Dotson Continues to Cut Ductile Iron Casting Lead Times
It all comes down to time and excess inventory. To customers time and excess inventory equals money. Lean concepts have demonstrated just how much hidden cost is tied up in holding inventory, missing opportunities, and waiting. Dotson is committed to supporting customers by reducing those hidden costs and delivering the best product in the most efficient way possible.
Dotson’s Operations team has spent the last ten years studying what it takes to produce with a consistently short lead time for castings. The team learned that with a traditional 4- to 6-week lead time, over 95% of that lead time is waiting time. In a traditional setting, an order waits in a cue for weeks before production even starts. And, once production starts the order will wait between operations.
Through a number of structural and operational changes, Dotson was able to reduce lead times to 10 calendar days in 2006 and down to 5 business days today. From receipt of the order to castings ready for shipment, without holding inventory, in just 5 days. Dotson maintains the 5-day lead time through busy and slow economic cycles by focusing on operational process controls.
Faster Machined Castings
In addition, Dotson is focused on bringing down machined complete lead times and is currently offering machined complete castings in just 10 days. Achieving this level of performance requires employees at all levels to work as a team to successfully build a process to produce castings with a 5-day lead time at over 98% on-time delivery.
Time is money and Dotson wants to make sure customers achieve greater profits through short lead castings and machining.
Jean Bye
President & CEO
Dotson Iron Castings
