Page 20 - MetalForming February 2010

Lean Manufacturing
increased.
In yet another example of developing
a visual factory, large charts were post- ed at each press so that operators can easily record, hour by hour, produc- tion statistics. The charts also provide space to write comments and prob- lems. And, not to be overlooked, the charts were designed to be clearly seen at a distance. Checking the charts throughout the day, supervisors and managers can see how each operator is doing and quickly identify any problem areas. “The charts have helped us iden- tify and address operating problems much more quickly that we did in the past,” admits Parziale.
Talan also applied 5S methods to administrative practices. Says Accorti, “While I initially believed that the administrative 5S might be superficial, were able to standardize and better organize customer files. We also devel- oped standards for keeping our shared drives organized so staffers didn’t spend as much time looking for what they needed. I think some of us originally thought that 5S would be mostly a housekeeping exercise, but it’s really about creating an overall environment where work becomes easier and less frustrating. As a result, delays and errors have dwindled.”
Next Up: Quick-Change Workshops
Quick-die change (QDC) is another important lean tool, focusing on reducing elimi- nating delays and errors. Talan worked to reduce changeover times not by admonishing operators to work faster, but by asking for and implementing their ideas to simplify changeovers.
“We received good feedback after each of our QDC work- shops,” reports Peplin, “which were all very hands-on and participative.” Parziale agrees: “The workshops didn’t just cover theoretical principles where we just hoped that our operators and supervisors
would apply them at some point. Instead, they actually went to the press- es and conducted die changes, returned to the conference room to discuss ideas for improving the procedures, and then went back out to the floor to try them out.
“Being successful at lean is all about engaging the operators,” continues Parziale. “And the workshops went a long way toward accomplishing that.”
The QDC workshops illustrated the importance of coordinating activities between several departments within Talan Products. In the end, the compa- ny found that actually changing dies didn’t take a lot of time, particularly after implementing 5S activities and organizing die-change carts. Instead, big reductions in changeover time came thanks to coordination among produc- tion, tooling and quality control.
Last but Not Least— Value-Steam Mapping
With 5S and QDC initiatives suc- cessfully under its belt, Talan Products’ management team then set its sights toward value-stream mapping (VSM)— creating a process flow map that it can use to highlight and contrast value- added and non-value-added steps. Parts sitting on the shop floor awaiting mate- rial handling is a nonvalue-added step, as is waiting for a die to become avail-
Talan’s Gene Sawyer takes an hourly reading from a press’s oil-pressure gauge. As part of the firm’s directive to implement a “visual factory,” it replaced its previous gauges with larger gauges, and repositioned them to allow easier and more accurate readings.
able. Following a brief introductory les- son on VSM, the firm’s steering com- mittee chose a target product and select- ed a VSM team, which included Accorti.
“We had completed similar exer- cises in the past,” says Accorti, explain- ing why the company didn’t begin its lean journey by developing a value- stream map, as some consultants sug- gest. “We were pretty confident that we knew where our opportunities for improvement were, so we started on those—5S and QDC. Then we started the VSM process, to identify other opportunities to improve.”
The VSM team, facilitated by Bohan, met weekly to gather information and develop a map for one of Talan’s high- est contribution products. Says Bohan, “We happily found that raw-material and finished-product inventory turns for that product were very high and that nonvalue-added time was being controlled, showing that the company had paid close attention to good flow.”
Concludes Peplin, “Since commit- ting to implementing lean initiatives, we’ve seen all of the metrics we decid- ed to focus on head in the right direc- tion. I’m convinced we’re rebounding from the recession more quickly than we would have thanks to our commit- ment to lean manufacturing.” MF
18 METALFORMING / FEBRUARY 2010
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Supervisor Miguel Lugo (left) and press operator Mark Adams discuss Mark’s real-time hour-by-hour performance as marked on the chart. Hourly, Mark notes on the chart any problems he might be expe- riencing and supervisors review the charts and col- laborate with the operators to solve the problems.