B. Braun, a maker of medical devices, has offices around the world but employs 1,500 people in Allentown and Bethlehem alone. The company recently pulled the manufacture of 200 devices from overseas back into domestic production.

To compete in the global economy, a business must be innovative, agile, efficient and strategic. To compete for more than a century and a half, a company must also embrace change as both inevitable and necessary for survival. For 167 years, B. Braun has relied on these traits to become a world leader in the medical device manufacturing business.

"People are quick to say that manufacturing doesn't have a place in the U.S. anymore," says Al Kiani, B. Braun's vice president and general manager of operations in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. "They're simply wrong."

Kiani believes that to succeed, U.S. companies need to invest in both technology and people. These traits are what will set a company apart from off-shore manufacturing. "Our continuous investment in new technologies has gotten us this far, and we know we need to keep investing to stay ahead," he says.

Among its dozens of worldwide locations, B. Braun employs 1,500 in Allentown and Bethlehem. A few years ago, while facing ever-mounting competition and price pressures, local management realized the operation needed fundamental change—and that would require an investment of time and money.

"Our in-house resources are focused on day-to-day challenges," Kiani says. "So when we decided to take on this major, long-term strategic initiative, we teamed up with a specialist to help us drive the project, conduct research and provide expert opinion."

Becoming a Center of Excellence
B. Braun turned to Ben Franklin Technology Partners (BFTP), who stepped in to help transform the Allentown facility into the Corporate Center of Excellence for Automation—a model of production efficiency.

By partnering with BFTP and Lehigh University's Enterprise Systems Center, internal teams were able to adopt a new inventory system, switch to a cellular rather than batch manufacturing model and begin managing supply chain logistics through a Kanban model.

These changes yielded an immediate savings of 30 percent on both setup and ordering costs. The recommendations promise ongoing double-digit reductions of total inventory management costs and decreased setup times.

"BFTP was there as a catalyst, helping us get lean and supporting us every step of the way," says Rudy Milisits, a 21-year veteran of the company and director of technical services. "BFTP's support kick-started our efforts. Change came a lot sooner than it would have, had we tried to do it alone."

Good for the Company, Good for Pennsylvania
"This project had a very positive impact on our Pennsylvania operations," says Mark Pesavento, manager of employee relations. "By increasing manufacturing efficiency to such a great degree, we were able to return 200 devices from offshore production back to the Lehigh Valley facilities."

The efforts also led to the implementation of new scheduling software and a five-year strategic plan. "All the parts of this initiative fit together seamlessly," says Milisits. "Thanks in large part to BFTP, we've converted to flow manufacturing, running from raw materials to finished products in an unbroken line where no paths cross."

But putting new systems in place wasn't the end of the challenges. "Many of these improvements meant we shifted from non-skilled to skilled labor operation," says Kiani. "So we made—and continue to make—a huge investment in training to give employees the skills they need to work and thrive within the new system."

 From the July/August 2006 issue