For the last 16 years, Chesapeake Bay Candle produced its scented candles in Asia. But then things began to change. Increased labor and transportation costs were steadily eating into profits. Retailers’ never seemed to have enough product in stock and this created spot shortages and logistical problems. “To do well in this market, you need to be able to produce and ship the next day,” says co-founder Mei Xu, a Chinese immigrant to the U.S. “That means making it here” in the U.S.
So the company finally decided to take the plunge and build a factory in Maryland. While this turns out to have created problems as well, with regulatory issues adding months to the schedule, and perhaps another $1 million to the total cost, things are finally looking up. Time for a grand opening, scheduled for June.
The WSJ article does not actually use the word “Lean” when discussing how business will be done differently because of Chesapeake’s new domestic manufacturing capability. But savvy Lean readers will certanly recognize the signs of Lean cultural transformation in this story. Now, if we could just get the regulators to remove some of the non-value-adding barriers currently in place we might get more off-shore manufacturers to come back on-shore.
And, by the way, my purpose in life is to help you find the Lean executives who can make this happen in your company. Call me. Adam Zak. Finding the right executive Lean leaders for your Lean enterprise.
(Read the full article here: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704463804576291594025772186.html)
