Hackley Display Company  

Background

Hackley Display Company is a small, sole proprietorship which produces architectural signs in Northern California.  A typical job includes designing, manufacturing and installing all the signs required in a new hotel, from the big sign on the front of the building to the attractive signs for the restaurants and shops, to the signs on the room doors.

Coming to TOC & Implementing

In the words of John Hackley, the owner, "We were doing OK and had a reputation for doing very good quality work.  However, I was dissatisfied that were we were not doing as well as my intuition told me we could."

In one half-day session Dick Franks and John Hackley identified the core conflict in Hackley Displays and came up with ideas on how to resolve it.  They agreed to begin a one year relationship aimed at making Hackley Displays "more profitable now and in the future."  

They began by identifying and addressing the current constraints of the business in order to markedly increase throughput and cash flow. They improved productivity and throughput by implementing TOC Project Management on all major projects.  Then they attacked growth plans and put in place processes for sustained, controlled growth which included processes to insure new people were well trained in Hackley Displays' processes. 

Results

This process is still in progress.  However, comparing the first eight months of implementation against the same period last year, Hackley Display Company 

1. Revenues have more than doubled. 

2. Profits have soared to more than four times their previous levels.