763 CompaniesAssisted

$1,900,000 New andRetained Salesper project

$121,000 Cost Savingsper project

982 Value AddedServices and Projects

6,793 Jobs Createdand Retained

Investment Spendingper project$387,000

2018Client

ReportedImpacts

$620,444,392 AggregateImpact to Illinois Economy

www.imec.org888-806-4632

2018 Clients on the Path to Enterprise ExcellenceAdvantage Components Inc. (Joliet, IL) | www.aciwires.com | 60 employeesSITUATIONAdvantage Components, Inc. (ACi) began to see exponential growth in sales and subsequent production, but with space constrained in their current facility, the company knew it was time to make room in the existing facility or expand beyond their four walls.

IMEC SOLUTION• Training - Lean Manufacturing 101 workshop, followed by core education with several kaizen events, SMED training, inventory, and facility layout

activities which provided a tremendous initial increase in productivity amongst staff and in their levels of manufacturing output.• 80/20 - This business optimization initiative helped ACi refocus their customer base; understanding where customers are in the sales funnel and who

they truly want to be working with. ACi realized a next year sales growth of 19.6% and put them on pace for a 20% increase in the current year.• New Website/Employee Engagement Survey - Since the survey, ACi has offered employees additional training in soldering, SMED, time studies, and

cell layout.

RESULTS• Increased sales by $2 million through added capacity realized through lean manufacturing• Retained a $1.2 million key customer, nearly lost to competition in Mexico, and a $100k annual customer through quality, safety, and delivery

improvements• Implemented 2-second improvements with staff across the organization to continue focusing on lean daily

Greenwood Plastics Inc. (Danville, IL) | www.gpi-plastics.com | 75 employees

SITUATION

forward and implement a new information management system for the 21st century, or remain in the slow, paper-driven past.

IMEC SOLUTION• Project Management Expert - IMEC offered support through a Project Management expert who joined the Intec team has an informal employee

and provided formal guidance on proper project management techniques to ensure the ERP system implementation ran smoothly – on time and onbudget.

• Completed ERP Implementation - After 9 months, the Intec team successfully completed the implementation of their updated ERP system, launching

• Phase Two - The Intec Group is looking at Phase Two with excitement and plan to work with IMEC and the ERP vendor to revisit additional featuresavailable to them to continue their growth.

RESULTS• 30-60 minutes• New investment in information systems of $350,000• Anticipated $60 million in new and retained sales• Improved visibility and accuracy of critical data reports across multiple departments

SITUATIONWith cremation on the rise at a rate of nearly 50% nationwide, Greenwood Plastics Industries was experiencing a quickly changing marketplace. A unique family business manufacturer servicing the death care industry through multiple product offerings, the family’s fourth generation of leadership knew they needed to align their operational, administrative, sales, and marketing goals under one set of strategies to be successful and adjust to meet the changing demands.

IMEC SOLUTION• Streamlined Their Business Processes -

“Historically our business came to us; but here we were trying to be proactive and understand the clearer picture of our potential.”, said Ethan Darby,Director of Sales for Greenwood Plastics Industries.

• Developed a “Product of the Quarter” Program - The program aligned sales and marketing, and eventually manufacturing. The company is nowworking together to collectively move the needle; an improvement from the silo mentality they had employed previously.

• Importance of Metrics and Goalsyears and were used to a routine and holding data close to chest. By integrating the importance of metrics and accountability into the culture, the

• - Focusing on the incremental improvements to be made in operations including aspects of lean manufacturing.

RESULTS• Expected new and retained sales value of $6 million• Workforce investment of $5,000• Retained 15 jobs, created 1 additional job

The Intec Group (Palatine, IL) | www.intecgrp.com | 175 employees