Success Story Powered by Statewide New York Manufacturing Extension Partnership Member Insyte Consulting
Buffalo, NY based Eastman Machine Company is a 130-year-old private cutting machine manufacturer in Buffalo, New York. Eastman offers the industry’s widest range of classic, hand-held and manually-operated cutting machines for the textile industry as well as fully automated, computerized cutting systems and feeding equipment for a variety of industries.
Eastman has enjoyed 20% annual growth in recent years driven by their large automated cutting tables. These cutting tables are put together in large sub-assemblies consisting of the table frame, gantry and electronics. The sub-assemblies are manufactured in separate areas and finally combined in the frame assembly area. As they’ve grown their business, storage has become an issue as it crowds the operational manufacturing areas. While the team has implemented improvements to address this, continued growth has driven the need to put in place additional workflow improvements and possibly expansion of the facility.
MEP’s Role
Eastman contracted with their local New York State Manufacturing Extension Partnership member, Insyte Consulting, to investigate options with a review of the current workflow, assess the potential for expansion, determine the additional space required and lay out both the automated cutting table manufacturing and the proposed expansion.
Working directly with Eastman employees, Insyte reviewed the historical and anticipated product mix, manufacturing times, purchasing and inventory policies. They determined current and projected space requirements for manufacturing and storage. A series of alternative solutions were developed and presented which ultimately landed on a consensus for the layout of both the current floor and new 7,600 square-foot expansion.
“Insyte’s assistance led to an efficient layout and flow to our facility allowing Eastman to reduce our internal costs such as material handling and tight working conditions ultimately allowing us to meet the ever- increasing demand for shorter delivery lead times from our customers.”
Results:
- Improved layout of current floor to enhance operations
- 7,600 square foot expansion
