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(+)+(+)
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) The Lean Changeover e-letter
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) Published monthly by Changeover.com
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) Written by John R Henry, CPP
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) MARCH 2009
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) Replies, inquires and feedback to
<mailto:john%40changeover.com>john@...
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Please feel free to forward this newsletter to anyone you think might be
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What do you plan to do in 2009 to reduce changeover losses? Is this
the year you are finally going to get serious?

There is no better way to kickstart a changeover program than my
"Changeover made ESEE" workshop. This 2 day workshop is a goldmine of
practical information as well as a hands-on putting the info to work
in your plant.

Call 787-550-9650 or e-mail
<mailto:john%40changeover.com>john@... NOW to schedule a
session in your plant.

Line downtime costs $0000s/hour. How many dollars can you afford to waste?


SOME THOUGHTS ON...
THE CIRCUS

An expression I have heard from time to time over my life, to
describe something that is chaotic or unorganized is, "Sheesh, what a
circus!" When really chaotoc, it may be referred to as a "3 ring circus"

A couple weeks ago, for the first time in a number of years, I went
with the family to the Barnum & Baily, Ringling Brothers Circus. It
was a pretty good show and I enjoyed the acts. Being as I am, I
enjoyed what took place between the acts as much as the acts
themselves. In some ways a circus is like an orchestral concert. Each
act builds on the previous one and, if there is too much delay
between them, audience attention will be lost. So, when the dog act
finishes, the equipment for the acrobatic act must be moved into the
ring. (This was a one ring circus). This must happen quickly and
smoothly in the open for all the audience to see.

Watching this got me thinking, as so many things do, about changeover
and the lessons we can learn just by keeping our eyes open. Many of
the folks at the circus are professionals but I suspect that a number
of them are hired locally as temporary laborers. This means that the
day before the circus they have no idea what they are to do and there
is little or no time to provide much more than very minimal training.
In order to accomplish the tasks as effortlessly as they made them
appear, there must be a very good underlying system in place.

Safety has to be a prime concern as well. There was a tiger act for
which they set up a large portable cage. This cage is designed for
rapid erection and teardown but it still must be done perfectly. Had
one of the cage panels not been fastened securely, it might have been
possible for a tiger to get loose. Even if the tiger itself had not
been a threat, the panic in the stadium could have caused injury or
death in the audience. The framework and rigging for the acrobatic
apparatus must be perfectly set up or injury to one of the performers
could result.

Finally, at the end of the show, the last performers had barely
exited the ring and the stagehands were already disassembling the
show. It probably looked a bit chaotic to the untrained eye. When I
looked at it, I could see that it was carefully choreographed.
Everybody had a task, they were going about it purposely and in what
seemed like a logical order. They had large, wheeled, boxes into
which everything went. The boxes were clearly marked with large
numbers and identification. By the time the audience got out of the
coliseum, they already had the show torn halfway down. I was
seriously impressed.

So what kind of circus are you running in your plant? When you do
changeovers are they like the circus I saw recently or the
hypothetical "Sheesh, what a circus!" one? If the latter, what are
you doing to make it look more like the former?

(If you want some ideas how to make your changeovers more like
circuses, call me at 787-550-9650 or e-mail john@...)

TIP OF THE MONTH...
PHOTOEYES

I have done a lot of work with all types, brands and applications of
photoeyes for the past 35 years. For most of theat time, I have been
a fan of Tri-Tronics brand photoeyes and would never willingly use
any other brand where I have a choice. The main thing I like, besides
the quality and variety of the eyes is that they have 10 LEDs. The
typical photoeye has a single LED which indicates whether or not it
is activated but not how strong or weak the signal is. On a
Tri-Tronics eye 1 lit LED indicates a weak signal, 10 a strong one
with the eye switching at about 5. This feature makes it very fast
and easy to manually set up the eye. To make things even easier, they
also have a single pushbutton that automatically sets the sensitivity.

Another device I really like are their Multi-Mate & PIC programmable
relays. With this relay, 2 photoeyes, an enclosure and a few other
parts, it is easy to make a rock solid reliable inspection system for
under $500. I have built systems to look for things such as missing
or wrong color caps, label presence, open flaps and other defects. A
particularly nice feature is that it allows for fail-safe design. It
can (and normally should) be set up to reject every product with a
slight time delay. Once the desired condition has been verified, it
cancels the reject for non-defective products.

I've saved the best for last:

Last week I had a chance to visit their factory where they showed me
their new Smarteye XPC photoeye with RS-485/232 connection. This
allows the eye to be integrated with any control system but has the
additional benefit of providing an on-screen view of the eye on the
HMI. Thus, it is possible to view a graphic of the eye, click on the
various buttons to set or adjust it. It also provides a graph
display, akin to an oscilloscope to monitor eye performance.

Check out the Tri-Tronics website at www.ttco.com



Best,

John R Henry CPP

www.changeover.com
787-550-9650

"All progress is made by a lazy person looking for an easier way." -
Lazarus Long