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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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(+)+(+) JULY 2009
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(+)+(+) Replies, inquires and feedback to john@...
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Got lemons? Make lemonade

I know that times may be a bit rough for some of your companies with slow production. Look at it as an opportunity rather than a problem. When things are good and you can't make enough product to meet demand, you do not have time to train, do maintenance, work on process improvement.

Now is the perfect opportunity. These things do not cost much, keep your valuable staff productively busy and help morale. When things do come back to normal, and they will, you will be ready.

I can help you implement these programs. Give me a call at 787-550-9650 or e-mail john@...



SOME THOUGHTS ON…
WASTE KILLS HASTE

We all know the phrase "Haste makes waste". I learned this back in the 70's on a strip packaging machine that, if run at its rated 60PPM would produce about 40% rejects. If run at 45PPM, it would produce about 2% rejects. I could never get the packaging manager to understand that. Every time I would turn the machine down, he would crank it back up. Although it looked like it was running faster, at the end of the day output was less. Much of the rejected output could be reworked but that rework time itself was waste. Additionally, there was the wasted product and materials.

This idea works the other way as well. That is, waste kills haste. (I am probably misusing the word haste her to make a point) Most production processes work at considerably less than optimum capacity. The main reason for this in many plants is that lines spend a considerable amount of time not working at all.
Some, of this downtime is unavoidable. Lines that run more than a single product will require downtime for changeover, for example. Changeover will always occur but it does not have to take as long as it normally does. In my experience there is always a lot of wasted effort in changeover. Wasted effort translates to wasted time. I use the ESEE (Eliminate, Simplify, Externalize, Exactly) tool to get at this waste. I've spoken about it before so will not belabor it here. E-mail me john@... if you want more info. I will say that unless you have already implemented a changeover reduction or SMED program, I can guarantee that you have lots of opportunities, most of them free.

Other causes of downtime may be avoidable. Maintenance is too often viewed as avoidable downtime. That is, too many plants take the attitude that they need to get the production out and do not have time for maintenance downtime. The end result is that the line runs til it breaks. Then, because there is no time to perform the correct repair, a temporary repair is made. I have no serious objection to temporary repairs, provided that they are temporary. I have seen too many cases where they have become permanent. In one case, a spring broke on a machine and was replaced with a rubber band. I can live with that. However, it had happened about a year before and they still had the rubber band. Since the rubber band would break regularly, they had even installed a little cup so they could have a supply of bands at hand. While this reduced the stoppage each time the band broke, had they replaced the spring, the stoppages would have been eliminated.

Schedule downtime for maintenance, both repair and preventive. Make sure that it gets done. This will reduce line stoppages as well as producing better product.
One would think that lack of materials would not be a problem in modern plants yet I have run across this more often than I think I should. Sometimes it is lack of product. A product will be scheduled to run, the inventory system will show everything in stock, the line will be setup and only then will it be discovered that some component is not available. This may be an error in the system, showing material that is not there. It may also be due to damaged product. There may actually be 20 cases of components on the warehouse shelf but the system may not show that 5 cases were damaged by a forklift.
In one case, a critical component, hot-melt glue pellets was not included in the Bill Of Materials (BOM) as it was considered a supply and maintained in a separate inventory system. For whatever reason, it ran out and the plant was stopped for 2 days because they could not glue cases shut. ALL materials required for production need to be included in the BOM.

The best way to avoid these problems is to have a staging area with all product and components staged two lots ahead. While product A is being run, everything required for Product B has been taken from the shelves and staged. Product C is in the process of being taken from the shelves and staged. If there are problems, they can be caught ahead of time and corrected without costing downtime.
Waiting for documentation can be another waste. As with materials, this should be prepared 2 batches ahead. This allows for any problems to be resolved without loss of production time.

Want more haste? (In the sense of increased production)

Get rid of waste!


TIP OF THE MONTH
TOOL BAND-IT

Billy Mays, pitchman extraordinaire died last month. In tribute to him my tip this month is one of his last products and one that was featured on his "Pitchmen" TV show. It is one of those ideas so simple that many of us wonder why we did not come up with it.

The Tool Band-it is an armband with magnets sewn inside. Worn on the upper arm it allows you to stick tools, parts and anything metallic to your arm for easy access. That's pretty much it. (I said it was simple)
My wife tells me that I can go to the beach and not find sand. I am constantly laying tools or anything down and then not being able to find them. I spent so much time looking for my glasses that a while back I gave up on looking cool and now keep them on a string around my neck. This product was made with me in mind.
Technicians, when working on machines will frequently lay tools and bolts on top of the machine. A risk is that they will get knocked off onto the floor or into the machine wasting time looking for them. An even greater risk is that they may be knocked into the machine and not be found then cause severe damage when the machine is restarted. A while back I recommended magnetic base pans, available at auto supply houses to provide a place to lay parts.

This may be better.

See it here https://www.toolbandit.com

ATTENTION READERS: I do have a question and would appreciate some advice if you know.
The Tool Band-It has strong magnets. I am wondering if this would pose any risk around electronic equipment such as PLC's and controls? If anyone knows, could you send me an e-mail john@... If necessary.

Best,

John R Henry CPP

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

www.changeover.com www.smedblog.com