TRANE Residential Systems, is a lean organization that knows about growth through innovation. In 1931, TRANE came up with the radical idea of using technology to provide relief from the summer heat. The 1938 launch of the Turbovac, the industry's first hermetic, centrifugal refrigeration machine, fundamentally changed the concept of air conditioning in large buildings. This was the beginning of a long chain of innovations that eventually led to TRANE's current CenTraVac, the industry standard for large commercial air conditioning systems. This energy-efficient system with its superior performance in minimizing refrigerant emissions, has earned TRANE the "Best of the Best Stratospheric Ozone Protection Award" from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 

The lean metrics are impressive.

As part of a Six Sigma project, TRANE Residential identified Ultriva, a lean manufacturing software solution, as part of its control plan. TRANE has been using the software for more than a year, and the work-in-process (WIP) and the raw and in-process (RIP) inventory are down more than $4 million. More important, that improvement has been sustained. More than 80 percent of the firm’s purchasing is done online in real time with suppliers using Ultriva's electronic kanban pull system. 

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