Loving
Homes Inc.
| COMPANY/LOCATION: |
Loving Homes Inc., Jacksboro, Tennessee |
| PRODUCT: |
Manufactured Housing |
| YEARS IN BUSINESS: |
1 |
| EMPLOYEES: |
122 |
| SITUATION: |
Loving Homes, a start-up business producing manufactured housing, needed
information on building movable and expandable scaffolding that would allow
its employees to work on the tops and sides of buildings under construction
in the Jacksboro facility. The company wanted a scaffolding system that
would be mobile, expandable, and durable, with a safety design that would
meet all applicable Occupational Safety and Health Administration requirements.
The company heard about the Oak Ridge Centers for Manufacturing Technology
through an ORCMT employee and called the toll-free number to request technical
assistance. |
| PROJECT: |
Representatives from ORCMT went to the Loving Homes factory, met with
company officials, and looked at the facility and the requirements of the
scaffolding system. The ORCMT staff members provided technical assistance
and information to meet the needs of the company and then presented a written
report to them. |
| RESULTS: |
Ralph Grant, vice president of Loving Homes, said the recommendations
from ORCMT were incorporated into the five scaffolding systems the company
built and that the scaffoldings "work exactly the way we planned." Using
the ORCMT recommendations in the system allows Loving Homes employees to
work faster and with a minimum of delays in resetting scaffolding, which
speeds up production and saves money while providing a very safe system.
Grant indicated that the technical assistance from ORCMT helped the
company create 100 new jobs in 1995 and possibly 50 new jobs in 1996, while
producing a better quality product and improving safety. The technical
assistance allowed the company to realize about $10,000 in cost avoidance,
and reduce production costs by $50,000 in 1995 and an estimated $10,000
in 1996. The program also resulted in avoidance of sales losses estimated
at up to $100,000 in 1995 and up to $500,000 in 1996. "The ORCMT people
were professional and very helpful. They kept their appointments and met
the deadlines we had agreed on. They understood what we were talking about
and what we needed," Grant said. |
Technical assistances provided to the private sector by the Oak Ridge
Centers for Manufacturing Technology (ORCMT) and its manufacturing extension
partners throughout the United States.
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