Methods for Management’s Production Focus Group was hosted by St. Croix Cleaners in Stillwater, Minnesota on September 19th – 20th, 2013. Owners Dave and Polly Nemec and Plant Manager Kileen Swedenborg welcomed the group, which consisted of owners and their management. The MfM Members toured the St. Croix Cleaners plant to see the most advanced technology and to discuss efficiency and productivity within their dry cleaning operation.
Included in each MfM Focus Group meeting is either a relevant field trip of interest or a guest speaker presentation. This event included a factory tour of the headquarters of Andersen Windows. The Andersen Corporation is an international enterprise employing more than 9,000 people at more than 20 locations, with headquarters in Bayport, Minnesota. The 2.8 million-square-foot facility covers 65 acres. Anderson is known for consistently exceptional quality. They have a similar challenge to drycleaners with our unique “raw product” in each garment, in that they must produce an air and weatherproof product for a unique and often inconsistent location far removed from the manufacturing plant.
The MfM specialty events include the Production Focus Group and the Sales & Marketing Focus Group, which each meet twice per year, and are open to both owners and their appropriate management. The Focus Group meetings include a refined schedule custom-tailored to the focus of the participants, with a full agenda of presentations and assignments designed to help companies improve their profit, guidance for implementing both proven and new ideas, and identifying and sharing existing successful programs and opportunities to further develop promising approaches.
The next meeting of the Production Focus Group will be hosted by Fashion Cleaners in Omaha, Nebraska on March 6th – 7th, 2014, and will feature a special presentation from industry consultant Sandra Haralson.
Methods for Management consults to the drycleaning industry through Peer Management Bureaus and independent project assignments. MfM Management Bureaus provide a safe, non-competitive environment where members receive profit enhancing tools and share information, issues and concerns with peers that they trust and respect. MfM has helped clients, both nationally and internationally, improve profits and operations since 1953.
