First Texas Products

Detecting improvement┬áKeith Regan talks with the vice president of operations of First Texas Products to learn how continuous improvement and other techniques are being brought to bear on a market segment that has traditionally been dominated by smaller operations. Traditionally in the industry, the types of specialty products made by the brands of First Texas Products have been made in small batches by relatively small specialty manufacturers.  Whether itÔÇÖs the hobbyist market metal detectors sold under the Bounty Hunter brand, the night vision optical devices sold under the Night Owl brand, or even the broader range of metal detectors sold under the Fisher Research Labs brand to hobbyist, security, law enforcement, municipalities, and other institutional buyers, most such products have typically been hand-assembled in small batches by First TexasÔÇÖs competitors. As a result, the advantages of streamlined manufacturing and the ability to leverage supply chain efficiencies through size have largely been outside the grasp of the industry. With all three brands under the First Texas Products corporate bannerÔÇöand now under the same roof in El PasoÔÇöthe company is beginning to bring the lessons of other industries into the marketplace. ÔÇ£Many of us in professional level positions came from the automotive or electronics world, so we had a lot of exposure to continuous improvement and the concept of lean manufacturing, whether itÔÇÖs in high volumes or low volumes, and we apply those aspects which make sense,ÔÇØ says vice president of operations John Griffin. ÔÇ£This industry has never really taken that approach, itÔÇÖs always been a less sophisticated, smaller volume┬á approach. First Texas decided to change that mentality and has brought a lot of tried-and-true manufacturing techniques into this facility. Now weÔÇÖre manufacturing all our products in a controlled process environment. ThatÔÇÖs a powerful shift.ÔÇØThe production environment is a complex one. Some products, such as those in the Bounty Hunter brand, are relatively high volume and sold to sporting goods stores and other large retailers, meaning assembly-line approaches can be used. Other, more specialized products are sold in much smaller quantities using cell based manufacturing techniques, and a few products are purchased from third parties and finished at the plant. One night-vision product, the I-Gen 20/20, is built in a cleanroom setting at the facility. Further complicating the equation is the fact that the Bounty Hunter line in particular has a high degree of seasonality, with 40 percent of annual sales coming in the fourth quarter, around the holiday season. Even against that patchwork quilt of demand and materials flow, small batch production and large batch production, First Texas believes controlling processes can significantly boost quality and offers chances to control costs for components and labor alike. ÔÇ£WeÔÇÖre continually trying to optimize our labor force,ÔÇØ says Griffin. ÔÇ£We spend a lot of time cross-training people so that we have the ability to move them around the factory to run the things we need to run at the time we need to run them. This has been a real plus because it enables us to keep just the labor force we really need and have people around who are capable of helping us in a variety of ways.ÔÇØ The challenge then becomes one of scheduling, and First Texas relies on its MRPII system to manage materials demand┬á and make materials supply chain decisions. But the resulting production schedules are subject toÔÇöand often mustÔÇöchange on a regular, if not daily basis as last-minute orders arise. ÔÇ£Staying flexible is key,ÔÇØ Griffin says. Some products will be built for stock, but the company likes to avoid large inventories. ÔÇ£WeÔÇÖre making adjustments all day long every day. In many cases, if we get an order in the morning, we will still ship it during the afternoon.ÔÇØFirst Texas Products has begun to leverage its size and its share of the metal detector market to gain favorable pricing, just-in-time delivery and enhanced assembly of components from suppliers. ÔÇ£We have some very good and loyal suppliers who have been very good at working with us over the years. WeÔÇÖve seen very few, if any, price increases and we are continually pushing for decreases,ÔÇØ Griffin notes. ÔÇ£Our suppliers see that weÔÇÖve developed the factory to the point where we have significant volume, and thatÔÇÖs enabled us to get some very good pricing on all different types of parts, from plastic to electronics to aluminum and copper. From a volume perspective, itÔÇÖs difficult if not impossible for the competition to achieve those same costs due to the economies of scale and that gives us an advantage.ÔÇØIn the end, however, Griffin says itÔÇÖs all about the people who work at First Texas Products, which employs about 140 people year-round and significantly more during the seasonal spikes in demand.┬á ÔÇ£WeÔÇÖre primarily an assembly operation,ÔÇØ he adds. ÔÇ£We have some highly specialized manufacturing equipment and we are leading the industry with our proprietary knowledge and capabilities, but we donÔÇÖt have a huge workforce. Most of our people have been here making metal detectors for us for many years. They understand the product very well, and we rely on them to keep us in business. Our goal every day is to do better today than we did yesterday, and figure out what we can do better tomorrow than we did today. We emphasize continuous improvement throughout the company. No one is afraid of change here because we all know itÔÇÖs the way weÔÇÖre going to stay competitive and grow the business.ÔÇØIn fact, many of the people who provide the seasonal labor needed to meet holiday-season demand for Bounty Hunter products are the same people who return year after year. ÔÇ£We can talk about systems, talk about materials and processes,ÔÇØ Griffin says. ÔÇ£But in the end, itÔÇÖs the people that make the biggest difference.ÔÇØ ÔÇô Editorial research by Tim Conlon