Case Study - Conn-Selmer: Lean Product Development Helps You Play a Different Tune
Owned by Steinway Musical Instruments, Inc., Conn-Selmer is the nation’s largest domestic manufacturer of brass, woodwind, and percussion musical instruments and is best known for its collection of famous brand-name products that include the finest band instruments in the world. Bach, Selmer, King, Holton, and C. G. Conn instruments, along with their percussion brand Ludwig Drums, have been played by musicians like Ringo Starr, Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Goodman, and Maynard Ferguson.
Conn-Selmer began its journey into LeanSigma® in April of 2003 and has successfully improved its manufacturing process and product development through the use of lean processes. We’ve done more than 100 week-long or point events up to this point. A true telling point of our progress is shown when we give numerous tours in our Elkhart and Eastlake factories. Guests who toured our facilities before 2003 see a remarkable difference. Comments are made about the visual benchmarks, the hour-by-hour charts, and the overall organization of the cells and how focused everyone looks.
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