Home | About the Arizona MEP | Upcoming Events | Success Stories | Partners & Affiliates | News | Board of Directors Sign-Up for News & Events | Contact Us | Enterprise Management | Performance Based Training | Supply Chain Management Sargent Controls and Aerospace Tucson, AZ - Terry Peterson recently called on the Arizona Manufacturing Extension Partnership to help Sargent Controls & Aerospace of Tucson improve its standing with its customers by improving on-time delivery and overall quality. MEP’s project managers came through with flying colors. "The Arizona MEP has been very helpful in getting us involved with Time Wise Principles of Lean Manufacturing and keeping us on track as we continue down the long and arduous track of lean improvement," said Peterson, VP Operations of Sargent Controls & Aerospace. A subsidiary of Dover Corp., Sargent Controls & Aerospace has approximately 215 employees and has been in business for more than 50 years, the last 14 in Tucson. The company manufactures hydraulic valves and actuators for submarines, surface ships, commercial/military aircraft, and specialized, coated, high-load, low-RPM ball bearings for military helicopters. Sargent sent two individuals to the Arizona MEP Lean Manufacturing workshop with hands-on Time Wise simulation-training program. The participants learned 12 techniques for reducing eight types of waste throughout its manufacturing processes and applied the 12 techniques to a real manufacturing process, and measured and tracked the value of their improved performance over four rounds of simulation. "I had some concept of what the Lean process was all about," Peterson said, "but I had no idea of the amount of initial training that is needed. I think Lean is misunderstood by a lot of people, but the MEP certainly helped us understand the concept and keep us focused." As a result of the Lean training provided by Arizona MEP, Sargent Controls & Aerospace created a Lean Implementation Team. The team then implemented 5-S Workplace Standardization and Organization principles in a key operating division and created pilot-test manufacturing cells to demonstrate the effectiveness of lean manufacturing techniques to the entire organization. Peterson said one of the real benefits of the program is the input the team is receiving from other employees. "Our people on the floor feel more engaged and empowered to offer ideas and improvements and they now understand the impact of what they do on other departments." "Without the assistance and training we received from the Arizona MEP, none of this would have been possible," Peterson concluded.