MAC PRODUCTS ACHIEVES ROBUST GROWTH THROUGH PROCESS ENHANCEMENTS FACILITATED BY NJMEP

Background

In 1968, MAC Products Inc. was founded by Ed Gollob, who started with just two employees. Over the years, this family-owned and operated manufacturing company has flourished under three generations of leadership, now boasting over 100 employees and a 4.5-acre fully integrated complex in South Kearny. Specializing in made-to-order manufacturing services and products, MAC serves diverse clients, from electrical utilities to mass-transit entities. With a motto of ‘We Don’t Do Easy,’ MAC emphasizes a personal and honest approach to business, a tradition implemented by Gollob and upheld for over 50 years. Having witnessed multiple technological shifts in manufacturing, MAC has consistently been a pioneer of innovation. From initial pencil and paper drawings, the company has transformed into one of the most technologically advanced operations in New Jersey Manufacturing.

The relationship between MAC Products and NJMEP goes back nearly a decade, beginning with some LEAN training and evolving into a fruitful partnership that resulted in some great no cost opportunities like joining the ‘MADE in NJ’ program and being featured in the ‘WE MADE IT’ video series. The most recent engagement with NJMEP stemmed from a need to improve certain processes that were impacting MAC’s business.

“We continually kept engaged with the MEP over the years,” says Eddie Russnow, President of MAC. “With this latest grant that we got from the state for training, it’s all been based around the process improvement and process mapping, and that’s really been our core focus now as we realize that the things that are holding us back are the processes, and that stemmed from a deep dive that we did with [NJMEP’s Resource].”

Challenge

With critical resources made available through the DoL training grant program, Eddie and his account manager set about discerning which area of the business was most critical to improving operations. “What we’re recognizing is our ability to get the right data that we need to manage the business is difficult to find in all the disparate areas of the company where the data resides,” says Russnow. “A lot of the things that we’re experiencing with—we’ll call them headaches—with each other, is not because of each other, but it’s because of the way we’re trying to find data, and how the data all connects,” he adds.

Eddie, through his collaboration with NJMEP, recognized that the processes implemented over the years became ineffective and required thorough reevaluation and enhancement.
“In order to get our system to work the way it was designed to work, first we have to figure out what the proper processes are,” says Russnow, “If we didn’t go through this process, I don’t think we would have been able to put a strategic plan in place to try to grow the company.”

When asked if he thought it was an outside perspective that gave him more insight into what was causing the tensions with their processes he responded: “There’s no question,” says Russnow, “We were clouded in our judgment by the seven words of a dying company—‘That’s the way we’ve always done it.’”

“It’s the fear of knowing that you don’t know everything, and then what’s it going to take and therefore what’s it going to cost to fix it to make it right,” says Russnow. “And when you’ve headed down this road for so long, unless you’re strong enough to admit that we don’t know everything, if we want to really move the needle, this is what we have to do and we’re going to have to just roll our sleeves up and we’re just going to have to bite the bullet and do what we have to do, because otherwise we’re just going to get the same results we’ve always gotten.”

Solution

In the discovery phase, the operational framework underwent a thorough evaluation to identify inefficiencies and process gaps, with the overarching goal of enhancing business performance. This involved a comprehensive review of how various operational environments adapted to the ERP System, and pinpointing adoption gaps that could be addressed for improvement.

Following the discovery phase, an Operational Effectiveness Team, comprising diverse stakeholders, was established under the name POET – Productivity & Operational Effectiveness Team. This team took on the responsibility of analyzing, identifying, and resolving issues affecting operations. Their collective efforts were directed towards addressing ineffective business processes and recommending necessary changes and improvements to streamline operations.

Throughout the engagement, the team received coaching, training, and guidance, actively expanding their skills and professional development through training courses, mentoring, and daily interactions with stakeholders. Training focused on creating a format for collecting and sharing information using a standardized methodology. The establishment of Rules of Engagement ensured the team’s effectiveness and ensured they maintained a prioritized register of identified issues, resolving them through projects, and reporting their progress to management through regular briefings. In subsequent stages, the team actively supported the implementation of leadership-approved changes.

The scope of work included conducting a detailed workflow analysis to assess process gaps, inefficiencies, and constraints in day-to-day operations. The Aptean Industrial Manufacturing ERP System feature-set was thoroughly reviewed to understand key benefits when properly implemented. A gap analysis evaluated the adoption levels of the new ERP System in various work environments. A Process Dependency Analysis (PDA) identified operational dependencies among stakeholders, ensuring the fulfillment of informational and operational needs. Finally, the formation and training of the Operational Effectiveness Team equipped them with the necessary skills to identify and recommend changes, with subsequent support for implementing approved operational process alterations.

The following steps were taken:
Project Title – Performance Management Consulting (22 Days Total)

• REPORT – Detailed Workflow Analysis — 5 Days
• REPORT – ERP System Feature-set Analysis — 3 Days
• REPORT – ERP Gap Analysis — 3 Days
• REPORT – Process Dependency Analysis (PDA) — 3 Days
• EMPLOYEE DEVELOPMENT – Creation of an Operational Effectiveness Team and training via ManageMeant™ — 8 Days

Results

The following results were cited as a direct result of engaging with NJMEP 12-18 months following the conclusion of the project outlined above.

• New Sales: $3 Million
• Retained Sales: $1.5 Million
• New Jobs: 5

“[NJMEP] has opened our eyes to the things that we didn’t necessarily know that were out there for us, from a standpoint of support from the state or support from other organizations,” says Russnow.

When asked what the standout results from engaging with NJMEP were from his perspective, he had this to say: “The standout results [from this project],” he begins, “Everything is still moving forward and is still in process and will be in process always, because we’ll always be looking to identify ways to streamline things and improve the processes,” says Russnow. “The thing that I’m most happy with and most proud of is that I didn’t have to be the one to drive it.”