Simple Manufacturing Tips to Speed Up Production and Cut Costs

Simple Manufacturing Tips to Speed Up Production and Cut Costs

Vic McBenttes, Rick Van Kirk, and Rick Boyd

Pro-Dex Manufacturing

Most manufacturers are always on the lookout for effective methods to improve productivity and reduce costs. Although solutions involving enterprise resource planning andcapital investment abound, one of the most overlooked tools for improvingproduction efficiency is in your pocket, or on your desk next to pictures of yourfamily. It’s your cell phone.

In fact, the cell phone is just one ofseveral workaday items or methods that medical device manufacturers can use to reduce setup and process time. Taking the smart phone idea a step further, for example, a PDA can be used to review setup techniques between two operators and thus help to spot ways to improve setup behavior and training. In addition, the use of a digital video camera can help in capturing both effective and ineffective processes in order to train associates on the correct manufacturing methods for your plant. Using visual media to train your team is especially effective and provides consistency when cross-training associates.

Practical uses of existing technology encompass four areas: organization, documentation, training and communication. Exploring each category one by one reveals simple tips that device manufacturers can tap to save time and money.
 

Efficient shop-floor setup can lead to significant gains in efficiency. Photo courtesy of ProDex.

Organization

Part-familiarization runs, setup maintenance and tool sharpening are three basic steps to save time on the plant floor.

1. Scheduling similar parts in consecutive order can minimize both setup and changeover time.

2. Maintaining your tool arrangement for long setups on a tooling plate so that you simply can move the plate as it is,

reducing set up time and retooling.

3. Sharpening tools at the end of each job makes them immediately ready for use when needed.

Documentation

There are at least five timesaving steps in this key manufacturing area.

1. Keep a file of each job’s history.

2. Ensure consistent and timely setups by maintaining logical, legible setup sheets.

3. Detail the previous production run and make it available to associates with notations on any issues that affect the production run or job setup.

4. Document and file a record at the end of every job.

5. Take pictures using a phone ordigital camera of the completed workavailable for reference.

Training

Training and cross-training are fundamental to efficient manufacturing practices.

1. Every associate should be trained on the optimal use and care of tools in order to reduce tooling costs.

2. Associates also should be trained in the proper use and maintenance of the critical job history file.

3. Use cross-training extensively among employees to facilitate collaboration on ideas for reducing setup time.

Communication

An efficient business thrives on the continuous flow of accurate and timely information from sources within and outside the organization. To that end, it helps to maintain open and constant communication with associates and customers.

1. Foster face-to-face contact through the use of the “management-by-walking-around” technique

2. Encourage—and empower—all associates to contribute their ideas for efficiency improvements.
 

Time can be reduced by working with families of parts. Photo courtesy of ProDex.

The photograph above exemplifies a good method for reducing setup time. On the right side of the picture is a blank plate. On the left side is a plate with nine tools that are ready for use. One way to reduce setups is by removing a plate with tooling intact, storing that plate in your tool room, and bringing it out again the next time you run a job. This saves about 70 percent of the setup time for these jobs. The other 30 percent is unavoidable time for programming and dialing in the tools exactly. These plates can be moved among multiple machines, which increases flexibility in addition to reducing your setup time.

Setup time also can be reduced by working with families of parts. Forexample, you may set up five tools in a machine to perform five steps in anoperation. You can then schedule, or run, a series of parts that use those five tools—or a subset of those five—without doing any tool changeovers. This practice also helps in planning. The planner can find out what tools are on the machine or what type of jobs are running andschedule additional similar parts to take advantage of the setup. Taking things a step further, you also can try to sequence parts of similar size to run on these tools. This practice minimizes adjustments to the setups as you change over.

As suggested, the cell phone and its camera can be used as a communication tool. A quick picture can be taken of a setup to go into the history file for future aid in setups. Having a picture to record where you leave off can help with shift changes. A picture also can provide a quick visual if the second-shift supervisor has an issue that the manager can look at from home. Additional visuals like the use of a whiteboard or machine loading board that lists current jobs can act as a machine loading and scheduling device that anyone in the shop can view to see what jobs they are running next. The board also can enable pre-setup operators to begin queuing the setup.

Simple tips such as the use of smart phones, documentation, tooling and visual boards offer smart solutions for improving efficiency at a time when device manufacturers must rein in costs while maintaining product quality under tight schedules. These practical uses of existing technology to reduce setup times and lower production costs are a good call.

Rick Van Kirk is vice president of operations; Vic McBenttes is manager of manufacturing; and Rick Boyd is manager of planning for Pro-Dex, Inc. Pro-Dex designs, develops and manufactures powered medical devices for some of the world’s leading medical device OEMs.