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(+)+(+) The Lean Changeover e-letter
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) Published monthly by Changeover.com
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) Written by John R Henry, CPP
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) JUNE 2009
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I know that for many of you things may be a bit
slow right now. That makes this the perfect time
to do training and implement a changeover
improvement program. This newsletter will tell
you how but I can do a much better job with my
CHANGEOVER MADE ESEE workshop. For those
subscribers to the newsletter, I want to extend a
special offer. The workshop is normally $5,000
plus travel (in the US) but I am offering it here
for $4,000. I have availabilities in July and
August or, if you are in a big hurry, even next
week. Give me a call at 787-550-9650 or e-mail me
at 787-550-9650 and I will be happy to provide a
detailed course outline or answer any other questions.

Do it NOW!

SOME THOUGHTS ON…

DEVELOPING A LEAN CHANGEOVER PROGRAM

You know that you need to reduce changeover
downtime. The problem is how to tackle it.
Changeover is such a massive issue, affected by
and affecting virtually everyone in the company,
that it terrifies many people. This fear leads to
indecision about how to start, indecision leads
to nothing at all being done and the high costs
of changeover continue year after year into the future.

To start, you need a formal program. Here is a
step by step process for getting the program going:

1.      Calculate the cost of changeover - This
must be the first step and must be done by the
finance department. Anything else is unofficial
and will have credibility issues. Improving
changeover will cost money. Generally not major
capital expenses, though there can be some, but a
lot of relatively small expenses as well as time.
If the cost of changeover is not known, it is
impossible to evaluate whether improvements make
sense. (If you want to know more about costs,
drop me an e-mail at john@... and I'll
send you a presentation I did on costs)

2.      Decide that a program will be implemented
and set a timetable - Talking about improving
changeover is not a program. Putting it off
doesn't make it get any better. Just do it. The
timetable, initially, is for getting the program
going, not necessarily accomplishing reductions.
It takes an effort and if there is no deadline it
will get pushed back into never-never-land.

3.      Develop metrics to measure changeover
times - As the saying goes, if you don't measure
it, you won't control it. Decide what you will
measure as well as how you will define it and how
you will measure it. Absent good metrics there is
no way to know if changeover is getting better or worse.

4.      Decide which areas you will focus on - I
divide changeover into two broad categories.
"Mechanical" is the modification of machinery and
equipment to ease changeover. "Operational" are
all other functions including material handling,
documentation, quality inspections/line
clearance, package/product design, job
assignments, scheduling. Some of these are
interactive but for the most part they can be
viewed as separate paths. In some plants the big
bottleneck will be operational issues. In others
it will be mechanical. Both need to be addressed
but, depending on the resources available, it may
be best to focus on one or the other at least initially.

5.      Decide who will be on the team -
Especially at the beginning, a primary attribute
of the team members must be enthusiasm. The
selection of team members will depend to some
degree on which path, mechanical or operational,
you will initially concentrate on. One key is
that the team have a leader, what I call a
"Champion" who can preside in an effective
manner. This Champion can be a manager,
supervisor, engineer, mechanic or operator. The
most important qualification, in my view, is a
strong belief in the benefits of reducing
changeover and a desire to succeed. Needless to
say, whoever is selected to be Champion, they
must have strong support from management.

6.      Provide training - The first thing they
need is training. It is not reasonable to simply
expect a team to come together and intuitively
figure out how to reduce changeover times.  This
training must include the basics such as
definitions and must provide a methodology for
looking at changeover and identifying improvement
opportunities. Finally it must provide techniques
to implement those opportunities. Finally, the
training must provide facilitated opportunities
to practice the methodologies and techniques.
NOTE: This is precisely what my "Changeover Made
ESEE" workshop is designed to do. E-mail me at
john@... for more info.

7.      Provide resources - The most important
resource to be provided is time. The team must
have time to meet. Meetings should be regular and
should have an agenda. Other resources include
books, magazines, contacts and even visits with
other similar and dissimilar plants. It goes
without saying that resources must also include
support and funding to implement improvements.

8.      Set goals - If it is not specific, with a
completion deadline, it is not a goal, it is
merely a good intention and we know what road is
paved with those, don't we? A generic goal I
often recommend is a 50% reduction in 6 months.
Milestones along the way are also a good idea.
The problem with continuous or perpetual programs
is that people lose enthusiasm and that without
time pressure of a deadline, some of the sense of
urgency is lost. This does not mean that at the
end of the project you should stop improving.
Simply start another project when the first is
finished. It may have some different people
and/or a different focus. I favor a series of
consecutive, specific, projects rather than the amorphous perpetual project.

9.      Implement the program - As the team
develops improvements, they should be implemented
as soon as possible. One of the things I
recommend is that some very simple, quick (less
than 2 weeks) to implement improvements be
implemented right off the bat. This will instill
an initial sense of success and confidence and
can be built on with more complex improvements.

10.     Expect failures - Babe Ruth, who long
held the baseball homerun record still holds the
strike out record. There will be failures. Do not
let them slow the program. Build on them and learn from mistakes.

11.     Recognize the participants - At the end
of the program, take stock of what has been
accomplished. Was the goal met? Why or why not?
How much benefit has the program been to the
company in dollars? Congratulate the participants
for a job well done (or at least a valiant effort if the goal was not met.)

12.     Go back to step 1 and start all over
again - Your competition is continually getting better. You can't stop now.

Space prevents me from doing much more than
giving a skeleton here. A lot of this is covered
in more detail in an article I wrote a few years
ago for The Journal of Pharmaceutical
Engineering. E-mail john@... if you would like a copy.

TIP OF THE MONTH…

GEORGE STALK

I am currently teaching a graduate course in
Strategic Management and one of the department
assigned readings was a Harvard Business Review
article by George Stalk, Philip Evans and
Lawrence Schulman titled "Competing on
capabilities". It discusses the importance of
eliminating wasted time in business processes,
especially, but not only, in manufacturing. It
distills a lot of things I've seen and read as
well as thought about over the years. This is the
first time I have seen it all so powerfully
written in one place. The article can be downloaded at:
   http://my.execpc.com/~jpurtell/HBR-CompetingonCapabilities.pdf

I would say it is a must read.

Two other articles by Stalk that I highly recommend:
http://www.bcg.com/publications/files/434TheTurnaroundMansLastSpeech.pdf
http://www.forbes.com/global/2004/1018/026_print.html
(The Forbes article is especially useful if your
company does business with Wal-Mart)

On the strength of the article I bought his book
"Competing Against Time" and am about a third of
the way into it. Based on what I see so far,
anyone engaged in manufacturing should read it.



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

Twitter  johnrhenry 787-550-9650

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

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

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?


Follow me on Twitter at johnrhenry

SOME THOUGHTS ON…
THINK OF IT AS MONEY

Not long ago I was helping a client reduce
changeover times on their tablet presses. These
machines are used to compress a granulated powder
into pharmaceutical tablets. Changeover involves
significant cleanup, change of tooling and then
calibration. Changeover times will vary between
plants and with different styles of machine but
can run from 10-12 hours to 40-48 hours. My
belief is that, properly organized and performed,
it should take in the 8-16 hour range, no longer.

An issue that I have long had with changeover is
getting the people on the floor, the ones
actually doing the work, to get excited about it.
Absent an understanding of the value, many of
them do not overly care whether they are running
product or not. The product is often just an abstraction.

I've written elsewhere about how to calculate the
tangible and intangible costs of changeover so
will not go into hit here. I've written and
spoken on numerous occasions of the critical need
to calculate costs and disseminate them widely
across the workforce. This goes a long way in
explaining changeover's importance but is still
something of an abstraction to many.

It occurred to me that the problem is that people
are not seeing the money coming out of the
machine. One way I hit on recently is to express
the cost of each product instead of cost per
hour. In the case of the tablet press, the
production rate was 3,500 tablets per minute
(TPM) (Some run 4-5 times as fast) I asked the
operators to close their eyes and envision,
instead of tablets, pennies coming out of the machine into a bucket.

By itself, a penny isn't much to look at. A
quantity of pennies can add up to a goodly sum.
If there were 3,500 pennies per minute coming off
the press, that would represent $35/minute,
$2,100/hour or almost $17,000 per shift. If the
tablets are worth more than a penny, as most
pharmaceutical tablets are, those dollar amounts
will increase correspondingly.

Another example would be a packaging line. If
each bottle coming off the line contributes 25
cents, it can be viewed as a torrent of quarters.
If the line speed is 250BPM, it is the equivalent
of over $63/minute, $3,750/hour or $30,000/shift.

If you had a stream of quarters falling into your
pockets like that, you would do as much as
possible to prevent interruptions to the flow.

It is true that the quarters are falling into the
company's, rather than the employee's pockets.
Some employees may take this to mean that they
have no stake in keeping that flow going. They
are looking at it and wondering "WIIFM?" ("What's in it for me?")

What's in it is not always obvious and may need
to be explained. What's in it for them is that
the company which does not make a profit is a
company that will be closing. What's in it is
that the more profit a company makes, the more
they have to share with the employees. This is
directly, via a profit sharing program, in some
cases. It can also be indirectly in the form of
better compensation and more opportunities for
advancement and growth. Sometimes it may be even
more indirect in the form of capital spending on
better plant and equipment. In all cases, there
is benefit to the individual employee. Management
must always be answering that question.

I have read that the phrase "making money" is
unique to the US. Some other languages and
cultures speak of "winning" or "earning" money. I
prefer the phase "making money" because that is
really what a production process does. It makes/creates/produces money.

And when it is stopped, it does not.

So, think of your product as money because it is.


TIP OF THE MONTH…
SEALED CABINETS

Tablet presses are, by their nature, dusty. This
dust gets everywhere and must be cleaned at
changeover. What always catches my eye is how
many areas need to be cleaned that should not be.

The typical tablet press has a lower compartment
where the motor, drive and other components are
located. This is a nuisance to clean as there are
so many places for the dust to collect.

The solution seems fairly simple. Gasket the
doors to the cabinet and add latches so that it
can be sealed. Ideally, it would be nice to have
it comply with the NEMA 4 (dust tight) rating but
this may not be possible. It may always be
necessary to clean inside the cabinet but the
less dust that can get in, the less cleaning will
be required. More importantly, the less downtime
for cleaning will be required.

In addition to sealing the cabinet, you may want
to consider bringing outside ventilation air in.
One way to do this is to take a small flexible
duct off the room A/C system. This not only
provides cooling, which may be restricted by
sealing the cabinet, it also provides a slight
positive pressure to further reduce the dust infiltration.

I gave as an example a tablet press. However, the
above applies to any machine with an enclosed
base or cabinet. It also applies to control
cabinets, light fixtures and equipment chases.

I should not need to say this but experience
shows that I do. Keep the cabinet doors closed
and latched. All the gasketing in the world will
do no good if the doors are left ajar.


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

Twitter  johnrhenry 787-550-9650

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

Please feel free to forward this newsletter to anyone you think might be
interested
=============================================================

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

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

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

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 john@... NOW to schedule a
session in your plant.

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


IOPP PACKAGING MACHINERY COURSE: Don't forget that next month I will
be teaching the IOPP packaging machinery course in Chicago. There are
still a few (very few!) seats open. If you want to learn the basics
about a wide range of packaging machinery, sign up now. Frain
Industries www.fraingroup.com is providing the venue as well as
actual machinery for some hands on experience.

For more information visit:

http://www.iopp.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=1373

If you have any questions, feel free to drop me a note at john@...

SOME THOUGHTS ON...

OEE

OEE is a term that has been on many lips in the past year or two. It
stands for, depending on who you listen to, "Overall Equipment
Effectiveness" or "Overall Equipment Efficiency". I used the
scientific method to settle it. I went to Google. Based on number of
hits for each phrase, Effectiveness seems to be the more popular
term. I think this is appropriate as manufacturing is more about
being effective, defined as doing the right thing than efficient,
doing things right. That is, if you are making the product that your
customer wants, you are being effective. If you are making it well,
obtaining a high proportion of output to input, you are doing it efficiently.

OEE is a useful tool because it gives a single number by which to
monitor line performance. If this number of calculated uniformly, it
can be used to compare the performance of differing lines and
processes. It would be nice if there were a single agreed standard
for OEE and therein lies the danger of relying excessively on it.
Many companies use it but each seems to want to put its own twist on
how they define and measure the various components. With OEE as with
any other term, it is more important that everyone in an organization
use the same definitions than what those definitions are.

So what is OEE?

OEE is composed of 3 metrics: Availability, Performance and Quality.
Each measures a different aspect of an operation. The percentage
number associated with each can be useful in improving performance.
OEE is the product of Availability X Performance X Quality and is
expressed as a percentage.

OEE availability is the percentage of time spent producing relative
to the scheduled available time. A plant running a single shift (480
minutes) operation might schedule 60 minutes for meals and breaks.
Theoretical availability is thus 420 minutes. If the line normally
shuts down during these breaks, availability should not be penalized.
If it normally continues running, perhaps using relief workers, but
due to absences on a particular day needs to stop, this lost time
will count against availability. As an example, assume that on a
given day downtime from various causes such as cleanup and setup,
lack of materials or documentation or plant meetings, is 50 minutes.
Total availability is 420-50 or 370 minutes. OEE availability is
370/420 or 88%.

OEE performance is the actual running speed relative to the
theoretical running speed. This is generally the manufacturer's rated
speed. A standard line speed of 200PPM, over the 370 minutes
available, should produce a total of 74,000 units. If it produces
68,000 units over the shift, its OEE performance is 92%. Note that
this is total production of both good and rejected products, not just
good production.

Performance is affected by minor stoppages, typically less than a
minute or two. Typical stoppages will include clearing machine jams
or the need to make minor adjustments. In some cases it may be
necessary to run a line more slowly than normal due to marginal
components or product.

Quality must be factored in because, at the end of the day, what is
really important is not total production but total good production.
OEE Quality is the percentage of good production relative to total
production. If total production was 68,000 units but 1,000 were
rejected, the quality metric is 68,000 divided by 67,000 or 98%. A
reject under OEE is defined as any product that does not make it
through the process on the first pass. Products that are reworked or
products that are rejected in error and later accepted are still
treated as rejects under OEE.
Our hypothetical line thus has an overall OEE of:
0.88(availability) X 0.92(performance) X 0.98(quality) = 0.79 = 79%

OEE is an excellent tool since it provides a single number by which
to monitor line performance. By its nature, it allows comparison
across different lines or processes within a plant or even between
plants in the same company. It should allow comparison between plants
of different companies or even industries. A problem is that there is
not a single agreed upon standard. Different companies will each put
their own twist on how they calculate OEE. When this happens,
comparisons become meaningless. In other words, when comparing OEE
between companies, or even within the same company, be sure that it
is calculated using the same methodology. If not, it is apples and
oranges and comparisons are meaningless.

TIP OF THE MONTH

OEE RESOURCE

If you are into or getting into OEE, Vorne Industries has several
tools that are very helpful. Most important is their "Fast Guide to
OEE". This is a 27 page tutorial on OEE that makes an excellent
starting point for those wanting to learn more. They also publish an
Excel template that, upon plugging in your data, will automatically
calculate OEE. Vorne also manufactures OEE monitors that display OEE,
its 3 components as well as other metrics in real time. For more
information, visit their site at www.oee.com Tell them John Henry sent you.



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
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

My apologies if you are getting this a second time.

(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)
(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) The Lean Changeover e-letter
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) Published monthly by Changeover.com
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) Written by John R Henry, CPP
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) JANUARY 2009
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) Replies, inquires and feedback to
<mailto:john%40changeover.com>john@...
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)
(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)

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

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

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 john@...
NOW to schedule a session in your plant.

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


InterPhex Puerto Rico is next Thursday and Friday
(1/29 & 30) If you are there Friday, I’ll be
around and would be happy to buy you a cup of
coffee. Call my cell (787-550-9650) Even better,
come hear me on Friday. I will be presenting a
talk on “Optimizing Throughput: High Speed
Packaging Lines Updates and Case Studies” . You
can find more info at
<http://www.interphexpuertorico.com/>www.interphexpuertorico.com
Click on the “conferences” link in the left sidebar.



SOME THOUGHTS ON…
SMED

In the 1960’s Toyota Motors had a problem. They
made inexpensive cars for the mass market. Costs
were kept down by limiting variety of models and
styles. This was in keeping with their guru,
Henry Ford’s, philosophy of avoiding changeover.
The market was changing and customers demanded
cars that better fit their individual needs and
tastes. Toyota realized that they needed to find
a way to satisfy these wants while, at the same time, keeping costs down.

Shigeo Shingo was a consulting industrial
engineer and Toyota brought him in to solve this
apparent conundrum. The initial assignment was to
reduce the time it took to change the dies in
stamping presses. When he began the project,
changeovers took 10-12 hours. When he finally
finished, several phases and years later, die
changeovers took under 10 minutes. Shingo did
nothing magic, he simply applied fairly standard
techniques that are in every industrial
engineer’s toolbox. It has always seemed to me
that Shingo’s big breakthrough was his
application of these tools to changeover.

Shingo did what any good IE would do, he observed
the process to see where time was being lost. One
key area was standardization of external die
dimensions. Each die was a different size,
depending on its purpose. This necessitated
adjustment of the press shut height, mountings
and more. Shingo standardized external die sizes
by adding shims and spacers, permanently mounted
to the dies. Now, there was no adjustment
required to the press. One die was removed and
the next slipped into its place.

That, by itself, would result in considerable
savings. But that was not all that improved.
Since the dies were the same, the mounting bolts
were the same. Previous practice had wasted a lot
of time looking for the correct mounting bolts
for each die size. Standardizing the size
eliminated the need for different bolts.
Adjustments to the press required a high level of
skill and brought risk of damage if not done
correctly. Elimination of adjustment allowed less
skilled (and more available) workers to perform
the changeover while reducing risk of damage.

Standard die sizes also facilitated specialized
handling systems to manage the heavy dies, saving even more time.

One of the things that amazes me is that this
idea now seems so obvious that I have trouble
understanding why it was not seen earlier. What
amazes me even more is that I go into plants
today that have different size dies, molds and other changeable parts.

A second big breakthrough by Shingo was the
concept of externalization. When he started the
project, the mechanic would typically stop the
press and only then go to fetch the dies and
other parts required for the next part to be
made. Shingo realized that this could be done
ahead of time, while the press was still running.
This concept of externalization says that to the
maximum extent possible, all changeover tasks
should be done either before machine stops or
after it restarts. In other words “external” to
the downtime. This is also such a simple and
obvious concept that I am amazed on a daily basis
that it is not more widely practiced.

Shingo developed his ideas into a system that he
called SMED for Single Minute Exchange of Dies.
One misconception is that by “single minute” he
meant under 1 minute. As he explains in his book
“A Revolution In Manufacturing: The SMED System”,
he meant single digits of minutes or under 10 minutes.

I take my hat off to Shingo in admiration. He
truly showed the way to a revolution in
manufacturing by treating changeover as a
solvable problem rather than a necessary evil
that must be accepted. His techniques are simple
in concept yet universally applicable. Most of
all, I thank him for sharing the ideas with us
rather than keeping them locked up as proprietary company information.

Having said all this, I do think that there is
one area that is neglected in the book. This may
be because it was not an issue at Toyota at the
time but it is am important issue in virtually
every company I have ever worked with.
Changeover, properly defined, addresses the total
process of getting from product A to product B. A
program to reduce changeover must address the
physical changeover of the machinery, of course,
and this was Shingo’s main focus. Equally
important, in some cases even more critical, are
operational issues. It does no good to reduce
changeover time from 4 to 1 hours if it still
takes 3 hours for the warehouse to issue the
materials. Much of my practice is in the
pharmaceutical industry and I see a lot of time
lost where the line is ready to run but the
documentation to run the next lot is not yet available.

I teach that there are two paths to lean
changeover, one mechanical, the other
operational. Focusing on only one or the other
will seldom yield the results you need.

“A Revolution in Manufacturing: The SMED System”
is a wonderful book. Anyone involved in any
manufacturing process should read and study it.
It was written for heavy, metal bending,
processes and some people fail to see the
applicability to lighter processes such as
packaging, plastic molding or assembly. This is a
mistake for it is the concepts more than the
examples that are the key and the concepts are universally applicable.

The book is available from Productivity Press at
<http://www.productivitypress.com/>www.productivitypress.com
A companion book, “Quick Changeover for
Operators” is part of their Shop Floor series.
This is a simplified version of Shingo’s book and
is an excellent introduction for operators,
mechanics, technicians and others who want to
learn the basics of the SMED system.

TIP OF THE MONTH…
INTERNAL LADDERS

Time is often lost looking for ladders to access
the access points on top of machines. Even worse,
time is not looking for ladders and people will
stand on chairs, pipes or other convenient
objects creating an unsafe condition.

Steps, stairs and ladders can be built right into
machines as needed to assure that they are always
available. For example, a small (12” X 18”)
platform might be mounted 18” off the floor to
stand on. This can be hinged so that it folds out
of the way when not in use. Another alternative I
have seen is to weld crossmembers to a machine frame forming a ladder.

Note that while these are intended to avoid a
safety hazard, they can create a hazard
themselves if not properly designed. If going
this route, be sure to consult with your safety gurus.

Also, I probably should not need to say this but
experience shows me that I do. Be sure to use
non-skid surfaces on any ladders or steps.


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
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

(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)
(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) The Lean Changeover e-letter
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) Published monthly by Changeover.com
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) Written by John R Henry, CPP
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) JANUARY 2009
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) Replies, inquires and feedback to
<mailto:john%40changeover.com>john@...
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)
(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)

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

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

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 john@...
NOW to schedule a session in your plant.

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


InterPhex Puerto Rico is next Thursday and Friday
(1/29 & 30) If you are there Friday, I’ll be
around and would be happy to buy you a cup of
coffee. Call my cell (787-550-9650) Even better,
come hear me on Friday. I will be presenting a
talk on “Optimizing Throughput: High Speed
Packaging Lines Updates and Case Studies” . You
can find more info at
<http://www.interphexpuertorico.com/>www.interphexpuertorico.com
Click on the “conferences” link in the left sidebar.



SOME THOUGHTS ON…
SMED

In the 1960’s Toyota Motors had a problem. They
made inexpensive cars for the mass market. Costs
were kept down by limiting variety of models and
styles. This was in keeping with their guru,
Henry Ford’s, philosophy of avoiding changeover.
The market was changing and customers demanded
cars that better fit their individual needs and
tastes. Toyota realized that they needed to find
a way to satisfy these wants while, at the same time, keeping costs down.

Shigeo Shingo was a consulting industrial
engineer and Toyota brought him in to solve this
apparent conundrum. The initial assignment was to
reduce the time it took to change the dies in
stamping presses. When he began the project,
changeovers took 10-12 hours. When he finally
finished, several phases and years later, die
changeovers took under 10 minutes. Shingo did
nothing magic, he simply applied fairly standard
techniques that are in every industrial
engineer’s toolbox. It has always seemed to me
that Shingo’s big breakthrough was his
application of these tools to changeover.

Shingo did what any good IE would do, he observed
the process to see where time was being lost. One
key area was standardization of external die
dimensions. Each die was a different size,
depending on its purpose. This necessitated
adjustment of the press shut height, mountings
and more. Shingo standardized external die sizes
by adding shims and spacers, permanently mounted
to the dies. Now, there was no adjustment
required to the press. One die was removed and
the next slipped into its place.

That, by itself, would result in considerable
savings. But that was not all that improved.
Since the dies were the same, the mounting bolts
were the same. Previous practice had wasted a lot
of time looking for the correct mounting bolts
for each die size. Standardizing the size
eliminated the need for different bolts.
Adjustments to the press required a high level of
skill and brought risk of damage if not done
correctly. Elimination of adjustment allowed less
skilled (and more available) workers to perform
the changeover while reducing risk of damage.

Standard die sizes also facilitated specialized
handling systems to manage the heavy dies, saving even more time.

One of the things that amazes me is that this
idea now seems so obvious that I have trouble
understanding why it was not seen earlier. What
amazes me even more is that I go into plants
today that have different size dies, molds and other changeable parts.

A second big breakthrough by Shingo was the
concept of externalization. When he started the
project, the mechanic would typically stop the
press and only then go to fetch the dies and
other parts required for the next part to be
made. Shingo realized that this could be done
ahead of time, while the press was still running.
This concept of externalization says that to the
maximum extent possible, all changeover tasks
should be done either before machine stops or
after it restarts. In other words “external” to
the downtime. This is also such a simple and
obvious concept that I am amazed on a daily basis
that it is not more widely practiced.

Shingo developed his ideas into a system that he
called SMED for Single Minute Exchange of Dies.
One misconception is that by “single minute” he
meant under 1 minute. As he explains in his book
“A Revolution In Manufacturing: The SMED System”,
he meant single digits of minutes or under 10 minutes.

I take my hat off to Shingo in admiration. He
truly showed the way to a revolution in
manufacturing by treating changeover as a
solvable problem rather than a necessary evil
that must be accepted. His techniques are simple
in concept yet universally applicable. Most of
all, I thank him for sharing the ideas with us
rather than keeping them locked up as proprietary company information.

Having said all this, I do think that there is
one area that is neglected in the book. This may
be because it was not an issue at Toyota at the
time but it is am important issue in virtually
every company I have ever worked with.
Changeover, properly defined, addresses the total
process of getting from product A to product B. A
program to reduce changeover must address the
physical changeover of the machinery, of course,
and this was Shingo’s main focus. Equally
important, in some cases even more critical, are
operational issues. It does no good to reduce
changeover time from 4 to 1 hours if it still
takes 3 hours for the warehouse to issue the
materials. Much of my practice is in the
pharmaceutical industry and I see a lot of time
lost where the line is ready to run but the
documentation to run the next lot is not yet available.

I teach that there are two paths to lean
changeover, one mechanical, the other
operational. Focusing on only one or the other
will seldom yield the results you need.

“A Revolution in Manufacturing: The SMED System”
is a wonderful book. Anyone involved in any
manufacturing process should read and study it.
It was written for heavy, metal bending,
processes and some people fail to see the
applicability to lighter processes such as
packaging, plastic molding or assembly. This is a
mistake for it is the concepts more than the
examples that are the key and the concepts are universally applicable.

The book is available from Productivity Press at
<http://www.productivitypress.com/>www.productivitypress.com
A companion book, “Quick Changeover for
Operators” is part of their Shop Floor series.
This is a simplified version of Shingo’s book and
is an excellent introduction for operators,
mechanics, technicians and others who want to
learn the basics of the SMED system.

TIP OF THE MONTH…
INTERNAL LADDERS

Time is often lost looking for ladders to access
the access points on top of machines. Even worse,
time is not looking for ladders and people will
stand on chairs, pipes or other convenient
objects creating an unsafe condition.

Steps, stairs and ladders can be built right into
machines as needed to assure that they are always
available. For example, a small (12” X 18”)
platform might be mounted 18” off the floor to
stand on. This can be hinged so that it folds out
of the way when not in use. Another alternative I
have seen is to weld crossmembers to a machine frame forming a ladder.

Note that while these are intended to avoid a
safety hazard, they can create a hazard
themselves if not properly designed. If going
this route, be sure to consult with your safety gurus.

Also, I probably should not need to say this but
experience shows me that I do. Be sure to use
non-skid surfaces on any ladders or steps.


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
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

(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)
(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) The Lean Changeover e-letter
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) Published monthly by Changeover.com
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) Written by John R Henry, CPP
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) DECEMBER 2008
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) Replies, inquires and feedback to
<mailto:john%40changeover.com>john@...
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)
(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)

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

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

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 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...
BOOKS

Marx said "Outside of a dog books are man's best friend. Inside of a
dog it is too dark to read anyway."

Just to be clear, that was Groucho, not Karl, Marx.

I've been an avid reader all my life. I probably read about 50-60
books a year on a variety of topics. Some fiction and lots of
non-fiction including technology, history, bios, management and more.
There are very few books, perhaps none, that I have failed to learn
from. Some of this has been useful to my professional interests. Some
of it has been merely interesting. However, I tend to have a brain
like an attic with all sorts of apparently useless information
squirreled away. Every once in a while, and not such long whiles
either, I will be involved in a project, sitting in a meeting or some
other venue trying to figure out what to do and one of these ideas
will pop out. It turns out that it was not so useless after all!

Someone once said that it is not reasonable to expect a book to teach
you something on every page. Some do but they tend to be very few.
That same person also said that if you learn one new idea or way of
thinking about something, the investment in reading time has been amply repaid.

I was reminded while spending a week in a client's plant. Actually,
in the past month I've spent a week in each of 4 of the client's
plants. One of the things I noticed in 2 of the plants  was that a
lot of people seemed to have books on their desks that they would
carry with them when going on break. In the break room, I would
usually see 3-5 people sitting reading while drinking their coffee of
eating their lunch. Nothing earthshaking in the way of reading
material. It was not like they were poring over technical manuals or the like.

I got to talking to one of the women reading and asked why it seemed
more prevalent in these plants than others I have been in. She took
me over to the corner of the break room and showed me a bookshelf.
The company had provided the bookshelf and employees had stocked it
with books from home. Nobody manages it, ideally, if you take a book
you are supposed to leave one but then some people leave extras so if
a book or two goes missing it is no big deal.

There was also a fair selection of magazines on a variety of subjects
that people had brought in.

And all the company did was provide a bookshelf. Seems like a pretty
cheap price to pay to get employees to read. Maybe it is something
you'd like to try in your plant?

Now let me anticipate an objection:

If employees are reading in the lunchroom, they are not taking this
opportunity to socialize with their peers. That is true and, if the
reading were carried to an extreme, it might (emphasize "might") be a
bit of a bad thing. On the other hand, we spend all our day talking
to our co-workers and sometimes just want a bit of piece and quiet.
While I understand the concern and agree that it could be a problem,
my thinking is that it probably is not.

So, do you like to read? If you are reading this newsletter, you are
probably interested in reading about changeover. There is not a lot
written specifically about it but here are a few books that you
should find interesting and useful:

How about some feedback? What books do you recommend on changeover,
lean manufacturing and other related areas? Send them to me and in a
future newsletter I will post a list. Let me know if I can use your
name or not. My default is not to use it but I do like to give credit
where due.

BOOKS

"A Revolution in Manufacturing: The SMED System" by Shigeo Shingo,
www.productivitypress.com

This is THE book to read on changeover. Also see Productivity Press's
"Quick Changeover for Operators" This doesn't have any additional
information but is a simplified summary of the SMED book and very
useful for people who don't want to get deeply into the nuts and bolts of it.


"Kaizen for Quick Changeover: Going Beyond SMED"-Kenichi Sekine and
Keisuke Arai, 1992 www.productivitypress.com

This book discusses ways of improving changeover processes with lots
of illustrations and practical tips. It also discusses costs of changeover.


"Improving Changeover Performance"-S. Culley, A. Mileham, R. McIntosh, G. Owen
www.amazon.com

There are not many books dealing specifically with changeover in
packaging, printing or other smaller scale production processes. This
is far and away the best.


"The Visual Factory: Building Participation through Shared
Information"-Michel Greif, 1991 www.productivitypress.com

This book is about how to present information and physically organize
a manufacturing plant. A lot of the information can be used to help
make documentation of changeovers and procedures more readily
available and user friendly.


"Set-Up Time Reduction"-Jerry W. Claunch, www.amazon.com

This is an excellent book specifically about reducing setup times. It
take a holistic approach and covers a number of areas. You can learn
a lot from it.

"PI: How to Optimize Packaging Line Performance"-Paul J. Zepf, CPP,
1996, Institute of Packaging Professionals http://www.iopp.org/bookstore

This book deals specifically with packaging lines and covers a lot of
ground on how to optimize performance in a number of areas. One key
area, too often ignored, is actually measuring performance. There is
an excellent chapter on "Quick Change Process (QCP)"

"Safer Than A Known Way"-John S. McConnell

This is not one of the best books on the subject I have ever read.

It is THE best book I have ever read on the concept of quality. It
completely changed my thinking. It is a bit hard to find but well
worth the effort to search out a used copy.

And, for the grand finale, nobody interested in manufacturing can
afford to pass up Henry Ford's bio "My Life and Work". This book
tells how to design and operate an efficient company. You will find
almost nothing in the Toyota Production System that Henry Ford had
not thought of first. Hopefully Ford will go back to their roots to
get though the current problems they are having.

Buy it in a nice paperback edition with my intro at:
https://www2.xlibris.com/bookstore/bookdisplay.asp?bookid=32476

Or download for free at:
http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/7213


TIP OF THE MONTH
REMOVABLE TRANSOMS

I was recently in a plant and noticed that the transoms over the
doors in the manufacturing area were considerably bigger than I was
used to. The doors were either single or double from about 36 to 72"
wide and probably 80 or 96" high. The transoms over the doors
extended another 4-6 feet. I commented on this and was told that they
were removable. When equipment needs to be moved into or out of the
room, the transom panel and cross piece can be removed with a few
screws. This provides additional access height on an as needed basis.

I thought it was a pretty neat idea.


For a free subscription send a blank e-mail to:
<mailto:quickchangeover-subscribe%40yahoogroups.com>quickchangeover-subscribe@ya\
hoogroups.com

To unsubscribe send a blank e-mail to:
<mailto:quickchangeover-unsubscribe%40yahoogroups.com>quickchangeover-unsubscrib\
e@yahoogroups.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

(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)
(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) The Lean Changeover e-letter
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) Published monthly by Changeover.com
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) Written by John R Henry, CPP
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) NOVEMBER 2008
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) Replies, inquires and feedback to
<mailto:john%40changeover.com><mailto:john%40changeover.com>john@...
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)
(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)

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

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

Please feel free to forward this newsletter to anyone you think might be
interested

To subscribe send a blank e-mail to:
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=============================================================

Are you seriously interested in reducing your
changeover downtime? If you are, you need a
program and there is no better way to kickstart a
changeover improvement program than my
"Changeover made ESEE" workshop. This workshop is
2 days of useful information, ideas that have
worked and how to apply them in your plant.

To schedule a session in your plant or for more
information call (787-550-9650) or e-mail
(john@...) John Henry today.


SOME THOUGHTS ON…
WIIFM?

An issue with any changeover program is
motivation. How do you get the troops fired up?
Everybody knows what is in it for the company:
more money! What is in it for the people who will
do the actual grunt work of implementation.

One might argue that since they are getting paid,
they should do what they are told to do. There is
certainly truth to that and, if you tell them to
implement a changeover program, they will
probably do it. They may be somewhat grudging.
After all, they are being asked to do something
new. The mere need to change from the old and
accustomed ways makes some people uncomfortable.

What is needed is not grudging obedience to
orders but enthusiastic buy-in and participation.
These people on the line are the true experts on
how the line works and how to improve it. No
company can afford to ignore this knowledge.

One secret is to look at them and imagine,
tattooed on their foreheads the letters WIIFM.
This stands for "What's in it for me?". They need
to see the benefits to them, personally, rather than just to the company.

There are 4 main answers to the WIIFM question:

1)      The most stressful part of their job is
going to be dealing with a machine that does not
run smoothly. One of the reasons machines do not
run smoothly is because they have been improperly
cleaned, set up and/or maintained. Improving
changeover by eliminating, simplifying,
externalizing, and setting exactly (the ESEE
method) will result in smoother running
machinery. Reducing the time spent on changeover
will free up more time for preventive/predictive
maintenance. It will also free up time for more
permanent repairs. Too many times I see
"temporary" repair made to a machine to get the
production run finished. A year later, the same
temporary repair still in place.
2)      Routine, repetitive work is boring.
Involving the floor personnel in developing and
implementing changeover improvements gives them a
change from the routine. It allows them to use
the creativity which we all have within us.
Allowing them to use their creativity will
demonstrate their value to the company as well as
provide the sense of challenge and accomplishment we all need.
3)      As they demonstrate their value to the
company by learning new things and developing new
methods, it is possible that this value will be
recognized by promotion or increased pay.
4)      It is only through profits that a company
is able to pay employees. A company that does not
make profits will not be able to provide the
stability and job security that everyone wants.
Nor will it be able to provide improved pay and benefits.

Caveat: I certainly have no problem mentioning
3&4 to the floor employees. However, care must be
taken in how these are expressed. Be very careful
not to make what might be construed as a promise
of job security or improved pay.

Mechanics and technicians will often feel that
lean changeover will put them out of a job. That
is certainly the goal!. Not to put them out of
the company, of course. Lean changeover will free
them from much of the drudgery of routine work
and allow them to focus their talents in more
valuable ways. These include correct repairs to
machines rather than "temporary" quick fixes,
time to get to the root cause of problems and fix
them rather than just treating the symptoms. Less
time spent on changeover means more time
available to develop and implement other
improvements. It also gives them time to learn
new skills and technologies. All of these make
them more, not less valuable to the company.

One final thought in closing: People will often
worry that lean changeover is just a scheme to
reduce headcount. This may be true but it is
important that the reduced headcount come via
natural attrition ie; not replacing someone when
they leave, rather than layoffs. It is critical
that people not get the sense that they are working themselves out of a job.

A lean changeover program will succeed or fail in
large part by the amount of buy in by the people
being asked to implement it. It is not enough for
them to know what is in it for the company,
important as that knowledge is. They must be shown what is in it for them.

TIP OF THE MONTH…
SWIFFER

I am a big believer in taking any useful
technology wherever I find it. Everybody here has
probably seen Proctor & Gamble's Swiffer line of
cleaning products on the TV. These are basically
dust mops. Instead of the typical dust mop which
has a head that is difficult to clean, these have
a plastic head to which is mounted a disposable
paper duster. A big advantage to this,
particularly in a pharmaceutical plant is that it
eliminate the possibility of cross contamination
that may occur when a dust mop used to clean
after one product is also used after a different one.

They are very light weight with extendable
aluminum handles. This makes them useful for
cleaning walls, ceilings, windows and other
surfaces as well. They can be used wet or dry and
some models even come with fittings to attach spray cans of cleaner.

You can find out more at www.swiffer.com

If anyone from P&G is reading this, I do have one
objection and that is the size. The mop heads
seem to be available in a maximum 18" wide. While
this may be fine for residential use, a wider
(30-42") head would be more useful in industrial
environments. This would allow fewer passes to be
made to clean a given area. Swiffer is a great
product and works well. It just needs this one
tweak to make it a powerful industrial tool.

On the other hand, if there is a wide Swiffer
available, could someone let me know? I've looked and can't find it.




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

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(+)+(+)
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) The Lean Changeover e-letter
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(+)+(+) Published monthly by Changeover.com
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) Written by John R Henry, CPP
(+)+(+)
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SOME THOUGHTS ON...
CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT OR SEQUENTIAL PROJECTS?

Should changeover improvement be a continuous, ongoing program or a
series of programs with fixed goals and timelines? Or, put another
way, should it be a process or a project?

Both approaches have their merits and demerits.

Many programs such as TQM stress the need for "continuous
improvement". That is, once we started, they can never stop. In
theory, I concur 100%. It is only by continuously striving to improve
our processes that we can keep ahead of our competitors.

On the other hand, I have been around long enough to see a number of
these programs implemented. (Anyone remember "quality circles" from
the 70's?) Each one seems to be introduced as the solution to all
ills and as the last new program to be introduced. "This will solve
all of our problems and we will live by it forever."

Until next year.

Then a new program comes along and the whole cycle begins again.
There is even an acronym for this phenomena, "TYNT" for "This Year's
New Thing". Needless to say, as people go through several of these
programs their level of skepticism increases and enthusiasm wanes.

Another problem is that, even in the best of programs, people who
were very interested and motivated at their inception get bored and
stale or develop other priorities and the program just sort of peters out.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Do you want to learn how to make your changeovers ESEE?

My Changeover Made ESEE workshop, presented in your plant will teach
your team how. The workshop combines theory, a changeover simulator
as well as practice. For detailed information e-mail
john@... or call me at 787-550-9650 during eastern US
business hours.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

When they work, and they sometimes do, continuous improvement
programs are great. Too often they fail, in part due to the reasons I
mentioned above.

There is an alternative approach. That is to look at changeover
improvement as a series of discrete projects. Prior to initiating the
project, specific goals, team members, responsibilities and a
timeline are established. In most plants a reasonable goal is 6/50.
That is, in 6 months changeover time will be reduced by 50%. The goal
should go beyond time savings. It will need to be converted to dollar
savings so everyone can see the impact. This dollar/hour number needs
to come from accounting so that it will be universally accepted. Many
will be surprised by the magnitude of the savings. Five thousand
dollars an hour is a fairly low cost for packaging line downtime.
Save five minutes ($416) per day and this adds up to $100,000/yr.

There are a couple of advantages to this approach:

People respond better when they can see a fixed and measurable goal.
If 50% reduction has been established at the goal, it is easy to see
if it has been met. Further, it is fairly easy to see, on a week by
week basis, progress toward meeting the goal.

Once the goal has been set, it is possible to determine what
resources will be required to meet it. In a continuous program, with
no specific goal, it may hard to justify the diversion of resources.
The team winds up simply trying to do the best they can with the
resources they can come up with.

In different phases of changeover improvement, different people may
need to be involved. For example, the first time this is done this,
there will be a lot of relatively easy and simple opportunities.
These will include such things as eliminating tools, simplifying
adjustments, developing or improving procedures etc. In other words,
things that can be done primarily by the people on the line.

Once the easy things have been done, the team needs to move on to
other areas. For example, machinery design might be an issue. This
might involve modifying or replacing equipment. This would require a
higher level focus, probably at the engineering department level. Or
perhaps the product design presents opportunities for improvement. In
this case the marketing or package engineering department might play
the primary role.

At the conclusion of the project, the team responsible can be
positively rewarded for their contributions toward meeting the goal.
This might take the form of a dinner, reward or or even just a brief
article in the company newsletter. Recognition is always most
effective whan it is tied to some *specific* performance or event.

The project approach does not mean that at the end of six months the
50% improvement is cheered and forgotten. That is the way to lose any
gains. Changeover times must be continuously monitored to prevent backsliding.

On conclusion of one project, another must be immediately
implemented. The new project may have a different team and even a
different focus. Like the first, it needs to specific goals and
timetables. Staying with the same 6/50 goal is probably a good idea.
People now have some experience how to reduce changeover. They will
have also, by participating in a successful campaign, have developed
some self-confidence. And of course, the second 50% reduction is
really only a 25% reduction from the original starting point.

I do not disagree with the supporters of "continuous improvement".
All plants MUST engage in it. I think the sequential project model I
discussed above achieves very similar results. The difference is more
in organization and implementation than in underlying philosophy.

TIP OF THE MONTH...
ROBOTIC TOOL CHANGERS

Some systems, such as palletizers or assembly machines, use robots
with grippers that must be changed for various products. Changing
these grippers can be time consuming with a number of fasteners,
electrical and pneumatic connections to be made up. ATI Industrial
Automation ( www.ati-ia.com ) makes an interesting device that does
away with all of this. It consists of two sections, male and female.
The male section is permanently mounted on the robotic arm. Female
sections are permanently mounted on each gripper. The male section
connects with the female via ball locks and locating pins so that it
securely locks into position. As the two sections mate, pneumatic and
electrical connections are also made. There are no tools and, if the
grippers with the female sections are staged appropriately, the robot
can be programmed to change them without any human intervention.






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

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(+)+(+) The Lean Changeover e-letter
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) Published monthly by Changeover.com
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) Written by John R Henry, CPP
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) SEPTEMBER 2008
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Changeover is now online at
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-5-2006_A_10000000000000402576



SOME THOUGHTS ON...
TIME

A few years ago IBM ran an ad showing a harried looking executive and
the caption was "Innovative thinking? We don't even have time for bad
thinking". I liked it enough that I scanned it and use it in my "Lean
Changeover Made ESEE" workshops. (Thanks, IBM!)

Many face this problem daily. They get caught up in just trying to
deal with the typical daily problems and get product out the door.
This creates a vicious cycle in which the emphasis becomes working
around the symptoms. Lack of time prevents correcting the underlying
or "root" causes of the problem. It is the classic chicken and the
egg. Can't fix the problem because of lack of time, don't have time
it gets used up dealing with symptoms.

I don't need to tell any of you that this is not good. The problem is
how to break the cycle.

One issue is to identify the root causes instead of the symptoms.
Toyota uses a technique that they call the "Five Whys". This uses a
repetitive process to drill down to the root. For example:

Why did Mary slip and fall? (Because there was oil on the floor)
Why was there oil on the floor? (Because a seal was leaking)
Why was the seal leaking? (Because the shaft was scored)
Why was the shaft scored? (Because the mechanic used the wrong tool
eg; ViseGrip pliers)
Why did the mechanic use the wrong tool (Because the proper tool was
not readily available)

As you can see from the above, the problem is not so much the oil on
the floor. That is a problem and it needs to be cleaned up, of
course. If that is all that is done, time will be lost every day
cleaning it and, between cleanings, another accident may occur. Even
replacing the seal, if not done correctly, will not permanently solve
the problem. The real solution is to make sure that the proper tool
is readily available to the mechanic. Note the phrase "readily
available". It may not be enough to have the tool in the tool crib.
If it takes too much time to get the tool, and there is too much
pressure to get the machine back up and running, the improper but
available tool may be used.

Training also enters into it. Many plants do not provide regular
training to mechanics and technicians. After all, they are supposed
to know this stuff, right? The mechanic in the above example may have
used ViseGrips simply because they did not know that this was not the
proper tool.  And, since there is pressure to keep the machines
running, there may not be time for training.

Another time consumer is troubleshooting. In my experience most of
the time spent in repairing machinery is spent figuring out what is
wrong. Fixing it is usually the easy part. Many mechanics and
technicians have never been trained to approach troubleshooting in a
systematic fashion. Too often it is "tinker with this adjustment,
replace that part". Keep repeating until the machine works again. It
may not work correctly and they may not have any idea what they did
to actually fix it. It is working and the supervisor is off their
back. That is the important thing. (They think!)

Not only is more time spent than necessary in correcting the problem,
future time is lost because it was not properly and permanently fixed.

There is always enough time for repairs, though, as I mentioned
above, perhaps not enough time to permanent and proper repair.
Strangely, there is often not enough time to prevent the need for the
repair in the first place. Preventive and predictive maintenance take
time. They may require that machines be stopped. Plants may be
unwilling to do this. There are two paybacks: 1) the stoppage can
occur at the most convenient time rather than the least convenient
time for a breakdown. 2) The amount of time spent preventing the need
for repair will most likely be less than the amount of time spent
making the repair. Plants with good P/PM programs will run more
smoothly, operators and technicians will be happier and production
levels will be higher. Sure it takes an effort in time and money. It
always pays.

Time is our most precious resource. There is only so much of it. The
only way to get an edge on time is to use it more wisely. Root cause
analysis, training, effective troubleshooting and P/PM are tools that
will help you do this.

The above is drawn from my Effective Troubleshooting Workshop. If you
would like information on how you can schedule this workshop in your
plant, give me a call at 787-550-9650 or e-mail john@...


TIP OF THE MONTH...
THREAD GAUGES

Sometimes simple things can have big positive impacts. One of my pet
peeves is the amount of time spent looking for the proper nut or
bolt. An even bigger peeve is the damage done when the wrong fastener
is used. For example a fine thread with a course bolt or a metric
bolt with a standard thread.

I recommend that every mechanic have a thread and fastener diameter
in their toolbox and they be encouraged to use it. These are cheap
and simple. You might even be able to talk your hardware supplier
into giving you some.


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



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

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(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) The Lean Changeover e-letter
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) Published monthly by Changeover.com
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) Written by John R Henry, CPP
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) AUGUST 2008
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Do you use vibratory bowl feeders in your plant? Are they "in tune"
and running correctly right now?

These workhorses of assembly automation are too often poorly
understood by the mechanics and technicians who service them. My
workshop, "Understanding Vibratory Feeders" is based on 22 years of
working on their design, operation and maintenance. It explains the
basic and theory of operation. Once this is understood, your
technical people will find them as simple as pie.

The workshop combine theory as well as practical hands-on practice.

For more information or to schedule a session in your facility, call
me at 787-550-9650 or e-mail me at johnhenry@...




SOME THOUGHTS ON...
THE FORD PRODUCTION SYSTEM

Unless you are a hermit in the Himalayas you have most likely heard
of the Toyota Production System. It is usually held up as the
capstone of lean manufacturing.

Have you ever thought about how it came to be?

I didn't know much more than the average person about Henry Ford
until a about 8-9 years ago. Yes, I knew about the wonderful Model T,
the $5 wage and the moving assembly line but did not really know what
it meant to the world. Perusing their catalog one day I saw that
Productivity Press had published his book "Today and Tomorrow".  I
enjoy reading industrial history so bought it on a whim. When I read
it, I was blown away. What really astounded me was a few years later
when I found the text to his first, 1923, book "My Life and Work"
I've read hundreds of books on manufacturing management, lean, six
sigma and related topics but this was something else. All those
things we thought we had taken from the Japanese in the 80's and 90's
were common practice at Ford in the teens. He had built the entire
company around lean manufacturing and took it to extremes.

In the process he was able to produce 20 million model T's while
reducing the price from about $850 to $250 over a 20 year period. He
almost single handedly moved the world from horses to horseless
carriages. We probably all knew that. What we probably didn't know (I
didn't) was how he did it. He did it by relentlessly applying a
philosophy of eliminating fat from his manufacturing operation. In
other words, what we today call lean manufacturing.

He eliminated as much walking around as possible. The work was
brought to the man rather than the man to the work. "Save ten steps a
day for each of twelve thousand employees and you will have saved
fifty miles of wasted motion and misspent energy."... "The undirected
worker spends more of his time walking about for materials and tools
than he does in working; he gets small pay because pedestrianism is
not a highly paid line." (Chapter 5)

He spent a lot of effort optimizing workstations before most people
even knew the word ergonomics: "We now have two general principles in
all operations--that a man shall never have to take more than one
step, if possibly it can be avoided, and that no man need ever stoop
over." (Chapter 5)

Leveling production? It's in there: "We very shortly found that we
could not do business on order. The factory could not be built large
enough--even were it desirable--to make between March and August all
the cars that were ordered during those months. Therefore, years ago
began the campaign of education to demonstrate that a Ford was not a
summer luxury but a year-round necessity." (Chapter 11)

Lean documentation? Sure: "We abolished every order blank and every
form of statistics that did not directly aid in the production of a
car. We had been collecting tons of statistics because they were
interesting. But statistics will not construct automobiles--so out
they went." (Chapter 12)

Quality? He built the business on it: "And success in manufacture is
based solely upon an ability to serve that consumer to his liking. He
may be served by quality or he may be served by price. He is best
served by the highest quality at the lowest price, and any man who
can give to the consumer the highest quality at the lowest price is
bound to be a leader in business, whatever the kind of an article he
makes. There is no getting away from this." (Chapter 9) See also, in
his later book "Moving Forward", his chapter written by Carl
Johanssen of Jo Gauge fame, on the importance of precise measurement.

Worker participation in improvements. Check: "In one of the stamping
operations six-inch circles of sheet metal are cut out. These
formerly went into scrap. The waste worried the men. They worked to
find uses for the discs. They found that the plates were just the
right size and shape to stamp into radiator caps but the metal was
not thick enough. They tried a double thickness of plates, with the
result that they made a cap which tests proved to be stronger than
one made out of a single sheet of metal. We get 150,000 of those
discs a day. We have now found a use for about 20,000 a day and
expect to find further uses for the remainder. (Chapter 10)

He lived on the "learning curve" was long before anyone thought to
give it a name. He knew that by making more cars he could drive his
costs down and, as he drove the costs down, he could make more cars.
We might call a virtuous cycle.

Ford applied his ideas not only to cars. He also tells of applying
the same principles in a railroad, a large hospital and a technical
school. All with excellent results.

This is an old book and was out of print in English for more than 70
years. I have been told that it has never been out of print in
Japanese. If you want to learn about lean manufacturing, learn from
the master who invented it, Henry Ford.

The real shame is that, in the US we knew all this stuff. Ford had
shown us that it worked and had freely shared all of his techniques.
And yet we somehow lost it. Thankfully we are getting it back.

TIP OF THE MONTH...
FORD'S BOOKS

Henry Ford, with Samuel Crowther, published 4 books in the 20's. "My
Life and Work", discussed above, is the most valuable, in my opinion.
It is available in several ways. The best is to buy a trade paperback
edition
from  https://www2.xlibris.com/bookstore/bookdisplay.asp?bookid=32476
This has the advantage of a nice binding and typesetting as well as
an introduction by myself. It is also available free for download at
http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext05/hnfrd10.txt It is also
available from www.kessinger.net as a bound photocopy of the original text.

"Today and Tomorrow", Ford's second book is available from
Productivity Press www.productivityinc.com

His final book on manufacturing, "Moving Forward", written in 1929,
is available in a Kessinger edition.

Ford got his start working for Westinghouse Electric and later
Detroit Edison Electric. In his later years he and Thomas Edison
became friends and he wrote a book "My Friend Thomas Edison". It
doesn't have any manufacturing secrets but, if you enjoy biography,
is worth reading. It too is available in a Kessinger edition.





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



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

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(+)+(+)
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) The Lean Changeover e-letter
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) Published monthly by Changeover.com
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) Written by John R Henry, CPP
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) JULY 2008
(+)+(+)
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-5-2006_A_10000000000000363490


If you are interested in reducing changeover, you need to implement a
systematic program. My workshop "Lean Changeover Made ESEE" explains
how to develop this program along with techniques for reducing
changeover times. It includes changeover simulation as well as
changeover improvements in your plant.

Call John Henry at 787-550-9650 or e-mail john@... to
arrange a session in your plant.

Now also available via videoconferencing.

SOME THOUGHTS ON...
CHANGEOVER DEFINITIONS


  From time to time it is essential to go back and refresh the basics.
In discussing changeover, there is nothing more basic than the word
itself. It is a simple word and everyone knows what it means. If I
ask 5 people, all 5 can define it. The problem is that I may get 6
different definitions. It is important that everyone within an
organization use the same definition. If not, it is impossible to
discuss changeover meaningfully.

Here is the definition I recommend:

"Changeover is the total process of converting a machine or line from
running one product to another."

The key word in that definition is "total". Any definition of
changeover must include cleaning, prep work, machine adjustment
(A/K/A setup), materials and product movement, line clearance,
documentation and anything else that is required to complete the
previous product run and begin the succeeding one.

Breaking changeover into sub-parts may help with understanding it. I
call these the 3-Ups.

Clean-Up is everything involved in removing the product, materials
and components of the previous product from the line. In some cases
this might be as simple as dumping them into boxes and moving them
out and might take 5 minutes. In others it might require complete
disassembly of the machinery, washing and sterilization and might
take a full shift or more.

Set-Up is often used synonymously with changeover. It should not be.
It is a part of changeover, not the whole thing. It is the
modification of machines to set them for the next product. This may
be changing of product specific parts ("change parts") or the
adjustment of machine components. In most cases, it is a combination of both.

Start-Up is the process of bringing a line up to normal running speed
and efficiency after clean-up, set-up and line charging are complete.
This can take a few minutes or as long as a few shifts. It may be
caused by variability in product or materials. Most often it is
caused by variability in the way the clean-up and set-up were done.

Documentation, material movement and inspection are all tasks that
are part of changeover and fall within one or more of the 3-Ups.

Changeover time is another term that needs to be uniformly defined.
There are various definitions and the uniformity of definition within
an organization is more important which definition is used. Here is
the definition I have found most useful:

Changeover time is the total elapsed time between the last unit of
good production of the prior product at normal speed and efficiency
to the first unit of good production of the succeeding product at
normal speed and efficiency.

That is quite a mouthful and can be abbreviated as "Changeover time
is the elapsed time from good product to good product" When using
this definition the normal speed and efficiency is implied in the words "good".

The key word to bear in mind here is "elapsed time". Labor hours are
fairly cheap, normally in the $20-30/hr range. Production hours are
very expensive, typically thousands or even tens of thousands of
dollars per hour. Changeover must focus on keeping the lost
production hours to a minimum even though this might mean using more
labor hours.

Another term in common use is "Quick Changeover". This means reducing
the changeover time as much as possible. I used to use it myself but
realized a few years ago that semantically it was somewhat
self-defeating. Many people, especially the mechanics, technicians
and operators on the changeover front line hear "quick" and shudder.
Too many times it means that they are expected to do the same thing
but to do it faster by working harder. It may be possible to force
them to work faster for a while. The end result is likely to be an
unhappy crew and any gains will be transitory. Changeovers done under
hurry-up pressure are likely to be done less carefully resulting in
more operational problems. In short, while the goal is good, the
methods may not be. Even when the methods are sound, calling it
"quick" is likely to raise red flags in many minds.

When I realized the problems caused by "Quick Changeover" I looked
for a better term and realized that "Lean Changeover" fit what I was
trying to do to a T. Lean, as applied to changeover, means the same
thing as in "Lean Manufacturing". That is, it is a process from which
all waste has been removed. This includes wasted time and the end
result of lean changeover is shorter changeover times. An additional
benefit is better and more precise changeovers resulting in higher
OEE's and better quality product.

Words have meanings. Too often, they have different meanings to
different people. If words are not used uniformly within the
organization, poor communication will be the result. Poor
communication will result in poor efficiency and poor productivity.

TIP OF THE MONTH...
THREADING

Many machines such as baggers, labelers, winders, extruders and
others require threading material eg; filmstock through a complex
assortment of rollers and guides. Most have a threading diagram to
show the correct path. The diagram is essential and, if a clear, easy
to read diagram is not already on the machine, make one and post it.

An improvement on the diagram is marking each roller or guide that
the film touches with a dot of red paint. This dot will indicate the
side of the roller that the film is supposed to touch. EG; If the
film is to pass over the top of a roller, put a red dot on the roller
support indicating this.


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

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(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) The Lean Changeover e-letter
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) Published monthly by Changeover.com
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) Written by John R Henry, CPP
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) JUNE 2008
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) 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 or contact me at
john@...

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The Lean Changeover Newsletter has been on a bit of a hiatus but is
back. I will be publishing a new letter around the middle of each month.

This month I was lucky and got a special deal on the letter "E".


SOME THOUGHTS ON...
ESEE CHANGEOVER

One of the problems I have found with changeover is that it can be
overwhelming. This makes it hard for many people to get their arms
around it and they don't even begin. There is an old saying in my
neighborhood that "You can eat an elephant if you cut it into bite
size pieces." Changeover is much the same way. If it can be broken
down and attacked systematically it becomes ESEE to make a
significant dent in changeover times.

One tool I have developed I call ESEE. In this acronym can be
encompassed everything necessary to begin as well as finish a
changeover project. At least to the extent it can ever be finished.
There is always room for further improvement but that is a subject
for another day.

ESEE stands for Eliminate, Simplify, Externalize, Exactly!

The Eliminate step comes first because there is no point whatsoever
in improving something that doesn't need doing in the first place.
Look closely at every changeover task and ask "Why is this being
done? What would happen if we stopped doing it?" Some of you might
say that everything you do is necessary. Are you sure? Far too often
we start doing things for excellent reasons but continue to do them
after the need has gone. Do you adjust conveyor rails on both sides?
Ask why. Is it really necessary? If not necessary, stop.

Simplification is just that, look at every task and activity in
changeover and ask how it could be made simpler. Tools should never
be used for routine changeover. Time is spent looking for them, the
wrong tool is used either by accident or because the right tool was
not available, worn tools cause damage, tool usage requires more
skills...(Need I go on?). If you need to adjust photoeyes, simplify
it by mounting multiple photoeyes, pre-positioned and calibrated, for
each setup. Connect them via a selector switch. Anyone can set the
switch in seconds as opposed to spending 5 minutes or more tinkering
with moving and adjusting a single eye.

Externalize all possible tasks. This means doing them while the line
is running. Do machine parts require cleaning? If there are 2 sets of
parts, the previously used "dirty" set can be removed and set aside.
The clean set is mounted and the line restarted. There is all the
time in the world to clean the dirty set. Some may say that an
additional set of parts costs a lot of money and that is often true.
But what does line downtime cost? Line downtime is frequently
measured in tens of thousands of dollars per hour. Twenty, or even
forty thousand dollars worth of duplicate parts would pay for
themselves in weeks.

Exactly! means that all tasks must be performed exactly the same way,
to the same end result every time, regardless of who performs them.
If the capper chuck is supposed to be adjusted close to but not
touching the cap, what does that mean? Each mechanic will have a
different opinion with one thinking 1/32" is close and another
thinking 1/4" is close. To perform changeover exactly there first
needs to be a detailed SOP describing how it is to be done, including
quantitative values for all setpoints. Second, for the SOP to be
usable, there must be a way for the mechanic to verify that the
correct setpoint was achieved. This may be scales, digital
indicators, force gauges, temperature indicators and so on. Either
one without the other is little more than a decoration.

Changeover is hard. Reducing changeover time and keeping it reduced
is even harder. A logical system for attacking it can make it ESEE.
(And easier)

So what do you think, can you make your changeovers ESEE? I welcome
all feedback and if you have questions I'll be happy to answer them.
E-mail me at johnhenry@... If you have not visited
www.changeover.com lately I recently remodeled so please stop by.

If you really want to know how to make changeover ESEE, ask me about
my "Lean Changeover made ESEE" workshop/kaizen


TIP OF THE MONTH...
OEE MONITORING (I told you I got a deal on the letter "E")

OEE stands for Overall Equipment Efficiency and is a pretty good
metric of how a manufacturing, assembly or packaging line is running.
It is the product of Performance, Availability and Quality (PAQ) Lots
of info about it is available at www.oee.com .

Vorne Industries, which runs the oee.com site makes an excellent line
of OEE display panels. These are LED displays which can be set to
display OEE and other operating parameters on a minute by minute
basis. Unlike some of the fancier SCADA systems, these are very
affordable. For information, visit
http://www.vorne.com/display-types.htm#Production_Monitors


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



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

Best,

John R Henry CPP

www.changeover.com
787-550-9650

Best,

John R Henry CPP

www.changeover.com
787-550-9650

Best,

John R Henry CPP

www.changeover.com
787-550-9650

Best,

John R Henry CPP

www.changeover.com
787-550-9650

(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)
(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) S.M.I.L.E(sm)
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) Setup Minimization Improves Line Efficiency
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) The Lean Changeover e-letter
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) Published monthly by Changeover.com
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) Written by John R Henry, CPP
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)
(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)

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### APRIL 2007
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This newsletter is a free service of Changeover.com. Visit our website at
http://www.changeover.com or contact us at
john@...

Please feel free to forward this newsletter to anyone you think might be
interested

To subscribe send a blank e-mail to:
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Past issues are indexed and archived at www.changeover.com/newsletter.htm

=============================================================
SOME THOUGHTS ON...
ISHEKAWA CHARTS

Last month I talked about effective troubleshooting. This month I want
to talk about a helpful tool.

Shamless plug: If you are interested in information about having me
present my Effective Troubleshooting workshop in your plant, click
here www.changeover.com/trouble.pdf, e-mail me at
johnhenry@... or call me at 787-550-9650

The Ishekawa Chart is sometimes called a Fishbone chart or diagram. It
is a simple yet powerful tool for identifying the potential sources of
problems. One form has a horizontal line naming the problem at the
right. Four lines branch off at 45 degree angles with major groups of
possible causes of the problem. These are labeled "Machine", "Method",
"Man" and "Material".

Each of the angled lines has horizontal lines running to the left or
right detailing possible causes.

As an example, let us consider a rotary capper such as a Consolidated
or Pneumatic Scale. Let us assume that the problem is that caps are
not being tightened consistently. The major horizontal line would be
labeled "Inconsistent torque".

Branching off the horizontal at about a 45 degree angle would be
category lines or "bones". There should be at least 4 labeled Man,
Machine, Materials and Method. In some cases there might be more than
four, say for environment.

A series of horizontal lines then comes off each of the bones. All
possible causes are listed on those lines.

All possible causes of the inconsistent torque would be listed in one
of the four categories.

The "Materials" bone will list such potential causes related to
materials or components. Examples could include:
-Deformed bottles
-Oversized caps
-Excess mold release on the bottle or other causes
-Poor quality glue

"Man" related issues include anything related to or caused by
personnel operating the machine. This can include
-Improper setup or cleaning prior to the production run
-Failure to keep the machine clean during the run
-Improper technique in checking the cap torque. In other words, the
torque might be appear to be inconsistent but the problem is that the
operator is not checking it properly.

"Machine" can cover a wide range. It is important to remember that it
is not only the capper itself but includes anciliary equipment as
well. Machine problems include:

-Damaged or worn parts
-Vibration
-Overheating
-Damaged toque tester. The torque may be OK but the tester may be
indicating a problem.

"Method" includes all problems related to the way in which the capper
is operated:

-Speed may not be properly set. This could be a setup problem or it
could be a problem of the operator varying the speed during operation.
-The speed of other machines up and downstream may not be properly set
causing problems with the capper
-Over or underfilling the cap hopper can sometimes cause problems.

The above is meant to be illustrative not definitive. Those of you
will cappers will probably identify some things I have left out or
never experienced some of the things I mentioned. The Ishekawa chart
needs to be tailored to each piece of equipment as well as each major
problem.

There is also an issue of where to catagorize things. Is improper
setup an "man" or a "methods" item? It could be classed as either or
both. It could even be categorized as a "machine" problem if the
machine does not readily lend itself to repeatable setups.

The best time to develop an Ishekawa chart is either before or after a
problem occurs. A way to approach this is to develop a blank chart
template. A series of templates would be prepared for each machine. To
continue with our capper example, a series of blank charts would be
prepared with one each for "Inconsistent Torque", "Bottle Jam",
"Bottle breakage" and other major problems.

Some of the items could be filled in ahead of time simply by talking
with the mechanics and operators. To the extent that this can be done,
great. The charts should also be viewed as a work in progress. That
is, as new problems arise, they should be added to the charts. The
charts should be kept in close proximity to the machine to allow ready
access when troubleshooting.

In my experience, a lot of time is spent reinventing the wheel in
troubleshooting. A tool like the Ishekawa chart provides a means of
capturing the information and providing a starting point the next time
a similar problem occurs.

For an example of an Ishekawa chart that I use in my workshops, see
www.changeover.com/chart.jpg




TIP OF THE MONTH...
OIL ANALYSIS

Oil analysis is a useful tool for predictive maintenance. The oil from
a transmission, or crankcase can tell a lot about what the machine has
been doing. Typical information from an oil analysis includes metallic
& non-metallic particles, breakdown of lubricating properties,
dielectric breakdown, oxidation and fuel contamination.

It used to be that samples needed to be collected and sent to a
laboratory for analysis. In recent years more portable systems have
become available. One such system is the SKF TMEH1 OilCheck. This is
small, handheld system that allows oil analysis on the spot. It is
cheap enough that any maintenance shop can afford on.

It is available here
http://www.reliabilitydirectstore.com/Oil_Analysis_s/184.htm

Best,

John R Henry CPP

www.changeover.com
787-550-9650

I sent out the Lean Changeover Newsletter today and it has an error
that needs correction.

I had mentioned the Powerpoint of Pitstops in your Plant but had the
link wrong.

It should be

http://www.changeover.com/pitstops.ppt

Sorry for any inconvenience.



Best,

John R Henry CPP

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(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) S.M.I.L.E(sm)
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) Setup Minimization Improves Line Efficiency
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) The Lean Changeover e-letter
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) Published monthly by Changeover.com
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) Written by John R Henry, CPP
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)
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###     FEBRUARY 2007
###
###############################
###############################
============================================================

This newsletter is a free service of Changeover.com. Visit our website at
http://www.changeover.com or contact us at
john@...

Please feel free to forward this newsletter to anyone you think might be
interested

To subscribe send a blank e-mail to:
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=============================================================

If you have not done so yet, don't forget to buy Henry Ford's classic
book on lean manufacturing "My Life and Work" now in newly formatted
edition with a forwad by yours truly. Buy direct from the publisher
and save.
   https://xlibris.com/bookstore/bookdisplay.asp?bookid=32476


SOME THOUGHTS ON...
FERRARI PIT STOPS

I have long used the auto racing pitstop as a metaphor for lean
changeovers. See, for example, my presentation "Pitstops in your
plant" at www.changeover.com/pitstop.ppt Usually I use a NASCAR
pitstop because my audiences are more familiar with them. Formula 1
does it even better. Or at least faster. Typical NASCAR stops are
around 15 seconds. Formula 1 does them in 8-9 seconds.

I was thinking about this the other night while watching a program on
the history of Ferrari on the History Channel. It had some great race
footage including some pitstops. The first race in which Ferrari beat
its arch-rival Alpha-Romeo was in 1951. The two cars were running neck
and neck throughout the race until the final pitstop. The Ferrari team
was able to pull off an incredibly fast stop and get back on the track
to get and keep the lead.

Time for that stop? One minute and forty seconds.

Actually, this was pretty fast. Most pitstops at the time took over 2
minutes and some as long as 3. Watching the footage, it seemed more
akin to taking my car to the garage for service than a pitstop. The
car would pull in, the driver would get out, stretch, walk around, get
a drink of water and chat with the team manager. A crewman would
unscrew the gas cap and place a funnel into which fuel was poured.
Tire changing seemed positively leisurely.

Some of this may have had to do with the rules governing cars and
racing at the time. Even so, it seemed incredible to me. What were
these people thinking? It should not have been hard to cut the time at
least in half using the same number of people and techniques. The only
explanation I can come up with is that nobody figured out that a
second saved in the pit was a second gained on the track.

These were not stupid people. The folks who designed, built and raced
Ferraris and the other cars were geniuses.

Perhaps they were too close to the problem. Perhaps their focus was
too much on making the car go fast down the track and viewing other
issues as irrelevant. The car was not moving during the pitstop so
what happened there was not seen as very important.

Most of us would probably watch this program with some bemusement, as
I did. But in how many plants does a similar attitude occur? Many
plants focus on making a quality product in a highly efficient manner
and this is a good thing. Is too much emphasis placed on production at
the expense of non-production time such as changeover?

It is not enough for a plant to be highly efficient when it is
running. It must be highly efficient when it is stopped as well. When
a line stops for changeover (or for whatever other reason, it is
important to get it back up and running with as little delay as
possible. The pitstops were not long because they did not have
techniques for shortening them. They were long because nobody tried to
apply them. Look at your changeovers and ask yourself:

Do people know exactly what they are supposed to do and how?

Is the changeover sequence optimized to eliminate as much walking
around as possible?

Are all parts, components and materials available ahead before the
line stops so that downtime is not lost while looking for them?

Are proper tools available and being used correctly?

Can better, perhaps more specialized, tool be used to improve changeover?

These are fairly simple questions but, in my experience, not asked
often enough.

Are adjustments and settings being made precisely?

Just as it is important to get the car back on the track as quickly as
possible, it is important to get the production line "back on the
track" as quickly as possible. The key is to realize this and identify
opportunities to do so.

TIP OF THE MONTH...
WALL WASHING (revisited)

Last year I had mentioned a client's need for a better way to wash
walls in a manufacturing area. In looking about I had found a system
designed for washing billboards that seemed like it would do a pretty
good job. See
  www.tuckerusa.com/model_x.htm Recently I found an even better system.
This is the Core2Clean from VAI see
www.sterile.com/pages/products/products-core-2-clean-system.htm
This is a system purposely built for the pharmaceutical industry.
Instead of hoses, it has a pressurized tank in which the cleaning
solution can be batch mixed. The cleaning wand has a variety of
quickly demountable end attachments. Flow of the cleaning solution is
controlled by a comfortable hand trigger.

The Tucker system will be valuable in many uses. For those who need
something more, take a look at the VAI system.

John R Henry CPP

Best,

John R Henry CPP

My apologies for the addendum, this should have
been in the October newsletter.

Brian Wagner and I recently wrote a major special
report for Packaging World titled "Quick
Changeover Packaging: Dynamics and Surging Growth
Opportunities" . This all new 135-page study was
edited by respected packaging journalist Jim George

• defines and quantifies the emergence of
quick-changeover packaging from both the marketing and operations perspectives

• explains why success depends upon marketing and
operations professionals working as a team

• examines changing market-side factors that have
created the "want it my way" consumer and retail
niches, and reshaped innovative thought

• includes advice, examples and worksheets to help readers build a QCOP model

And much much more.

For more information on the report including a
detailed table of contents and how to obtain a copy visit:

http://www.packworld.com/qc/



Best,

John R Henry CPP

Visit the Quick Changeover website at http://www.changeover.com

Subscribe to the Quick Changeover Newsletter at
http://www.changeover.com/newsletter.htm