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(+)+(+) Setup Minimization Improves Line Efficiency
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(+)+(+) The Lean Changeover e-letter
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(+)+(+) Published monthly by Changeover.com
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(+)+(+) Written by John R Henry, CPP
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### AUGUST 2007
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Are you satisfied with your changeovers? Are they fast enough? Are they precise enough? I can show you how to make changeovers leaner, faster and more precise. E-mail me at john@... or call me at 787-550-9650 and we can discuss how I can help.
In September I will be speaking on Quick Changeover Packaging (QCOP) at the Contract Packaging Association's annual conference and show. This takes place on September 11 & 12 at the Chicago O'Hare Hilton. More info at
http://www.packworld.com/cp07
I will also be speaking about Lean Changeover at PackExpo in Las Vegas on Tuesday October 16. More info at http://www.packworld.com/cp07/
If you are there, look me up and say Hi. I'll even buy the coffee!
SOME THOUGHTS ON...
CHANGEOVER IS ESEE
I have long thought that reducing changeover time is simple. I still believe that. Achieving lean changeover is a matter of paying attention to detail and making lots of small improvements. On the other hand, to paraphrase Deming: "I never claimed it was easy, I only claim it will work."
I have sort of changed my mind on that. While I still don't think it's easy, I do think it is ESEE. ESEE is an acronym describing the 4 steps to lean changeover.
E-liminate:
In any changeover there are unnecessary tasks being performed. These may include things like adjustments of conveyor rails.
How many brackets need to be adjusted? In a recent project in a bottle molding plant we found that there were guide rail brackets every 2 feet yet. Since these were empty plastic bottles, hanging from their necks, this was way more than needed. We removed every other bracket. On several hundred feet of conveyor this single improvement saved about 15 minutes per changeover. Assuming 3 changeovers per day, 240 days per year, this amounted to an additional 7-1/2 DAYS (No, that is not a typo. You can do the math) of production time annually per line. (See? Simple changes can have huge paybacks. I can help you find opportunities like this in your plant.)
Product design will also present opportunities for eliminating changeover. A particularly dramatic example is Coke and Pepsi. Both produce a variety of cola, flavored, juice and water products in 20oz PET bottles. Pepsi uses the same bottle for all products. Other than the label, cap color and, in the case of 7-Up, the bottle color, there is no package change. Coke produces much the same range of products but uses 5-6 different bottle shapes. This will necessitate a lot of changeover downtime.
Even documentation may present opportunities. At one client, during product changeover there were at least 4 sets of documents that needed to be completed (manufacturing, materials, quality, maintenance). About 75% of the information on each document was the same. Combining everything on a single document that all departments would use eliminates calculation and writing time.
S-implify:
Simplifying changeover tasks can be as basic as replacing bolts, nuts and screws with handknobs and levers. Get rid of all tools. They slow changeover because:
1) Time is spent looking for the right tool.
2) If the right tool such as a wrench is not found, the wrong tool, such as Channellocks will be used damaging the fastener
3) Some plants, by policy or by union contract, do not permit operators to use tools. There are many changeover tasks operators might otherwise be able to do. This frees up more skilled associates for higher level tasks
If tools can't be eliminated, find the most appropriate tool and make sure it is readily available. If repetitive tasks need to be done eg; removing 55 die bolts on a tablet press, provide proper pneumatic or power tools.
Simplify photoeye and sensor setup. Instead of repositioning a photoeye, mount multiple eyes, one for each product. Position and sensitivity are dialed in and a selector switch is used to select the proper one. This could even be done automatically via PLC.
Conveyor rail adjustment is time consuming and often imprecise. Septimatech ( www.septimatech.com), Changeparts Inc ( www.changeparts.com), Autopak (www.autopak.com) and Dillin Automation (www.dillin.net) all make systems which allow long sections of conveyor rail to be adjusted to a digital setpoint from a single position.
E-xternalize:
Externalization means performing changeover tasks outside of the changeover downtime. In other words, while the line is running.
Many lines will use hotstamp printers, wheel coders or debossers to print a production code on the product. Often the process is 1) stop the line 2) remove the coder chase or wheel, 3) spend 5-10 minutes fiddling with the characters 4) replace the chase or wheel. If there is an additional chase, it can be set up ahead of time and swapped out in as little as 30 seconds. While the amount of labor in the task has remained the same, or maybe even increased, labor time is cheap, measured in $10's/hour. Changeover downtime is expensive, measured in $1,000's/hr. Don't keep the line stopped for tasks that don't need it stopped.
Liquid filler components may be time consuming to clean and sanitize. If additional sets are purchased, this cleaning no longer holds up changeover. As expensive as these parts may be, payback is usually in months. Sometimes even in weeks.
E-xactly!
Changeover must be done exactly. Anything less than perfection in the changeover will lead to time spent struggling to get the line running correctly. In the good old days of long production runs, this was not as much of a problem. There was plenty of time to do this. Now, with more frequent changeover and shorter runs, there is not.
While some of this startup time can be due to variability of materials, the bulk of it is due to imprecise machine adjustments. If you don't measure adjustments, you will not control them. All adjustments must be done to precise setpoints. Scales, mechanical or electronic digital indicators, gauges, scribe marks and detentes are all ways of accomplishing this. In addition to position indicators, good thermometers, pressure gauges, tachometers and other instruments must be provided.
If there are only a few products to be run, one technique is colored marks. This allows the operator to know that for Product Alpha, all adjustments are made to the red mark.
Just having the indicators in place is not enough. If the person performing the does not know what the setpoints are supposed to be, they are simply decorations. A setup chart showing all setpoints must be readily available at the point of use. There also needs to be good SOP's as well as checklists to assure that everyone performs changeovers the same, optimal, way.
For cleanup and setup the goal must be reduction of the line downtime required. For startup, the goal must always be elimination. This may not always be totally achievable but it does need to be the goal. The only way to meet this is by making changeovers exact.
As I said, changeover is not easy but it can be ESEE.
For more ideas, information about my Achieving Lean Changeover workshops, Kaizen events and other services, e-mail me at john@... or call me at 787-550-9650.
Changeover doesn't have to be hard.
TIP OF THE MONTH...
XELERATOR HAND DRYERS
I absolutely hate hand dryers. It seems like I stand there for a full minute and then wind up wiping my still wet hands on my pants. No more. I have recently run across a couple of installations of the Xlerator dryer from Excel Dryer Corp. www.exceldryer.com
This looks like a fairly typical hand dryer until you activate it. The secret is that it uses a high speed jet of hot air to completely dry your hands in about 10 seconds.
It really works.
Really!
John R Henry CPP
www.changeover.com
787-550-9650
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