Khamamah

While Micropump, which manufactures small-volume, precision-flow, sealed pumps, has been in business for 46 years and has been owned by IDEX Corporation for 11 years, it is in the last several years that innovations in its product line have accelerated rapidly. The reason is because now there is more cash to finance research and development efforts. Interestingly, the cash is not from the benevolence of the parent company, but from the results of the Operational Excellence initiative that IDEX management began five years ago. In 2001, Micropump was in need of revitalization. Market growth was lagging and operations were not improving rapidly. IDEX turned to Six Sigma and Lean (calling the program Operational Excellence) to provide the framework and philosophy to move Micropump forward. The IDEX guideline was to choose the best and brightest and dedicate them to full-time Black Belt roles. Micropump did just that. With less than 75 salaried employees on staff in Vancouver, the company c...