Marotta turns things around

The valve-making company used to have trouble getting product out the door on time, but it has improved its turnaround dramatically via lean thinking.

If ever there were a company in need of some serious lean thinking, it was Marotta Controls in the 1990s. The New Jersey maker of valves for use in aerospace and other industries was dysfunctional on many levels. Production efficiency was poor, and getting product out the door was a major challenge.

“Lead times [from receipt of order to delivery] kept growing and growing,” explained Steven Fox, Vice President of Operations. “It got up to 32 weeks-and even at that we were still missing deadlines.”