Throughout La Puerta Originals, Inc´s 15 year history the high-end custom door and millwork company has been known for its original designs and use of reclaimed and recycled woods and eco-friendly water-based stains and finishes. But how does a company that produces handcrafted, one-of-a-kind pieces with a commitment to sustainable manufacturing meet the issues of supply and demand? The answer wasnt as easy as it seems.

“La Puerta has been an advocate of sustainable manufacturing since its inception. But, we found ourselves in a unique position. The demand for our products, particularly doors and cabinetry, had grown to the point where it was stretching our capacity to the limit,” says Melissa Coleman, President and CEO of La Puerta.“Our choice wasnt a simple one. We didn´t want to sacrifice our commitment to original handcrafted, eco-friendly pieces of art for mass produced products just to meet the demand. On the other hand we couldn´t continue working in the same old inefficient manner. What we needed was a long term solution to increase profitability, increase speed through the line, and increase efficiency for our high end product.”

Rather than sacrifice quality for quantity, La Puerta chose to expand the manufacturing capacity, but wanted to insure that the expansion produced the desired increase in productivity. Melissa, along with Trevor Ryan, Operations Manager approached New Mexico Manufacturing Extension Program (New Mexico MEP) with their unique dilemma.

“Within many manufacturing companies there are generally two differing approaches to meet issues of productivity and production capacity,” says Ron Burke of New Mexico MEP. “The first approach advocates turning the new capacity into a mass production line, sacrificing the originality and creativity that has made the company a success in the first place. The second approach advocates continuing to do business as usual in an inefficient manner. Neither solution is ever acceptable for the long turn viability and profitability of the company.”

New Mexico MEP provided training in Lean Manufacturing Principles to a large part of the production, sales and product management staff. Key employees in the production area created a value stream map (VSM) of the manufacturing process. From this map, the team identified a layout for the new equipment and other opportunities for improving the speed of work going through the line. Next the sales, design and project management staff in conjunction with key employees from manufacturing created an administrative VSM. The administrative VSM identified a myriad of problems in the process that had negative impacts on delivery and customer service. The teams put together action plans to address both the manufacturing opportunities and the administrative opportunities and have been diligently and steadily implementing the plans.

The solutions for the manufacturing process resulted in faster time through the line, improved capacity, and the ability to predict and meet delivery dates. The solutions implemented in the sales and design departments have resulted in reduced paperwork and confusion for the customers, improved information for manufacturing, greater on-time deliveries to customers, improved customer satisfaction, and improved cash flow for La Puerta.

“Our participation in the New Mexico MEP program has resulted in many benefits for the La Puerta. Efficiencies in manufacturing have seen a tangible increase,” says Trevor. “In-the-shop throughput times are faster and volume has increased. New Mexico MEP helped us control our scheduling lead time, work in progress flow and create a visible management system for the shop flow. I believe this has improved the morale and teamwork efforts of the craftsmen and the managers.”

According to Melissa, the focus on flow of information through the sales, design and project management departments and into the shop resulted in better specifications coming into the shop in a timely manner. “The increases in efficiencies in sales and project management combined with faster throughput times in the shop have opened up possibilities for more work orders. We look forward to maintaining a continuous improvement system in the future.”

La Puerta Originals Inc. was founded by Scott Coleman in 1992. It began as once man´s passion. Two decades ago, Scott, an architect, custom builder, and traveler, adopted a hobby of combing the world for antique doors and architecturally significant old wood pieces. The materials he initially salvaged were being discarded or destroyed in their countries of origin. Their beauty inspired him transform architectural antiques and reclaimed wood into one-of-a-kind originals for custom homes.

Today, La Puerta Original´s inventory consists of the world´s largest showcase of architectural antiques from more than fourteen countries. There are over 6,000 antique doors, columns, corbels, surrounds, shutters, timbers, and reclaimed wood. The company employs over 50 highly skilled woodworkers, mill workers and craftsmen, all of whom have a special talent for combining the beauty of the past with the functionality of the present in beautiful reclaimed wood products for the contemporary world. La Puerta Originals is located in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on more than four acres that includes an 18,000 square-foot manufacturing facility.

The Mission of New Mexico MEP is to help the State´s existing small and medium manufacturing enterprises strengthen their global competitiveness by delivering relevant services to assist them to achieve their goals. The New Mexico MEP is an affiliate of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Manufacturing Extension Partnership (NIST MEP) under the U.S. Department of Commerce. The NIST MEP is a network of manufacturing extension centers that provide business and technical assistance to smaller manufacturers in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. For more information on the New Mexico MEP program call (505) 262-0921 or visit their website at www.newmexicomep.org