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Company Profile

Kapala Ahu of Kaneohe, Hawaii, designs and produces Hawaiian graphic artwork and printed garments. Kapala Ahu's President Wain Piena creates distinct Hawaiian designs, based on traditional and contemporary themes. This design service is complemented by Kapala Ahu's garment printing capabilities to produce printed fabric and a range of printed garments. With less than 20 employees, this family-owned and operated company supplies a range of stores and organizations in Hawaii.

Situation

After attending a Lean Manufacturing workshop, Kapala Ahu contacted Hawaii MEP, now known as HTDC-MEP, a NIST MEP network affiliate, for help in developing their strategic direction. While recognizing the market potential of its services and products, the firm's management team was not sure of the best direction to take to continue the growth and success of the company.

Solution

Working closely with a local consultant Leap Frog LLC, Hawaii MEP helped Kapala Ahu assess their priorities. With the help of Hawaii MEP and Leap Frog, Kapala Ahu determined their strategic direction. The need to improve production efficiencies was recognized as a priority for the future. Marty Parisien with Leap Frog LLC completed a financial review of Kapala Ahu, to evaluate the company's resources and strategy for improving cash flow. In addition, a pricing model and marketing plan were developed based on the owners' goals. By focusing on the optimum potential of the company, savings were made by avoiding both expansion costs and loss of revenue through low margins.

Results

As a result of the assistance received by the Hawaii MEP, Kapala Ahu was able to determine their strategic direction. In addition, they developed pricing model and marketing plan as well as saving $100,000 in unnecessary expansion costs.

Testimonial

Hawaii MEP's individualized friendly approach to our needs resulted in a substantial change in how we ran our business. While we are not yet operationally sound (it doesn't happen overnight) we are well on our way! Mahalo Hawaii MEP.

-- Wain Piena, President, Kapala Ahu

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