(New Mexico MEP: Albuquerque, NM) -- After enrolling its employees in New Mexico's Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) Lean Culture and Leadership program, Sennheiser raised its 2008 sales by $8 million, improved productivity by 28 percent, and experienced other significant improvements in quality and space utilization.

Sennheiser, a German company established in 1945, manufactures wireless communication products at its Albuquerque facility, which employs approximately 150 people.

After attending an introductory course about lean manufacturing, Sennheiser production manager Jeff Duvall enrolled a group of employees in New Mexico MEP’s Lean Culture and Leadership program. The program provided Sennheiser with bimonthly team building training and individual coaching. Employees also participated in the lean enterprise certification program that gave the team 32 hours of in-depth lean training, and a 24-hour kaizen event. In total, New Mexico MEP has provided Sennheiser with more than 1,000 hours of personalized training sessions.

New Mexico MEP helped Sennheiser employees understand the benefits of workplace organization. The company has experienced significant improvements in quality and space utilization. Since the training, Sennheiser increased surface mount productivity by 28 percent and reduced internal quality issues by 91 percent.

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