California Closets: Rethink, Rebuild (A)

In July 2021, Peer Nielsen, partner at the Business Improvement Group, was deciding how to improve manufacturing at California Closets. Although sales were expected to exceed current production by the end of the year, California Closets faced existing issues with manufacturing defects, incomplete orders, and delivery delays. A partner at the Business Improvement Group, a boutique consultancy, Nielsen had spent much of the spring evaluating the custom storage provider’s manufacturing centers in Arizona and Michigan. While California Closets' leadership was planning a major investment in automation, Nielsen believed Lean manufacturing techniques could improve the situation with existing resources. As a high-mix, high-volume manufacturer, how could California Closets meet its quality, delivery, and production targets? This case series examines how to improve a process with existing company resources in a high-volume mass customization manufacturing environment. It can be used as an introduction to Lean thinking or for learning and practicing specific methods such as A3 or 5S. The case has been used with students in full-time MBA courses and executive education programs.