Page 29 - MetalForming May 2009

Barcode Scanning
into kits, which the shopper then deliv- ers to assembly cells. Each shopper arrives at the wire-rod blanking setup knowing how many burners to include in his kit, and sets up the cell to cut two cut rods per burner. Shoppers use a barcode scanner at the cell to commu- nicate to the servo-feed control the required feed length. With the barcode scanned for the job and the number of parts entered, the shopper can contin- ue shopping and then come back later to pick up his order of blanked rods.
“There’s no inventory transac- tions—the process is simple, reliable and repeatable,” says Norris. “The work in process is whatever is in each shop- ping cart while it’s waiting to be assem- bled. There’s no need to track the cut wire through the process—the materi- al is either on the coil or on a burner. And, once the burner is received, inven- tory is backflushed and we debit the number of pounds to the coil. Pur- chasing then monitors the number of burners made to determine the amount of material remaining on the wire spool, to determine when to order another spool.”
A Fresh Look
at Assembly Pays Off
The bevy of parts that make up the burners—some purchased and some fabricated inhouse—all eventually wind up at the plant’s assembly area, gutted in 2007 in order to provide efficiency gains.
“We had hit the wall in terms of throughput with our previous assem- bly-cell design,” he says. “So, we sat back and took a fresh look, a completely dif- ferent approach to how we build the product.”
Focus shifted to product delivery to the cells, to ensure that materials flow easily into and out of each cell. Previous cell design placed a central worksta- tion in the middle of a cell, with the team of assembly workers stationed at the perimeter. Bins of components then surrounded the operators, who had to repeatedly turn around to grab parts as needed, and then return to the work-
station to continue the assembly process. This “back and forth wash- board-type of movement,” says Nor- ris,” led to excessive waste in the process.”
The new assembly cells locate the assembly workers in the center of each cell, facing out to access parts bins and to work at each assembly workstation. There’s no turning and twisting. Also,
assembly workers need not leave the cell to search for the parts or sub- assemblies they need—the shoppers do it all, and “one shopper can service two or three assembly cells,” adds Norris. “We’re much more efficient now, and have experienced a significant gain in productivity, a huge improvement in what had been a very mature process.”
MF
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