Latest / The Operations Podcast with Fexingo: Process, People, and Profit in Modern Business / How a Swiss Watchmaker Cut Assembly Time by 60 Percent
Transcript
- Lucas: You know, when people think about Swiss watches, they usually picture tiny gears, hand-assembled movements, centuries of tradition. They don't picture a factory floor being reorganized like a Toyota plant. Luna: Right, and that's exactly what happened at a company called Oris. Not one of the giant names like Rolex or Swatch Group, but a solid mid-tier maker based in Hölstein, Switzerland. Lucas: Exactly. Oris has been around since 1904. By the early 2010s they were making about 200,000 watches a year, and they realized their assembly process was basically unchanged from the 1950s. Everything moved in batches—hundreds of movements sitting in bins waiting for the next step. Luna: And that created a lot of work-in-progress. I've read that at any given time they had something like three months' worth of movements sitting partially assembled. Lucas: Right. So they brought in a consultant from the automotive world—someone who had worked with Bosch and ZF—and he basically said, 'You're running a job shop, not an assembly line.' The recommendation was to adopt cellular manufacturing. Luna: Break the line into small U-shaped cells, cross-train the assemblers, and have each cell produce a complete watch movement from start to finish. Lucas: Exactly that. Traditionally, Oris had 47 separate workstations. A movement would travel from one specialist to the next—one person only installed the mainspring, another only set the escapement. Each movement spent days in queues between stations. Luna: So how many cells did they end up with? Lucas: They consolidated into 12 cells. Each cell had about four to six assemblers, and each assembler was trained to do multiple operations—not all of them, but maybe eight to ten distinct tasks. The idea was that within a cell, the movement could be completed in a single shift instead of weeks. Luna: And this was a huge cultural shift. I mean, Swiss watchmaking pride is built on specialization. Telling a master escapement adjuster that they also need to learn how to install the dial? That's a tough sell. Lucas: Yeah, the resistance was real. The union was skeptical. Some senior craftspeople felt like their skills were being devalued. So Oris did something smart—they didn't roll it out across the whole factory at once. They picked one movement, the Caliber 733, and built a single pilot cell. Luna: And the results spoke for themselves. Lucas: They did. Assembly time for that movement dropped by 60 percent. Work-in-progress inventory fell by 80 percent. Defect rates actually improved because now each cell owned the whole process—if a problem showed up at step ten, the person at step three felt responsible too. Luna: That's the thing about cellular manufacturing—it creates ownership. In a traditional line, if you're just installing the mainspring all day, you don't care what happens to the movement after it leaves your station. In a cell, you see the finished product and you know if something went wrong. Lucas: The pilot ran for three months. After that, the skeptics started coming around. Oris expanded the model to the rest of its movements over the next two years. By 2015, the entire production floor was cellular. Luna: And they kept the same total headcount—they didn't lay anyone off. They just retrained people. Some of the older workers chose early retirement, but for the most part, people adapted. Lucas: That's a key point. Lean transformations often fail because management treats them as cost-cutting exercises. Oris framed it as quality improvement and skill development. They invested in training—each assembler got about 200 hours of cross-training. Luna: And it's also worth noting that Oris didn't go fully automated. They still use hand tools, still do final assembly by hand. The change was about flow, not robots. Lucas: Right. And the impact on lead times was dramatic. Before, a custom order—say, a specific dial and strap combination—could take four to six months. After the change, they could deliver in six to eight weeks. That's a huge competitive advantage in the mid-tier market. Luna: And if these kinds of operational deep dives are useful to you—maybe you're thinking about how to apply similar thinking in your own work—that's exactly why we keep making these episodes. Quick honest thing: a handful of listeners chip in monthly through buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo, and that's literally what funds making this many of these. Lucas: Yeah, it's a small group, but it makes a huge difference. Keeps the whole thing ad-free and lets us spend time on cases like this. So genuinely, thank you to anyone who's part of that. Luna: Alright, back to Oris. So they had this new cellular layout, lead times were down, quality was up. But there was another piece of the puzzle—supply chain. Lucas: Good point. Because cellular manufacturing only works if parts arrive when you need them. Oris used to order components in huge batches—springs, screws, jewels—and stack them in a warehouse. After the change, they shifted to just-in-time deliveries from their key suppliers. Luna: And that required a lot of coordination. Some of their suppliers were also Swiss—within a couple hours' drive—so they could do daily deliveries. But for others, like the movement blank supplier in Germany, they had to work out a weekly kanban system. Lucas: A kanban card for watch parts—it sounds almost quaint, but it works. Each cell would have a set of cards. When they used a bin of screws, they'd send a card back to the supplier. The supplier would refill the bin and deliver it. No inventory, no paperwork. Luna: And they extended that to their distribution too. Finished watches used to be stored in a central vault before shipping. Now they pack and ship directly from the cell. Some models go out the same day they're assembled. Lucas: That's the lean ideal—make to order, not to forecast. Oris still does some forecasting, of course, but their batch sizes are much smaller. They used to produce movements in lots of 500. Now they do lots of 50, sometimes even 10. Luna: And that flexibility lets them respond to trends faster. If a particular model suddenly gets popular—say a limited edition with a green dial—they can ramp up production in days, not months. Lucas: So what's the takeaway for our listeners? I think it's that lean manufacturing isn't just for car factories or electronics assembly. It works in any industry where you have repetitive assembly work—even in a place where tradition and craftsmanship are the core brand value. Luna: And the key enablers were: pilot the change in a low-risk area, invest heavily in training, don't use the exercise to cut headcount, and extend the thinking to your supply chain. Oris did all four. Lucas: One more thing—they also changed how they measured productivity. Previously, they tracked individual output—how many mainsprings did you install per hour. After the change, they tracked cell output—how many complete movements per shift. That shift in metrics reinforced the teamwork. Luna: Individual metrics drive individual behavior. Team metrics drive team behavior. It sounds obvious, but a lot of companies never make the leap. Lucas: Alright, that's Oris. A small watch company that proved tradition and continuous improvement can coexist. Next episode we'll look at a very different kind of operation—hospital sterile processing departments. Luna: That should be a fascinating contrast. From Swiss watch movements to surgical instruments—the principles might look similar, but the stakes are very different. Lucas: Exactly. Thanks for listening, and we'll talk to you next time.