What’s in a name? If you’re 3P Processing in Wichita, Kansas, it’s fairly simple to explain what their name implies: processing, performance, problem-solving.
Terry Karst, president and CEO of the Nadcap-accredited anodizing and liquid coating applicator says 3P Processing is all about high-quality and exceeding customer expectations.
“We are a metrics-driven organization with cell metrics, and Gemba walks every day,” he says. “We are here to solve problems, not create a problem.”
3P Processing is a full-service provider of metal finishing, testing and inspection services to the aerospace and defense industry. With numerous OEM approvals, the company provides services for major commercial aircraft, business aircraft, and defense platforms.
3P Processing operates from a single facility with approximately 115,000 square feet of combined office and processing space. Karst says business is good, as military sales are strong with their U.S. defense contractors.
Customer Satisfaction is Key
“Business jet sales and commercial sales are starting to ramp up slowing as the Covid-19 situation improves and the possibility of the 737 Max returning to service,” he says. “Customer satisfaction in the aerospace industry is key.”
3P Processing’s average cycle time on all orders is under five days, and their on-time delivery is 98% to their schedule.
Karst attributes that success to their 150 dedicated employees; the shop works two shifts five days a week. Prior to issues with the Boeing 737 Max going offline and the COVID-19 pandemic, 3P Processing has over 320 employees and was working shifts seven days a week.
“About 30 percent of our work was 737 Max,” Karst says.
But that doesn’t mean production runs at break-neck speed; Karst says safety is extremely important to the 3P Processing team, especially in an industry that has a high recordable accident history.
“In 2016, we went 427 days without a recordable accident,” he says. “In 2019, we did business in over 34 states, and more than doubled our sales volume in 10 years since 2009.”
3P Processing’s top processes include aluminum, titanium, and steel processing, as well as anodizing (boric, sulfuric, and chromic), hard anodizing, passivation, non-destructive testing, painting – prime and topcoat, surface enhancement – shot peening, blasting, and part marking, both jet ink and dot peen.
Impressive Throughput
In 2019, the shop put up some impressive numbers:
- 63,884 individual orders.
- 1,937,268 parts.
- 10,158 new part numbers.
- 21,800 different/unique part numbers.
- 13,971 expedites.
Julia Johnston is the company’s Director of Operations, and Kris Rey is the Director of Quality, two very important positions for the demand that 3P Processing’s owners — a private equity firm — have put on quality and service.
“Our mission is to be the number one processing facility in the industry in terms of safety, quality, and delivery,” Johnston says. “We accomplish this by involving our employees, evaluating processes, and ensuring continuous improvement in all phases of our business.”
Part of 3P Processing’s success is a flat organization with only three levels of management. The leadership team, the staff, and all employees are closely connected with start-up meetings, skip-level meetings, and plant meetings.
“We conduct bi-weekly staff meetings with the entire management team, alternating morning and afternoon times to include other shift management,” Karst says. “Every morning, the customer account managers, supervisors/directors, and I conduct a Gemba walk or morning walk throughout the facility to observe the work, review metrics of each cell, and resolve/work customer and production issues on the floor of the facility with our employees.”
Celebrating Safety Efforts
Rey says the company conducts quarterly plant meetings for all shifts to discuss the company performance, safety, quality, and delivery.
“We celebrate company plant safety and performance by using cook-outs, where the management team does the cooking, or for major milestones we cater food in from local restaurants,” he says.
3P Processing recently added to its wastewater treatment systems and recycling of the water it uses; it now has an additional 50 gallons per minute for its water RO system, with a current capacity of 100 gpm, with a 100 gpm recycle system.
The company’s top suppliers are Graco for its paint equipment, GT Midwest for supplies, as well as Massco/Brady Company for additional materials and supplies.
Karst says the company is considering additional expansion of its footprint to expand the masking and paint operations. For now, the focus is on customer satisfaction in regard to on-time delivery, turnaround and cycle time, and quality, both internally and externally.
“The future of our company is bright as we continue to satisfy our customer's processing needs” he says.
Visit www.3p-p.com.
