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Hosca are'the' lean manufacturing consultancy

Case Studies

Client :- Manufacturer of Aluminium Cylinders, California, USA
Situation :-

Part of a UK-owned multinational organisation; employing 1100 people on site.

As part of an overall "Becoming World Class Programme" designed for the client by HOSCA, the area requiring focus was the Paint Line and Packing Operation. As other areas were made more effective, this part of the line was then incapable of keeping up with production rates required to satisfy demand over 6 working days per week.

Objective :- Review the paint line and packing operations to make changes that would balance production within 6 working days as union issues prevented 7 day working from being an option.

Proposal :-

Analyse the line to establish current rate of production v. customer demand (TAKT).

Establish process and working inefficiencies to determine any proposed method and team improvements.

Approach :- HOSCA recommended analysing the paint and pack areas with a combined team from both these areas. The team consisted of operators, lead operators, a supervisor and an engineer.

Outcome :- The team spent 4 days analysing the current operation including:
 
  • TAKT time
  • Process flow
  • Operator work balance and flexibility
  • Ergonomics
  • Working patterns
  The recommendations were accepted and implemented over a 3-month period as it involved moving both paint and pack operations.

Benefits :- Through a line reconfiguration together with standardised working methods and training the end results exceeded expectations, with:
 
  • 5-day, 2-shift operation instead of 6-day, 3-shifts
  • Combined paint and pack line with packing direct from line
  • Combined team of 18 people reduced from 25
  • Flexibility increase through teamwork
  • Significant reduction in Work in Progress (70% at paint/pack)
  • Significant ergonomic improvements
  • Improved floor space utilisation (25% reduction
  Upstream projects in other areas have resulted in:
 
  • WIP reduction from saw to trim down from 10,000 to <100 pieces
  • Changeovers down on 4000 ton press from 3½ hours to 37 mins.
  • 42 operators and 6 facilitators involved in 5S programmes
  • Credit holds reduced from 98% on hold to 2% on hold through an administration project on Credit, Billing and Shipping

Further :- The organisation has now embarked on a global programme that they have called "Setting the Standard Worldwide"

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