The Opportunity
A longtime client of QualPro, ISP recently partnered with QualPro consultants to reduce quality shortcomings by 70%. In the midst of international expension, ISP faced new challenges in delinquent orders and customer dissatisfaction. When its capacity issues threatened to slow international growth, ISP chose QualPro to resolve the problem.
Through its partnership with QualPro, ISP quickly reduced measurement systems variation and increased production rates while maintaining product quality standards.
International Specialty Products Profile
International Specialty Products (Ashland Inc.) is a U.S.-based specialty chemical products company manufacturing over 325 products for both consumer and industrial markets. Since being acquired by Ashland Inc. in 2011, ISP has continued to supply specialty chemicals and performance enhancing products to an itnernational makret.
Client Impact: Chemical
The Approach
QualPro consultants conducted interviews with ISP lab technicians and key stakeholders to gain insight into the different measurement processes and procedures for sample testing. Based on initial findings, QualPro promptly reduced variation in the measurement process by introducing a new, more rapid process to reduce labratory-testing time. The project continued to test key measures like production rate and quality standards, and measure their effects on capacity. QualPro worked closely with ISP operations personnel, including the local work force, to identify key drivers of process variation, such as raw material shortages, methods for heating reactors, and process line plugging.
The Impact
Based on QualPro's recommended changes to reduce the variation and increase production rates without sacrificing quality, ISP realized increases in production rates beyond its original target goal. These increases amount to $1 million in perviously unseen profit alongside a 15% improvement in production rates with zero degredation of product quality, and complete satisfaction of customer demand.
"This holding ingredient in hair mousse required testing that involved numerous key measures: viscosity, color, pH, haze, solids, and cycle time. The results of the QualPro effort brought an improvement in Cpk from .57 to 1.30, reduction in cycle time from 38 to 30 hours, and the market protection of $8 million in sales."
Bill Stone
International Specialty Products
