MAP pushes business efficiency

When executives at Memec Group's distribution facility in Reno wanted help with problem-solving, they turned to a low-profile state program designed to increase the efficiency of Nevada manufacturers.

Happy with the results of problemsolving training, Memec later asked teams from the Management Assistance Partnership to develop programs in subjects ranging from improvements in equipment reliability to ways to run more effective meetings.

The results? Memec Quality Assurance manager Terry Host said customer satisfaction ratings during 2002 were up by 28 percent from year-earlier figures, the number of improvement teams in the facility rose by 66 percent and the company took a big step toward meeting the requirements of the ISO 9001 standards.

Robert Blank, who oversees the operations of the Management Assistance Partnership MAP, for short in northern Nevada said last week the effort is beginning to gain a higher profile as it nears its second anniversary of full-scale operation.

"We've finally developed a reputation," Blank said.

"We've had enough success stories."

MAP works something like the agricultural extension service that long has been a mainstay in rural areas.

Blank and the five project managers who work for MAP in northern Nevada look for ways to improve the productivity and profitability of companies in manufacturing, logistics, construction and mining.

The program will work with about 300 companies across Nevada this year and typically is actively involved with 80-100 at any time.

The level of involvement ranges from intense sessions with experts coordinated by MAP to workshops on subjects such as ergonomics or changes in ISO standards.

A workshop on manufacturing efficiency, for instance, sends attendees onto a mock shop floor to build a simple electronic product.

They return to the classroom several times to discuss what they've learned before they return to see how well their ideas work in practice.

In one recent MAP project with an individual company, teams of employees at a manufacturer found ways to reduce inventories and work together more efficiently.

("Lean manufacturing" is a major theme with MAP officials.) Another manufacturer, looking for ways to reduce errors, watched as a MAP-sponsored consultant and teams of employees devised color-coding schemes that helped clarify assembly processes.

Project managers are careful to respect the sensibilities of the executives who invite MAP to help.

"We don't dictate to the clients.

The clients ultimately make the decision," said Blank.

"We're just the facilitators."

And he said MAP employees have enough real-world experience to assure clients that their suggestions will make sense.

"We're all ex-private sector people who have worn the moccasins," Blank said.

They're held accountable, too, by the knowledge that the work they do

with companies will be tracked.

A year after each MAP project is complete, an independent auditor returns to the company to determine the effects of the agency's work.

The most recent compilation of those audits found that MAP projects had a $20 million effect on the state's economy.

Included in that number:

* Industry sales increases, $6.28 million.

* Industrial cost savings, $3.1 million.

* Job creation and retention, $6.96 million.

* Increased investment, $4.17 million.

The agency works under the umbrella of the University and Community College System of Nevada, and MAP's project managers sometimes turn to experts in colleges and universities to provide assistance to companies.

But the program relies mostly heavily on private-sector consultants picking ones based in Nevada whenever possible.

More than 80 percent of MAP's work involves outside consultants as opposed to use of its own staff.

Contact info To contact the MAP office in Reno, call 856-5315.

It's located at 475 Edison Way.

The Carson City office is at 2201 W.

College Parkway and the phone number is 445-3328.

The organization's Web address is www.mapnv.com