Mizuho-OSI

A leader in the specialty surgical table and patient positioning markets.

Lean Manufacturing
Reduced Costs, Improved Layout, Improved Bottom Line

Manex implemented a value stream mapping process to identify areas for improvements.

Client Business Need

Founded in 1977, Mizuho-OSI, Inc. had grown to over 250 employees in California and over 500 worldwide. The Union City facility designs and manufactures highly engineered specialty surgical tables for orthopedic (hip replacement), spinal (reconstructive), radiological and general-purpose surgeries. The company’s products are truly innovative, and this has led to increased demand and pressure to meet cost, quality and delivery objectives. The company realized that in order to meet these demands from the market, they had to revise their approach to manufacturing. The first product focused on was the Trios® Surgical Table product line. The Trios® was initially launched in March 2015 and was revolutionary in its customizable patient positioning for all spine and imaging procedures.

Approach

Manex implemented a value stream mapping process to identify areas for improvements. The team created the current state map and then developed the future state map, as well as an implementation road map to reach the company’s objectives. From the future state map, a new production floor layout and material delivery and staging system was implemented to reduce activities that caused delays and non-value-added costs to the manufacturing process.

Manex also implemented several focused Kaizen activities to reduce costs, improve on-time delivery and support the requirements for the latest business plan.

Results Delivered

Specific results include:

  • Reduced direct labor content (38.8 hours to 32.7 hours) = 15.7% improvement
  • Reduced lead time (3.5 weeks to 9 hours) = 93% improvement
  • Reduced WIP from $940K to $260K = 73% improvement
  • Increased Trios Base productivity = 10.3% improvement
  • Increased Trios Tops productivity = 49% improvement

“Working with Manex was an excellent experience. They were able to assess our requirement and put a team in place that worked seamlessly with our team. With their experience and guidance, we were able to achieve better results and on a shorter timeline than we would have otherwise. It will be a pleasure to work with them again in the future.”

Kevin Thorne, VP of Operations, Mizuho-OSI

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