Learning Lean – New business model cuts waste from production – Buck Knives of Post Falls, ID

North Idaho has a promising new business model to consider that may help to invigorate manufacturing and give vocational hope to many in the area’s work force.

Lean manufacturing was brought to Post Falls by Buck Knives Inc. http://www.buckknives.com/ when they began production in their new facility this year.

"Lean manufacturing is a philosophy with a series of tools to get there," said C.J. Buck, president and CEO of Buck Knives Inc.

Three years ago, Buck Knives was manufacturing the old way using long, specialized assembly lines that resulted in the need to warehouse large amounts of partially completed knives that were not yet ready to be shipped or sold. This unusable inventory — work in progress — had a considerable amount of labor invested, took up floor space and needed to be tracked.

By MIKE SATREN
Staff writer

Full Story: http://www.cdapress.com/articles/2005/08/14/business/bus01.txt