instructors that could come into our facility and teach our people using our own equipment. It was two days well spent.”

- Jim Girard, President

    About

    Nestled in the quaint town of De Smet, South Dakota lies a high quality, service-oriented window manufacturer. DeSCo Architectural Inc. is locally owned with 30 employees producing beautiful, high-quality architectural windows used in schools, hospitals, offices, and churches throughout the nation. Customers repurchase repeatedly because of the superior quality woven into the windows. Not only that, the high-performance windows are also environmentally friendly, safe and destined to last.

    Challenge

    Working at DeSCo allows people to build a great career as well as a great product. At DeSCo, the leadership believes in creating a positive work environment and investing in their people. The same investment holds true for their product and processes, because they believe in continuous improvement and always refining. So when James Girard noticed a process was less than efficient, he decided to call upon South Dakota Manufacturing & Technology Solutions for help.

    Solution

    A business advisor from SDMTS visited their facility and determined the best starting point was to do Statistical Process Control (SPC) training with the team. The training taught employees how to identify quality issues and provided them with a solid foundation for spotting and correcting future errors. The team was now able to properly gather quality data and calculate if the data was outside the control limits. This methodology helped them to detect variations in their processes. It also reinforced the continuous improvement mindset and encouraged employees to look for small changes they could make to reduce waste. From the training, the company was able to save a lot of time and labor by revising their process.

    Today, DeSCo continues to invest in their people. Whether that’s sending employees to a Lean 101 training to learn about unbalanced workloads or bringing in an expert to teach them about quality control, DeSCo knows if they invest in their people, their people will invest in them. By applying their newfound knowledge, employees can optimize costs, quality and delivery, making DeSCo a great place to work and a great place for windows.

    Results

    • Improved accuracy by 25%
    • Reduced cycle time by 10%
    • Reduced scrap by 5%