Hidden Capacity in the Curing Process
How a Focused Kaizen Helped One Composites Manufacturer Meet Aggressive Growth Goals without New Equipment
Client: A leading manufacturer of composite aircraft components
Partner: Daniel Penn Associates, LLC
Senior Consultant: Mike Beauregard
The Situation
A leading composites manufacturer had a clear problem. Demand was growing fast, but the production floor wasn’t keeping up. Curing, a critical step in the process, was the bottleneck. Buying new equipment wasn’t the answer. Leadership believed there had to be more capacity hiding in the current system. The question was how to unlock it. The company brought together operators, engineers, and support teams for a focused Kaizen event facilitated by Daniel Penn Associates.
The goal was simple: figure out how to get more out of what they already had, without compromising safety, quality, or customer requirements.
The Challenges
The company faced multiple challenges.
- OEE was low.
- Large-capacity equipment was often running with only one to three parts.
- Cycle times were extended beyond the programmed heating/cooling cycles.
- Changeovers took hours.
- Material flow and layout created unnecessary motion.
- Scheduling was manual and reactive.
At the same time, the business had set aggressive targets:
- Increase OEE to 80 percent.
- Grow annual output by 46% from 2025 to 2026.
- Do it all without adding equipment or staff.
The team realized this wasn’t a “fix one thing” problem. The entire process needed to be rethought from end-to-end.
The Kaizen
In January 2026, the company ran a multi-day Kaizen event focused entirely on the Curing operations. Operators, engineers, and support staff worked side-by-side, guided by Daniel Penn Associates Senior Consultant Mike Beauregard.
The approach was practical and grounded in reality. The team aligned on lean basics and how to spot waste, mapped the current-state process, and spent time on the floor watching the work happen. They questioned long-standing assumptions, prioritized improvement ideas, and assigned owners and timelines to keep momentum going
By the end of the event, the team had identified 77 improvement ideas. Some were quick wins. Others required design work or investment. All of them pointed in the same direction: the equipment wasn’t the problem. The system around it was.
What the Team Learned
Once the team stepped back and observed the process, patterns became obvious.
Equipment was often waiting for parts from upstream processes. Finished cycles sat idle because no one was ready to unload them. Operators lost time tracking down shared tools and forklifts. Carts and tooling were stored far from where they were needed. Layout issues created unnecessary walking, lifting, and searching.
In short, the equipment could run more. The operation just wasn’t set up to support it.
A New Way of Running the Process
The Kaizen team designed a new operating model built around three ideas: flow, visibility, and readiness.
Smarter Scheduling and Better Loads
Instead of reacting to whatever parts showed up next, the team shifted towards a pull-based approach. Parts with similar cure cycles are grouped to maximize each load. Scheduling moves away from manual spreadsheets toward automation. Operators and tools are treated as resources that must be scheduled, not assumed. Layup cycle times are captured, so batching decisions are based on real data.
The result is higher utilization and fewer wasted cycles.
Visual Management Makes Work Easier
The team also focused on making the right work obvious. This required clearly marked floor space for incoming and outgoing tools, standard signage, and swim lanes so parts are easy to find, visual setup guides for critical tasks, simple checklists for cleaning, failures, and handoffs, and planned use of Andon lights to signal cycle completion, quality issues, or maintenance needs. These changes reduce confusion, mistakes, and wasted motion.
Faster Changeovers Through Prestaging the Next Load
One of the team’s biggest breakthroughs was realizing how much time was lost between cycles. Instead of waiting until a cycle finishes, the team redesigned the process so that the next load is prepared in advance.
Carts are preloaded while the processes are running. Debagging and prep work happen in parallel. Carts and connections are redesigned for faster swaps. Safe handling solutions are engineered for heavy tooling.
The Impact
By improving scheduling and grouping parts with similar cure cycles, the team expects to increase average loads from four parts per cycle to six. That change alone adds an estimated 1,666 parts per year.
Reducing changeover time from two hours to just 45 minutes saves 1.25 hours per load. Across 833 loads per year, that time adds up quickly. At six parts per load, it enables another 696 parts annually.
Together, these improvements are projected to increase output by over 2,000 parts per year. That’s 61 percent more than the original production goal, achieved without adding equipment.
To support the changes, the company plans targeted investments such as modified and additional loading carts, a plant-wide Andon light system, mezzanine or room modifications, and equipment health assessment software.
Compared to new capital equipment, these investments offer a stronger return and much faster payoff.
What Leadership Took Away
This company’s Kaizen delivered more than the capacity it had. It changed how leaders and employees think.
Leaders walked away with clear lessons: Fresh eyes saw waste that was hidden by familiar routines. Explaining the process forces clarity on what isn’t working and generates new ideas on how to fix issues. Regular observation matters, even in stable operations. Team-based Kaizen events build ownership and buy-in. And change happens when employees design the solution.
The Bottom Line
By partnering with Daniel Penn Associates and trusting a cross-functional team to rethink a critical constraint, this composites manufacturer uncovered significant hidden capacity. The Kaizen didn’t just improve one part of the process. It created a repeatable way to improve flow, utilization, and throughput across the operation.
Most importantly, it showed that growth doesn’t always require more equipment. Sometimes it just requires a better way of working.
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For more continuous improvement articles:
- Accountability is a System
- What’s holding you back from operational excellence?
- The Power of Intentionality: How to Sustain Continuous Improvement to Maximize Efficiency