Action Progress Edition: RB Royal
Action Advertiser
March 2, 2007
When you think about it, the fluids that course through engines and other mechanized equipment are every bit as important to that equipment as the fluids our bodies rely on to maintain life and good health. For equipment, that means fuel, oil, water, chemicals and air.
With 65 years in the business of hose, tubing and fittings, the combined talent, expertise and dedication of the people of RB Royal Industries, Inc., contributes great value to the products its customers produce. Those products rely on efficient delivery of fuel, oil, water, chemicals and air. Those products consist of original equipment engines, generators, motorcycles, sprayers, welders, ATVs, car wash systems and many more.
Value is delivered by contributing to superior performance, reliability, aesthetics, ease of access, user friendliness and more. Specifically, RB Royal designs and manufactures application-based solutions utilizing custom hose and tube assemblies and precision machining. Recognizing the importance of its customers’ confidence in the products RB Royal provides to its customers, the company recently adopted the tag line “manufacturing confidence.”
"By asking our customers what keeps bringing them back, we learned that they have developed a strong sense of confidence in us," said Jim Neumann, CEO. "It’s not that we are flawless; however, we have defined ourselves by how we react and respond in the face of problems and challenges, and we are extremely responsive to our customers." Neumann added, "Our customers also know that we won’t make promises we cannot keep. That is relative to integrity and responsibility, two of our four core values." The other two are resourcefulness and esprit de corp.
The company’s core values continue to be an important part of how the company operates. The four core values have been embraced by the company’s employees; they are demonstrated daily in how the employees work together and how they treat and respond to the company’s customers and partners.
RB Royal has been committed to Lean Enterprise through the use of tools and techniques to eliminate waste throughout the company. Lean was brought into the manufacturing floor in 2000 and into the office in 2005. Before bringing Lean Enterprise into the office, RB Royal’s quote process was lagging anywhere from 15 to 30 days, which meant it was missing a critical component of establishing relationships to win bids.
"In our business it’s not enough to get the quote in on time. You need to get it early, or even first. Then you’re the one setting the bar," said John Valek, RB Royal’s president.
The company then joined forces with the Wisconsin Manufacturers Extension Partnership (WMEP) to apply Value Stream Mapping (VSM) and Value Added Flow Analysis (VAFA) to their front office quoting processes. Valek said the biggest surprise was the amount of non-value-added time that dragged down every quote. Now quotes reside in a ‘paced release system’ based on priority and urgency, so that the engineers and salespeople can focus their complete attention on adding value for the customer, rather than sorting through piles of quote requests.
RB Royal now processes quotes in an average of three days. The company also continues to retain benefits throughout the organization by transformations in new product innovations and shop floor improvements.
In addition to its Lean efforts, the company strongly promotes quality throughout all aspects of its business, from product design and customer support to supplier selection and manufacturing, as well as other support functions. At RB Royal, everyone’s responsibility is quality. Its Quality Management System has been certified to the ISO 9000 quality management system standards since 1999 and is currently certified to the ISO 9001:2000 standard. Later this year, the company will work toward completing its recertification, of which occurs every three years.
The company’s dedication to manufacturing confidence has not gone unnoticed. In January of 2006, Marian College recognized RB Royal Industries as Business of the Year at the college's 24th annual Business & Industry Awards Dinner.
"Marian College’s annual Business & Industry Awards recognize the best in businesses, based in Wisconsin or with significant Wisconsin operations. We are honored to be a part of the elite list of winners," said Neumann.
The company was also recognized last May as "Best of Class" by one of its customers, Gardner Denver Thomas of Sheboygan. This award is a result of receiving a cumulative 98.29 percent score on supplier performance ratings in 2005. The category performance ratings RB Royal was evaluated on included price, quality, delivery and service.
RB Royal has stood the test of time for 65 years. The only way that has been possible is by the company and its employees remaining flexible and adaptable to change. A recent change took place in January 2007 as Neumann became the third CEO to lead RB Royal. He succeeded his brother, John Jr., who retired at the end of 2006 and his recently deceased father and founder of the business, John Sr.
Neumann looks to the future by saying, "The challenges of global competition are intense and will only become greater in coming years, demanding we remain lifetime learners on a global scale. To survive today and into the future, we must bring a high level of value to what we offer, and our customers must recognize it. We do that by learning new methods and adapting them to our model of continual improvement, positive relationship building and quality products and services."