Streamlining Success: How Lean Strategies with Impact Dakota Empowered Northland Truss Systems to Deliver Exceptional Service
Northland Truss Systems
Northland Truss Systems, Inc., was founded in 1992 by Rick Pierce in a grain storage building in Abercrombie, ND. They provide commercial, residential and agricultural structural wood components including truss to truss connections, posts, and engineered wood products. Northland Truss is an employee-owned company with their production facility is in Abercrombie, ND, and their sales office is in Fargo, ND. Their mission is, “to exceed customer expectations in pride, quality, reliability, service, and creativity.”
Northland Truss has a very high demand for their quality trusses and was experiencing long lead times causing them to fall short on our mission of exceeding customer expectations when it came to service.
The challenges they faced were in relation to excessive material handling as well as with setup times on the saw and table.
In terms of material handling, lumber would be gathered for the saw, saw set up to cut, material cut, banded on a cart and pushed outside where the yard forklift would place outside the assembly workstation located on the other end of the yard. Material would then be gathered by the shop forklift, placed on another cart, staged in front of the workstation and unbanded.
The challenge of setup times were not only at the saw, which would take anywhere from two to nine minutes to complete a single setup, but also at the table where setup took on average 20 minutes per unique truss type.
Northland Truss was first introduced to Impact Dakota through a Lean 101 Workshops years ago. Since then, they have attended additional Lean 101 Workshops and have an employee working towards *her Lean Bronze Certification*. Impact Dakota also worked with them on a Business Excellence Optimization Assessment that gave them insight to improving internal processes.
The Lean 101 Workshops and Lean Training helped them understand how excessive material handling, tool placement, automation, and workflow affect productivity.
When Impact Dakota made Northland Truss aware of the Automate ND grant they worked with them to review their processes and procedures helping them put numbers to the improvements they were wanting to make when applying for the Automate ND Grant. They knew they were going to see increased productivity, but seeing the numbers and the return on investment made it really hit home.
Northland Truss saw a 20% increase in productivity over last year due to the automation and workflow changes allowing them to take on additional market share and improve customer service through shorter lead times.
Employees are able to accomplish more with less effort now that they have the new linear saw, steel table top and EZ Set Jigging in place. Laser projectors show lumber and gusset plate locations thereby lowering the learning curve for new employees.
“As the Priority Coordinator at Northland Truss Systems, I deal with customer service and scheduling every day, so ensuring efficiency and meeting customer expectations is critical to our success. Our team faced challenges with long lead times, excessive material handling, and extended setup times on the saw and tables, which made it difficult to consistently deliver on our promise of exceptional service. Working with Impact Dakota has provided us with valuable tools and strategies to streamline these processes. Through Lean 101 Workshops and a Business Excellence Optimization Assessment, we’ve gained meaningful insight into how to eliminate waste, improve workflow, and strengthen communication across departments. Their support has truly helped us enhance our efficiency and better serve our customers.”
—Ali Surber, Priority Coordinator
Northland Truss Systems, Inc.