Acme Alliance is a manufacturer of custom aluminum die cast components used in the automotive/heavy truck, recreational products, marine, small engine/agriculture, oil and natural gas. The Northbrook, IL, facility employs approximately 135 people. Tour attendees will see three value streams and their visual heijunka scheduling boards, leaders’ standard work, total productive maintenance (TPM), kaizen/CI processes, hoshin kanri and excellent employee engagement.
Acme Alliance began its lean journey in 2001 as it increased its vigilance to reduce waste and continuously improve production processes. Its current value stream production system controls process flow, reduces waste and improves quality. The facility uses standard work performance metrics and produces components on standardized equipment. The results: quicker lead time to both internal and external customer, one-piece flow, kanban inventory management and faster machine set-up. Acme is both ISO 9001:2015 and IATF 16949:2016 certified. www.acmealliance.com
