Page 28 - MetalForming June 2013

Press Controls
HelpTurn Chaos into Clarity
A 3-yr. plan to upgrade high-speed press lines at this fastener manufacturer pays off handsomely, as it’s been able to evolve from operating in “scramble mode” into a facility so finely tuned that productivity has soared by 40 percent, and management is pushing to increase run rates another 25 to 30 percent.
BY BRAD F. KUVIN, EDITOR
The 15 high-speed (150 to
the ARaymond Tinnerman fastener-manufacturing
facility in Brunswick, OH,
produced 488 million
pieces last year —800 part
numbers stamped in lot sizes
of 50,000 to 500,000. Those
are big numbers, and any pro-
duction hiccups can cause big problems. Until 2009, production hiccups are exactly what plagued plant manager Jim Stith and manufac- turing manager Justin McCullah.
“Before ARaymond acquired this facility in 2009, we struggled to keep our outdated equipment running pro- ductively,” says McCullah. “Unsched- uled press-maintenance issues and an epidemic of die crashes had us working thousands of overtime hours. And we were spending thousands of dollars per week on die maintenance to recov- er from recurring crashes, scrambling to maintain a 97-percent on-time deliv- ery rate.”
Almost immediately after the plant, formerly known as Tinnerman Palnut, came under the ARaymond umbrella, the top-down decision was made to bring order and clarity to its chaotic
three shifts/day just to keep up. Now, as a result of an aggressive campaign to upgrade its press lines as well as quicken the pace through the plant, McCullah has been able to decommission seven presses since 2009, while maintain- ing throughput. The extra floor space has allowed the plant to expand its shipping and receiving department, while leaving plenty of room to accommodate future growth. Further, the plant now meets its pro- duction goals working just two daily shifts. Overtime has decreased by 90 percent and die-repair costs have been cut nearly in half. With its production environment so finely tuned, the plant’s focus is shifting to sales, where a recently fortified sales team is working to attract new customers in new mar- kets. That’s welcome news to McCullah and Stith, who relish the opportunity to, finally, have new customers join its
solid base of existing customers.
Standardization: New Controls and Sensor Packages
Since 2009 the ARaymond Tinner- man plant has overhauled seven of its 15 stamping presses; two presses will receive attention in 2013 and another
strokes/min.) stamping presses at
800
26 MetalForming/June 2013
www.metalformingmagazine.com
The 15 high-speed stamping presses at ARaymond Tinnerman produced 488 mil- lion fasteners last year—800 part num- bers stamped in run sizes of 50,000 to 500,000.
operations. The directive from owner- ship was to invest in technology as a long-term solution not only to cure current production woes, but to posi- tion the plant for future growth.
“We used to tell our crew on the floor, ‘Just get it running,’” adds Stith. “Every setup was different; we were constantly reinventing the wheel. Now we tell them, ‘Get it running right.’”
Before this renaissance, there simply was no opportunity for growth, as the cramped facility already was running