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#127

From: John R Henry <johnhenry@...>
Date: Tue Nov 10, 2009 1:12 pm
Subject: Changeover training availabilities

johnrhenrypr

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In the Lean Changeover newsletter I mentioned changeover training for
both the floor and executive suite. Some of you may have some extra
funds at the end of the year and I still have a few available dates in 2009.

I am sure we can work something out!

Call me at 787-550-9650 or e-mail john@...



Best,

John R Henry CPP

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

Cell 787-550-9650
www.changeover.com   www.effectivetroubleshooting.com


Best,

John R Henry CPP

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

Cell 787-550-9650 www.changeover.com

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#126

From: John R Henry <johnhenry@...>
Date: Tue Nov 10, 2009 12:59 pm
Subject: Lean Changeover Newsletter-November 2009 (Strategic & Hand Washing)

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(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)
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(+)+(+)
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) The Lean Changeover e-letter
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) Published monthly by Changeover.com
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) Written by John R Henry, CPP
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) NOVEMBER 2009
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) Replies, inquires and feedback to john@...
(+)+(+)
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============================================================

This newsletter is a free service of Changeover.com. Visit our website at
http://www.changeover.com

For more information or a free subscription, e-mail me at john@... or call 787-550-9650

Please feel free to forward this newsletter to anyone you think might be
interested
=============================================================
SOME THOUGHTS ON�
CHANGEOVER AS A COMPETITIVE STRATEGY

Last month I talked about the importance of knowing the cost of changeover time. I gave examples of costs and how to calculate them. In that essay I was speaking of what I call tangible costs. Tangible costs tend to be visible. More importantly, they can be readily identified, measured and expressed in monetary terms.

Slow changeover also has intangible costs. These are costs which have an impact on the bottom line but which can be difficult to quantify in monetary terms. The fact that it is hard to measure them does not mean they are not important or even critical.

The most significant cost is responsiveness to the customer. The customer wants what they want, how they want it, when they want it. They may accept that you can't give it to them if they have no choice. Then, when someone else does give them what they want, you may find yourself losing market share and not even know why. Some customers may not accept it at all. At many companies, Walmart is the single most important customer accounting for anywhere from 30% to 70% of all sales. Fail to give Walmart what they want and you may wind up out of business.

In other words, changeover is not just a tactical way to reduce costs, though it is that too. More importantly, it needs to be part of your company's strategic plan. The strategic health of your company will rise and fall with how well you do changeovers. Do them fast and do lots of them, and you gain an edge on your competition which is still stuck in the old model.

One company with which I am intimately familiar was a failing division of a Fortune 100 company 25 years ago. The parent company was on the verge of closing the division. The very dynamic manager of the division struck a deal to buy it. I had known him for some time before and shortly after he bought the company we had dinner. He was telling me his vision for the now independent company and it revolved around being the most flexible manufacturer in his industry segment. A large part of that flexibility was obtained by focusing on changeovers. This company is now number 1 globally in its industry sector.

Another company made a consumer product under its own name as well as a variety of private labels for a total of over 800 SKU's. Their typical order cycle ran 2-3 weeks. Marketing decided that they could grab market share by offering 48 hour delivery. One way to do this would be via big inventories but those are costly. This company decided that they would meet the goal by running many small lots to satisfy daily orders. The plant said it could not be done.

The plant was right in that it could not be done without a lot of pain. Marketing pushed ahead anyway. When I got there, they were running 24/7 with lots of overtime on top of that. One of their biggest bottlenecks was in having 2 very similar but not identically sized backing cards. Marketing had been reluctant to change them due to the cost of redoing artwork. Once we showed them the costs, they immediately agreed and this eliminated perhaps 50-60% of the changeovers. We were able to identify a number of other improvements and the plant now runs normally.

The best part?

This company increased their market share by 15% largely due to their strategic decision to ship in hours instead of weeks. Improving changeover let them do it profitably.

Increased market share = increased sales, increased volume = decreased unit costs, increased market share = � Well, you can see where this is going, right? It is a virtuous cycle of the better you do, the better you do.

Is your plant on this upward spiral yet?

If you aren't, now, when things may be a bit slow, is the best time to get onboard. Don't be like the apocryphal man in the Ozarks who could not fix his roof when it was raining but saw no need to do it when it was sunny. Use this slack time to get the jump on your competitors.

I have mentioned my workshop "Changeover Made ESEE" in previous newsletters. This is designed to teach mechanics, operators, supervisors, engineers and others how to identify and implement changeover improvement. One of the problems I see in many plants is that team members are pulling in different directions. This workshop shows them how to all pull together for maximum results.

The most critical tool they need is high level management support. With it, they cannot fail, without it they cannot succeed. My executive briefing "Changeover as a Competitive Strategy" is a half day, non-technical session for top management. It explains why changeover is important strategically and explains the role that every department in the company plays in achieving it.

I will be happy to send additional information. Just drop me an e-mail at john@... or call me at 787-550-9650

If anyone would like my Changeover Cost Calculator spreadsheet, drop me a note at john@...

SOME THOUGHTS ON�
HAND HYGEINE

There is almost always a positive side to everything, no matter how bad. One of the good things to come out of the Swine Flu/H1N1 scare is the attention being focused on hand hygiene. Our mothers, when we were little, told us to always wash our hands but some of us may not pay as much attention as we should. Even when we do wash our hands, we may not do a great job at it. Studies in hospitals have shown significant reductions in infections when good hand hygiene (washing) is practiced.

Meritech makes automated hand washing systems. They consist of a pair of rotating tubes, each with an array of nozzles. One inserts one's hands and arms into the tubes and a wash, rinse, dry cycle is initiated.

Automating the process helps ensure that the washing is done correctly.

Meritech also makes automated boot and shoe washers.

Check them out at www.meritech.com

Best,

John R Henry CPP

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

Cell 787-550-9650 www.changeover.com

Best,

John R Henry CPP

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

Cell 787-550-9650 www.changeover.com

Best,

John R Henry CPP

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

Cell 787-550-9650
www.changeover.com www.effectivetroubleshooting.com

Best,

John R Henry CPP

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

Cell 787-550-9650 www.changeover.com

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#125

From: John R Henry <johnhenry@...>
Date: Wed Oct 28, 2009 3:30 pm
Subject: Lean Changeover Newsletter-October 2009 (Costs and Kneelers)

johnrhenrypr

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Send Email

(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)
(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) The Lean Changeover e-letter
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) Published monthly by Changeover.com
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) Written by John R Henry, CPP
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) OCTOBER 2009
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) Replies, inquires and feedback to john@...
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)
(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)

============================================================

This newsletter is a free service of Changeover.com. Visit our website at
http://www.changeover.com
or contact me at < mailto:john%40changeover.com >john@...

Please feel free to forward this newsletter to anyone you think might be
interested
=============================================================
PackExpo is over and went very well. Thanks to all who stopped by the booth. It is always a pleasure to meet readers in person.

SOME THOUGHTS ON�
CHANGEOVER COSTS

So how many of you reading this know what your changeover costs are?

I ask this question a lot. I ask it when I speak at conferences. I ask it of clients. My experiences lead me to believe that probably less than 20% or so know how much a minute of changeover, or any other kind of downtime is worth. When I say �know� I do not mean a number that is basically pulled out of the air or even a value calculated by manufacturing or engineering. No, to be useful in planning and cost justification, the cost must be established by the Finance or Accounting Departments. Only if it comes from them is it �official�. Only if it comes from them will management accept it. Too many times I see people trying to justify dollars spent with minutes saved. This is apples and oranges. Costs may only be justified by comparing dollars spent with dollars.

The cost of downtime can be calculated in various ways depending on the company�s fiscal philosophies and operational situation. Some may count just the cost of labor. Others may count the impact on output or capacity. Still others will look at impact on inventory. Most will look at a combination of the 3. In addition to these tangible or quantifiable costs, there will be other, intangible costs. The biggest among these is likely to be the ability to provide the service levels your customers demand. If anyone would like a copy of a presentation I made at PackExpo 2005 on changeover costs, drop me a line.

No matter how it is calculated, changeover is expensive. It is typically thousands and tens of thousands of dollars. Of those companies in which I know the �official� cost, the lowest I have seen is still over $10,000/hr. One company uses $25,000/hr. Even when it is only hundreds of dollars, it can still add up. At PackExpo we had a laptop set up with a spreadsheet to calculate total annual changeover costs. We would invite visitors to input their cost of changeover, the number they did per year and the typical length. This gave some astounding results.

One company that typically did 3 1-hour changeovers daily assumed a cost of $1,000/hr and was amazed to find that they were spending $750,000/yr on changeover.

(Three quarters of a million dollar$ does tend to open people�s eyes!)

So how much is changeover reduction worth? We also looked at it this way in the spreadsheet. For every minute that could be cut from the average changeover time, this company saved $12,500/yr.

I think that there are 3 reasons that many companies do not get serious about changeover.

First, there are still too many people out there who think like as I did back in the dark ages. They think that it is impossible to make a serious dent in changeover so they do not see the point of going to a lot of effort to accomplish relatively little.

Second, they think that the monetary benefits of changeover are not significant. Even companies that make fewer than one changeover a day and consider their costs in the hundreds rather than the thousands are still spending fairly significant amounts of money over the course of the year.

Finally, they are afraid that in order to reduce changeover they will need to spend huge amounts of money. Readers of this newsletter will know that this is false. Significant reductions in changeover time can be had for little of no out of pocket expense. A great deal of reduction can be had from operation issues. Eliminate the time waiting for materials from the warehouse bu having it staged ahead of time. Small things like fixed gauges, multiple photoeyes, tool elimination can be done using in-plant resources and a few dollars from the maintenance budget. Even where capital expenditures are necessary, such as for custom change part racks, the total amounts compared to the dollars saved are peanuts. I typically find that reductions of anywhere from 25-50% can be had for little or no capital cost.

You have to know your costs. It is the only way you will be able to justify a changeover reduction program. It is the only way that you will able to motivate the people who need to be involved ie; everyone.

If you would like a copy of the Excel template for calculating annual costs and savings per minute, drop me a note at johnhenry@... I�ll be happy to send you a copy.

If you are ready to start reducing changeover costs, give me a call at 787-550-9650 and I will show you how I can help.

TIP OF THE MONTH�
KNEELERS

I had to go to Canada for this one but it is so obvious I am almost embarrassed to mention it. I like to think of myself as young still but my knees are getting very old. I was in a plant a couple weeks ago and was watching the operator change the rolls on a shrink bundler. The roll was at floor level and inside the machine which meant that the operator had to kneel down to get access to it.

I would normally just suffer the pain but this operator had a plastic backed piece of foam rubber. This took all the stress off her knees. From a company standpoint, it might have the added benefit of reduced injury.

This company bought the kneelers in store that sold auto parts and mechanic supplies. I looked on the internet and found them available in an array of sizes, shapes and styles from a number of sites including. Just search �Kneeler pad� in Amazon and you will find a variety of styles. You can find even more variety via Google or Bing.

One further thought that I had would be to apply some Velcro strips to the kneeler and to the lid of the mechanic�s toolbox. This will keep it handy and out of the way.

Best,

John R Henry CPP

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

Cell 787-550-9650 www.changeover.com

Best,

John R Henry CPP

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

Cell 787-550-9650 www.changeover.com

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