Making Waves in Manufacturing
Floe International has made waves in the manufacturing industry, and not just because they produce dock and boat lift systems. The vision of founder and CEO Wayne Floe also plays a big part. Called a legend by many in the industry, Floe started a dock and lift removal company as a teenager. He thought many of the docks and lifts were difficult to operate, looked unsightly and could be improved. Proving that necessity is the mother of invention, Floe began to make quality, attractive and easy-to-use boat and dock lifts himself.
With two plant locations — one in Hoyt Lakes and the other in McGregor — Floe has, in the last two decades, become a leading manufacturer in high-tech aluminum products for snowmobile trailers, dock systems, boat lifts and utility ramps, among other products.
Ray Preble, vice president of manufacturing for the Hoyt Lakes division, credits much of the company’s growth to the innovative and entrepreneurial vision of the company’s founder and its implementation of lean. While many companies go through a one-time process of applying lean, both Preble and Floe believe they will always apply lean to the corporation. “Lean is an ongoing system that we’re implementing in both plants,” says Preble. “It deals with the raw and finished goods materials. We’ll never get away from lean — we’ll just get better at it.”
Floe has been involved with Minnesota Technology, Inc. (MTI) for the past several years and looks forward to an advantageous relationship with the company in the future. When Floe International first started to aggressively execute lean through instruction with MTI, Preble says, many areas within the company improved instantly, especially in terms of their inventory. “When we first started to implement the raw material card system, we had lots of excess inventory.” Preble says. “Now, we only use what we need before we place an order. We no longer have extra inventory for this particular product. That was an instant financial savings right there.”
Floe looks forward to not only saving money, but expanding his company and its profits. While he’s hired a team of managers to oversee the day-to-day operations, Floe continues to drive the overall vision for the company by marketing, exploring emerging markets and technologies, and designing new products. Currently, Floe is working on a product that, if successful, will boost the company’s growth by 50 percent. If past progress is any sign of future success, Floe International is off to a good start.
— Nicole Russell