A Case Study in Production Improvement: Thompson Electric Company

The pursuit of continuous improvement with a parallel valuing of people seemed to be instilled in the essence of Thompson Electric Company (TEC). Thompson has instilled and standardized this in their approach to projects, under their self-titled “Thompson Production Management.” Their approach streamlines their project management efforts through internally developed software tools that streamline the planning, structuring, prefabrication, and tracking of in-progress work. Paralleling this efficiency is a strong value for people, both on the customers they serve and their employees and field workforce. Their strong investment in training and mentoring shows through the retention and promotion of the apprentices that have moved through their leadership training into field or project leadership within the firm. Beyond thoughtful approaches, Thompson emphasizes the use of prefabrication to reduce the uncertainties of projects, using standard overhead racks and in-wall assemblies to reduce the planning effort of foreman when beginning new projects, allowing them to put more effort and thought into the unusual project aspects of any given project. Thompson is continuing to move forward while working to maintain standards and consistency across its three primary locations and fabrication facilities.