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CNC Machine Shop
$3.5M - 30 Employees

“When Bill Shapcott from Shapcott & Lauber first reached out, I was skeptical—our past experiences with consultants weren’t great—but I decided to take a leap of faith, and I’m glad I did. I took advantage of their no-strings, 10-hour No-Risk Business Review. It gave us an outside, no-nonsense lens that led to a pathway of practical fixes that made sense to our company: shorter setups, a better-organized floor, tighter first-article checks, and a simple visual cadence. The impact was immediate—on-time delivery jumped, scrap fell, quotes sped up, cash improved—and now I can focus on strategy and growth instead of getting pulled into daily operational churn.”                                                                                                                                                                                                                       - Gary L. - Owner

Starting Situation
Our client, a CNC machine shop supplying parts to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), was struggling with late orders, long setup times, rising scrap, and unclear pricing—putting ISO compliance and key customer relationships at risk.

Approach

Approach: After our initial meeting, the client chose our no-risk 10-hour Business Discovery, followed by a two-day on-site analysis. We mapped constraints, scheduling, and cost drivers; time-studied changeovers to assess and upgrade SMED (Single-Minute Exchange of Die); and ran a 5S systems review—Sort, Set in order, Shine, Standardize, Sustain—across workstation layout and material flow. We also evaluated visual management (planning board, WIP/status lanes, KPI posting) to tighten coordination and surface blockers in real time.

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Focus — Project Implementation (what we actually installed and how it ran)

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  • Pilot cell & simple targets: One CNC cell; weekly goals for setup time, uptime (Overall Equipment Effectiveness), on-time delivery, and scrap.

  • Faster changeovers (SMED): Time the setup, pre-stage tools/fixtures, add quick clamps/pins, and use a one-page setup guide per part family. (SMED = Single-Minute Exchange of Die)

  • Tidy, labeled work areas (5S): Clear spots for tools/materials, shadow boards, quick daily clean, short weekly check. (5S = Sort, Set in order, Shine, Standardize, Sustain)

  • First-article check: Short checklist and sign-off before the full run to prevent bad parts.

  • Basic in-process checks: A few Statistical Process Control spot checks on critical dimensions and simple tool-life counters.

  • Visual planning board: Today’s schedule by machine, work-in-progress, a “hot” lane, and a place to flag blockers.

  • Quoting kit: Template routings and cycle-time benchmarks so quotes go out faster and reflect true cost by product family.

  • Short cadence: 10-minute daily huddle at the board; quick weekly review to lock in fixes and assign owners.

  • Lightweight SOPs: Pocket instructions for setup, first-article, and in-process checks; quick refreshers as needed.

  • What we tracked: Setup minutes per job, OEE, on-time delivery, scrap rate, first-pass yield, quote lead time, and Days Sales Outstanding.

 

90-Day Results

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  • Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE): 54% → 68%

  • On-Time Delivery (OTD): 72% → 93%

  • Setup minutes/job: −40% after SMED standards and pre-staging

  • Scrap rate: −22% with a standardized first-article checklist

  • Quote lead time: −35% using template routings/libraries

  • Pricing clarity: Product-family margin view enabled for quoting

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6-Month Results (Business Impact)

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  • Gross Margin (GM): +3.1 points overall

  • Accounts Receivable Days Sales Outstanding (AR DSO): 46 → 34 days (cleaner docs + terms discipline)

  • Expediting costs: −41% with a two-lane schedule (hot/normal)

  • First-pass yield: +10 points vs. baseline; ISO nonconformances trending down

  • Stability: Visual planning and daily huddles sustain throughput, keep OTD high, and reduce firefighting

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