What Our Move Means for You
Moving a headquarters and manufacturing facility is a daunting task for the company making the move. But, for customers and partners, it should be nearly undetectable. That is the goal of Harbinger, which will be moving a few miles from its current location to a much larger facility this summer. By operating both locations throughout the transition, Harbinger will ensure minimal disruption in its manufacturing and shipping.
What customers and partners will notice, however, is faster turnaround and expanded services following the move.
The 51,500-square-foot building features 35-foot high ceilings to accommodate larger signage and multiple loading docks for faster shipping. The production space is 2.3 times larger than the current facility, allowing for more streamlined operations and more equipment that can run simultaneously.
Harbinger’s new facility will be based on Lean manufacturing best practices to maximize efficiency and throughput.
- The paint booth is centrally located on the manufacturing floor; as painting is the last step of production it is important that all other production areas feed into it efficiently.
- The production area of the most highly demanded products is closest to the shipping and install lines.
- Overall equipment placement and layout of the production floor is designed with efficiency and increased workflow in mind.
The new location houses a larger graphics room to accommodate additional printing technology as Harbinger becomes more multifunctional. Previously only serving to print and cut vinyl for various signs being manufactured by Harbinger, the graphics department will have the capacity to print vinyl banners and site signs, and create custom fleet graphic wraps.
Offices within the building also are designed for improved communication flow and integration between departments. More conference rooms and internal meeting spaces, including conversation “bars,” facilitate collaboration.
The company will create its new workspace to ultimately benefit its current and future customers. Producing top-quality, consistent signage in an efficient and timely manner, and offering more product options to better serve as a one-stop signage resource are the effects of this move Harbinger hopes its customers notice.
Lean Toward Efficiency
Do all your vendors or suppliers use Lean principles? This manufacturing process focuses on eliminating waste, both in materials and time, and has a ripple effect to businesses of all types, even non-manufacturing ones. Harbinger implemented Lean techniques nearly three years ago, and the payoff for its clients has been significant.
The turnaround time to make a custom sign (from taking the order to finishing production) has been reduced from 30 days to nine. Also, Harbinger has experienced labor cost savings, which enabled the company to keep its prices steady despite the economic downturn.
“Adopting Lean principles made it possible for Harbinger to ramp-up production and sales,” Steve Williams explained. “We are able to efficiently fabricate a large number of high-quality signs even quicker than before, meaning better service and better signs for our clients.”
Lean manufacturing is a mind-set and a culture. It’s about breaking down the steps of a business’ operations and analyzing each one for errors, inefficiencies, delays and wasted materials. For example, Harbinger previously had a large two-story structure in the middle of its production floor so the foreman could have a “bird’s eye” view of the manufacturing. However every time workers needed to provide paperwork to the foreman, they had to climb up a 13-step flight of stairs. Due to Lean principles, Harbinger decided to remove the structure and place the foreman’s desk on the floor. This resulted in more space for production and an annual savings of up to $37,000 in labor costs by reducing the “walking around” time.
Harbinger also has implemented one-piece flow manufacturing, value stream mapping, and heijunka. The company is a member of the Jacksonville Lean Consortium, comprised of nearly 50 companies, government agencies and universities that share best practices in Lean.