Jeff Miller has worked for Hayes Manufacturing since 2008 and has been the Quality Manager since 2009. He is an integral part of a team focused on expanding upon the company’s success in the power transmission component market.
Jeff was the driving force behind the implementation of Lean practices throughout the company. He championed the lean approach to address multiple problems the company was experiencing: excessive WIP/inventory/batching, long setup times, late deliveries, customer complaints, scrap and inefficiency. In 2013, Jeff was trained as a Lean “Champion” and started working with Management to change the culture of the company.
Jeff was an early proponent of transiting to cellular, one-piece flow manufacturing. By using Lean analysis tools, he was able to demonstrate to Management that it would be possible to take one of the product lines from an 18-day lead time to five days. Because of his insight and the company’s drive for continual improvement, the same product is currently manufactured in five hours.
Today, lean principles can be observed throughout the company. There are many examples of vertical and visual scheduling and metrics, Kanban, 5S and Poke Yoke. By deploying Lean, Hayes Manufacturing has been able to thrive in a very competitive world-wide market.
