• Home
• Training
  • Featured Training
  • Schedule
  • Registration Form
• News
  • Special!! Case Study
  • Articles
    • Lean is about Minimizing Waste
    • Lean is about Maximizing Value
    • Lean Public Service?
• PROJECTS 2006-2007
  • Public Sector
  • Private Sector
• Resources
• Contact Us

SPECIAL!! CASE STUDY -  Manufacturer of Steel Building Products

 
A manufacturer of steel building products was studied over two (2) weeks.  The company was just six (6) months old and still in the early stages of production.  Even though there was little time for truly wasteful habits to become ingrained into the culture of the company, all eight types of waste were evident.  A summary of the main issues discovered and recommendations follow.

 
Continuous Improvement Systems

The company worked on Mondays to Fridays from 8:00a.m. to 5:00p.m. and production demand easily allowed for a two (2) to three (3) hour allowance on designated days to be allocated to Job Change Improvements, Maintenance, Safety and Health Committee Meetings, 5S activities or Continuous Improvement Team meetings.  It was recommended that formal teams be set up to ensure that improvement activities never cease. 

Employee Empowerment

Employees were observed trying to find solutions to issues arising in the course of their duties.  The environment encouraged them to use initiative.  This would be the company’s most critical advantage in accomplishing World Class operations control.  World Class companies employ an integrated self-managed work team where the workforce are the experts and their involvement is considered critical.  Managers are coaches who support workers in utilizing all their skills in solving problems and finding opportunities.  

 
Housekeeping

The offices, washroom facilities and canteen at the compound were kept clean and dirt-free by two very hardworking custodians who clearly took pride in their jobs.  The factory floor was, however, subject to a lot of dust and the building exterior to build up of water when it rained.  Section 31 of the OSH Act (2004)  was cited and the issue of poor machine reliability due to dust pollution was addressed.  It was recommended that the company deal urgently with the topic of dust management, firstly by the implementation of the 5S housekeeping system in conjunction with another plant which shared the same facility.

 
Job Changes

The company dealt with long setup times which were characteristic of the industry in which they operated.  It was suggested that the Toyota example be followed.  At Toyota, there being not enough capital (post WW2) to purchase a wide range of presses, the company sought to drastically reduce setup times in order to approach the performance of American plants.  Shigeo Shingo (now known as the father of setup reduction) the consultant hired by Toyota, reduced average setup time for a 1000 tonne press from 4 hours to 3 minutes.  Further information on the SMED system developed by Shingo was given in an Appendix.

There was glaring evidence of all the following which worked together to prolong setup times:

·         Dies of different sizes, heights

·         Missing tools, nuts, bolts

·         Wasted motion and time

·         Lack of standardization &

·         Large proportion of time spent on making adjustments

 
Layout

In World Class companies layout is streamlined or U-shaped cells are used.  The company was committed to having an optimal layout with streamlined flow and enough space for effective material handling.  Material Handling could be reduced, however, if conveyors could be adjusted to deliver parts at the assembly area exactly as and when needed, eliminating double handling.  In the short term it was recommended that the number of trolleys used to hold components be increased.  Operators were observed placing components on the floor because trolleys were all utilized.  This double handling of the same parts added no value and were extremely time wasting.

 
Lead Time to Deliveries

Even though the company operated a Just-in-Time delivery service, serious delivery issues were observed during the tenure of this review.  Overtime was also being utilized even though value adding production occurred for less than 10%* of ordinary hours.  It was pointed out that this problem would become critical if the demand on production increased even by a small margin.  Recommendations for Setup Reduction, Maintenance Management and Production and Inventory Control detailed in the project report were the solution to this problem.

 
*This scenario is actually more common than most people realize as non-value adding activities are typically disguised as work.

 
Maintenance Strategy

Maintenance procedures from the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) were basic and vague.  This was due in part to the relatively new technology being used.  The company was on a learning curve as far as maintenance is concerned and several recommendations based on the theory of condition-based maintenance were given in a later Chapter.  Also included, for reference, was material from the Caribbean Region Industrial Maintenance Workshop facilitated by the Centre for Development of Enterprise (Brussels) and held in Port-of-Spain in July 2004.  In World Class companies, machines are always ready to run when required.  Equipment maintenance is constant and effective and based on machine condition as opposed to some time schedule.  As a result, machine breakdown and tool failure are eliminated or reduced.

 
Production and Inventory Control

It was observed that the information disseminated to the operators and assemblers was clear and complete.  This information was generally received immediately before the run.  The production system however, was completely computerized and production information was electronically transmitted to production machines.  There was tight control of production inventory even though material was wasted during setups.  The setup reduction recommendations would drastically improve the situation.

 
Quality

In World Class companies everyone has “line stopping capability” when the process is seen to be the cause of poor product.  Zero defects are tolerated.  If quality is not perfect, then improvements are made.  Continuous improvement in people and process is the goal.  At the company, the operators were observed performing inspection and making adjustments until the perfect quality of product was achieved.  It was recommended that a quality improvement team be established to look at the specific issue of scrap production due to poor quality with the aim of eliminating same.

 
Safety and Health

Safety and Health practices at the company were benchmarked against the requirements of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 2004 (OSH Act 2004).  The Plant was found generally to be compliant with the requirements of the Act, however, it was recommended that Sections 25E, 25F, 31(a),(b) and (d), and Section 36 be considered for closer attention by the management of company in conjunction with the other plant which shared the same facility.

There was a single serious hazard isolated that could have resulted in serious personal injury and details of how to eliminate that hazard were dealt with in the body of the report.  It was also observed that even though employees were trained in the appropriate use of PPE and PPE was provided by the company, they generally did not adhere to rules/procedures in this area.  This was a matter for the recommended Safety and Health committee consisting of employees themselves, to address and rectify to the benefit of all concerned.

Section 36 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 2004 states that every occupier of an industrial establishment that is not ventilated by a functioning air-conditioning system shall secure and maintain therein adequate and suitable ventilation by the circulation of fresh air.  During the course of this exercise, the operators and supervisor exhibited signs of being extremely hot and uncomfortable when working on the machine.  This was confirmed when one of us actually had the opportunity to participate in a tool setup.  While the building remains large and open, it is recommended that industrial strength fans be purchased to help air to circulate around the machines, particularly the two machines that appeared to involve the more difficult tooling changes and operator interventions.

 
Shop Floor Control

In World Class companies supervisors are converted to trainers, coaches, and facilitators.  Production is efficient and does not utilize the entire shift.  Shift time left over is used for continuous improvement team meetings, 5S activities, setups and maintenance activities, leading to a superior organization.  Visual Management is also featured.  At the company studied, the supervisor appeared to be performing the role of trainer, coach, facilitator and operator.

 
Training

The operator is close to the machine daily and learns to deal with its little idiosyncrasies and shortcomings better than anyone else with many operators eventually being able to identify a machine's performance just by its sound.  There was evidence at the company that all operators received the same training at the plant commissioning.  The management was clearly interested in continued training since we were asked to develop training manuals as one objective of this project.  It was recommended that training needs continue to be evaluated and training opportunities be provided on an on-going basis.

It was recommended that the company invest the time and resources to:

·         Set up a thorough and well-planned training program for operators

·         Train operators in basic mechanical engineering technology

·         Utilize the most experienced operators in the training programme, tapping as much information as possible.

 
Visual Management

Management and staff communicated frequently throughout the day and problems were solved together.  It was recommended that more visual management be utilized as verbal communication will become increasingly difficult as higher demand for product began to place pressure on production.