The first principal of the 5S system, Sort, is where you take and identify those items that are needed for you to accomplish your work. Those necessary items are what we will now focus on. Straighten, or Setting in Order, is the second principal of the 5S system. In order for you to have an efficient work place, you need to have the correct tools and supplies close at hand and you need to be able to quickly find them. Everything must have its place, and be in its place.
Looking at the desks in our building, mine has to be the most disorganized. When I am done with a book or an item it is pushed out of they way rather than placed back where it belongs. It’s a good thing the engineers are moved around so my desk gets cleaned up once in a while. I’m forced into compliance, although I’m no where near as bad as someone who worked here several years ago. On the other hand, my garage at home… let’s just say that sometimes it takes more time to find the tools that I need for a project than it does to complete the project. This principal of 5S is all about making your work area more efficient. Setting up work stations or areas for work and having the correct tools and supplies in those areas are keys to becoming more efficient in the tasks that you do.
In the area that you have to work set aside areas for the storage of supplies and tools. Keep the tools that you need more often closer to hand than those that you use less frequently. Set aside a place for them and label it. Shadow boards or cut outs in foam in your tool box are good examples of this. Doing this allows you to quickly find the tool that you need. It also allows you to know at a glance if you are missing any tools needed for the job at hand. Totes or bins can be labeled and placed in the areas that are needed. If you are working on an assembly line only have the tools and supplies that you need in your area. Arrange them in a fashion that facilitates the work flow. Minimize the clutter. Put tools in their designated place after they are used. Keep a clean and organized work area.
By organizing and cleaning your area, you can maximize your efficiency and increase your work flow. Greater efficiency and more work done makes for happy people. For me this means more time to do an extra item on the honey-do list at home. And this does make the Boss happy.
In using the Toyota Production System to improve your organization you need to integrate the 5 S processes from your desk to the production floor. The first “S” is to sort out what is and is not needed to do the required work in the work area.
Sorting the things you need to do your job on your desk, in receiving, in the production area, on the assembly floor, and any work area helps you work more efficiently and less prone to misplaced parts and tools. What do you sort? What do you need to do the job or task including tools, parts, and paperwork? If you don’t need it to do your job, it shouldn’t be in your workspace. Not only do you need to sort out what you need, but evaluating the proper quantities of each is also very important. One way to determine what you should have at your workspace is to use the 24-48 hour rule. If you are not going to need it in the next 24-48 hours, it doesn’t need to be in your workspace.
Here at Setpoint, we sort just about everything that comes in the doors, including our engineers. When parts are received a label is attached and the part is placed in a subassembly tote and the tote is placed on the projects rack. When there are enough parts for assembly to begin, the rack is moved to a specific assembly area designated to that project. The assemblers can go grab a tote and take it to their work area to begin assembly. When the assembler needs screws, wire, air hose, or a tool he can go to that rack or cabinet where everything is sorted by type and size. He takes only what he needs and continues working. When he reaches a stopping point or completes the assembly, everything is placed back in the tote and back on the rack. He then grabs the next subassembly tote and begins the build process again. At the end of the day everything is put back in its place, including totes, tools, and paperwork so it is ready to go the next day.
This sorting process has allowed us to be very efficient at building our projects. Any one assembler can go to any project and determine what can and needs to be worked on. We know where to find any tool, wire, hose, or fastener without searching the shop floor. I have worked at other companies where this sorting was “sort of” used (pun intended), and it makes for a long day when you are searching for the part or tool you need because it was not returned to its sorted place.
As I mentioned before, not only do we sort the products coming in our door, but we sort our engineers as well. Depending on our current projects, our engineers get sorted into different teams to utilize their talents and experiences. Yes, this means moving our computers and our stuff from one area to another. I have been sorted at least five times in just over three years. Sometimes this can be a pain, but this sorting helps the team’s communication and makes the design process much more efficient. It also gives us a chance to sort out the accumulation of stuff from our workstation and place it in the proper place–the garbage.
You have probably heard a lot about Lean Manufacturing systems like the Toyota Production System and how it can transform a manufacturing plant by eliminating waste, but you may not know that the principals of the Toyota Production System can also apply to the design process.
One of the first steps in the Toyota Production System is to define what adds value for the customer. During the design we try to completely define what the customer wants. What problems are they trying to solve? What needs are they looking for the machine or product to fulfil? By fully defining the scope of the project, you will end up with a set of expectations that are agreed upon so you know what to design and the customer knows what they can expect to receive. This will help eliminate the “Takes What It Takes” (TWIT) attitude that can lead to overages on time and materials.
The next step is to design for manufacturing. Here at Setpoint, we are always looking for ways to make our machines better, faster, stronger, and less expensive both for us and for our customers. We do this by trying to eliminate complicated parts and assemblies, incorporating features like Poke-Yokes (error proofing) and Single Minute Exchange of Dies tooling, and learning from the best practices from past projects.
One of the final steps in the design process is the Post Project Review. This meeting brings together all of the parties involved with the project to reflect upon the things that went right and the things that didn’t go exactly to plan. It includes the design team, project management, purchasing/receiving, electrical and mechanical assembly, the programmers, accounting, and the CEO. These meetings help us to capture all of the “lessons learned” from the project and use that knowledge on the next projects. Reflecting on past projects is a core value of the Toyota Production System and allows Setpoint to build on our successes and prevent us from repeating our mistakes.
At the heart of it, the Toyota Production System is a method to speed up processes, reduce waste, and improve quality. Applying these principles to the design process, allows you to improve quality, become more efficient and provide exactly what the customer is looking for. Happy Designing!
After working in a shop for over 30 years, I have found that following a process when it comes to assembling a machine works the best.
First, it always helps to sit down with the designer and find out what kind of things to watch for, such as customer constraints or hazardous locations etc. It is a must to have a complete print package before you start to assemble. You need to look it over to find the best place to start.
Subassemblies can be built and then installed on the machine later when the longer lead time items come in. Most of the time the parts that come in first will be electrical and small parts for subassemblies; this allows you to assemble and wire without having the rest of the machine.
Next, look for assembles that can be built that won’t have to be disassembled in order to install on the machine. This will help cut down on the time spent on assembly. I also recommend you build the subassemblies with wire labels and air lines marked for faster install. You can adjust slides and set sensors on the bench to save even more time.
Once you have the machine base and table top, look for the best way to route the wires and air-lines and drill holes for tie wrap bases or other mounting plates. Then start installing the subassemblies at the center and work your way out, be sure to tighten all fasteners and check the fit of moving parts.
When all the subassemblies are installed with sensors and air lines ran, it’s time to do the I.O. check out manually then check them through the P.L.C. Once I.O. is complete you can start to de-bug and run the machine.
There has been a lot of discussion about the Toyota Production System, and Lean Manufacturing but I haven’t seen a whole lot about Lean that specifically points to your factory automation and how it can be developed with Lean in mind.
To put it simply, Lean is an all encompassing philosophy that takes the 5M’s (Man, Material, Machines, Methods and Money), and harmonizes or helps orchestrates them together for the best possible outcome in your manufacturing operations. For those of you who may not have been introduced to the 5M’s I’ll give you a brief overview of how I think the 5M’s can be related to Lean Automation.
Man: You have labor that is required to perform certain tasks to produce your products. If your labor force is not happy you may find your operations struggling. When a direct employee (The ones actually making your company money) interfaces with a piece of equipment they must be comfortable working at a specific station for extended periods of time. Thus, making the factory automation equipment ergonomically compliant will help ensure a safe and productive environment for your direct labor force.
Methods: Every product has a process or multiple processes that it must go through before it is ready to be delivered as a final product to a customer. The methods used to perform value added work to the product must be consistent and controlled. The machine should verify that each process took place properly and that each part or assembly being processed is correct or meets the quality specifications of the part.
Machines: Each machine used in a process must be able to perform its intended function or task with precision and reliability. Making machines that are robust, flexible and scale-able are key to following the Toyota Production System mentality. Machines can also include in process inspections, self diagnostics and mistake proofing features that only allow perfect parts to be passed down stream to subsequent process.
Materials: Every process has materials coming into the work area to be processed or assembled. Making equipment that facilitates easy material flow can pay huge dividends to those who understand that minimizing material movements is vital to being a successful implementer of lean. In-coming and outgoing material flows should be heavily considered when developing an automated solution for use on the shop floor.
Money: When you invest in a piece of automation/equipment, you must be certain, before purchasing, that it will pay for itself. If the machine solves issues and helps you realize the results you are hoping for in your business, you should see a great payback and realize immediate positive impacts on your bottom line
So the next time you’re looking for some automation, make sure it addresses the 5M’s and you can’t go wrong.
The Toyota Production System has helped many companies streamline their processes on their journey to become lean. Setpoint has looked at the 5 S process of Sort, Straighten, Shine, Standardize & Sustain and created a video clip that walks through each one giving an example of how this can be done.
Six Sigma helps to achieve an increase in quality by eliminating defects and variation while increasing yield. Automation is not only a good way to increase production, but it helps meet the criteria of Six Sigma. One of Six Sigma’s goals is to get rid of defects, and defects are anything that could lead to customer dissatisfaction. With lean automation, productivity will increase along with customer satisfaction.
Customer satisfaction is a major goal in Six Sigma. Therefore the product that comes off the line must be free of defects. There are many ways to identify and remove product with defects. One way is to have a final inspection of the product. This method is usually done by people with instruments or other devices to help them spot the defect. This is not the best method. Even with instruments, humans make mistakes. An automated process could have inspection stations set throughout the process. This method allows the inspection to be simplified since the machine is only looking for one defect at a time. Since the inspections are placed throughout the process we can tell the machine to stop doing work on a defected part. This not only keeps the machine form doing unneeded work on a defected part, but also helps identify where in the process the defect took place.
Automation not only allows you to inspect the product throughout the process, but it allows you to get rid of some inspections. For instance, consider a cylindrical part that needs to have a feature accurately placed in the center. An inspection could be set up to measure the concentricity of the outside of the cylindrical part and the feature, or there could be a guide for the punch tooling built in such a way that it is impossible to place the feature out of the tolerance range. This is only one of many ways to eliminate an inspection.
As stated earlier, eliminating people from doing the inspection is a good way to eliminate defects from making their way to the customer. The same principal goes to the actual process of making the product. One of the steps in Six Sigma is to eliminate variation. An automated process will do just that. The machine will make the product the same every time. For instance, say that a step in a process is to place and fasten a screw in to place. A person would place the screw in and torque it down differently every time. If the screw was not torque properly the product could have a failure. With an automated process the screw would not only be torque to the right value, but verified that is was torque correctly. This is just one simple case, but it shows how an automated process would eliminate variation.
Automation and Six Sigma are a good fit. Automation helps fix the root cause of a problem, and eliminates defects and variation by simplifying the process and taking out the human errors.
Information Technology (IT) has become a necessary component of today’s business culture. If you own a business with more than 5 employees, it almost becomes a necessity. In some form or fashion, you’re going to have to come up with a game plan to maintain and replace your current systems. What works best? Let’s talk about that.
If you’re a business with less than 100 computer using employees, you may find a lean philosophy will maximize IT efficiency as well as effectiveness. Why? Here are several reasons.
Computer usage has become a common part of American culture. Almost all sectors of professional life involve the use of a computer. When it comes to small IT tasks, just about any computer hobbyist at a company could manage and maintain software and hardware inventory, the ability to change a forgotten password, and add a printer to a workstation. Depending on time availability of that employee, he or she could also handle email accounts and basic web site changes.
Microsoft Windows is very stable. I know, I know… you’ll always have a small percentage of PCs that will tend to crash. This is more about the law of averages than the quality of Windows. Generally speaking, a well made, properly installed Windows XP or Vista (and soon to be Windows 7) PC with up to date antivirus and antispyware software will be very solid. The small stuff is usually easy to fix but what happens when you get a virus or spyware on your computer? That’s when you need an IT professional.
Difficult server, router, and security tasks are infrequent. Don’t get me wrong, the need for expert IT professionals is still necessary and vital to the health of any business, but in order for an IT person to be proficient and up to date requires both constant training as well as exposure to these types of problems.
Attrition of employees. Generally speaking, good employees tend to be here today, gone tomorrow. Just about every employee is looking to increase his or her leverage in the current job market. Hey, if you could get a better paying job, with more benefits, and a better boss – wouldn’t you leave? Of course you would. Well paid professionals that outsource (in my experience) tend to stick around for much longer periods of time.
The high cost of professional training and equipment. Training and professional trouble shooting equipment range in the thousands.
Managing and providing HR benefits.
What then do businesses need to outsource?
File, print, email, web, and SQL server installation and maintenance
Routers and firewalls
Security implementation policies and procedures
Remote computing access
Budget planning and new business solutions
Workstation hardware and software policies
After owning my own IT Company for 11+ years now, I have found that companies that outsource their top level IT needs save money.
If you have a process for assembling or inspecting your parts, how do you know if automating the process makes sense? Setpoint has been discussing this question with companies since 1992. In our YouTube clip, Does Automation Make Sense, Clark walks through the issues a company needs to look at before automating a process. In order to solve your problems, you need to know what they are. Watch the video below as Setpoint discusses the steps of getting all the issues and opportunities out, setting a budget, determining your ROI (Return on Investment), and more so you can decide if automating is right for you.
A normal day in the purchasing department consists of many different tasks and in order to maintain accuracy they all must be followed. From getting quotes to the actual order process there are many steps involved which seem to all be equally important. It is so easy for me to skip some of the steps if I’m in a hurry or get interrupted. When these crucial steps are overlooked I always regret it later because I can’t retrace my steps when an error or question arises.
One of our main focuses at Setpoint has been to make the Lean transformation and cut out as much waste as possible in our daily tasks and ongoing projects. Purchasing is a huge part of Setpoint’s business so to cut out wastes is a huge deal and any savings that I can generate automatically goes to the bottom line as profit. It’s a huge task that I want to achieve success at; therefore I’m always thinking and looking at ways to change what I do to make it more efficient and achieve the same, if not better, results with myself, Setpoint, the vendor, and my customers being satisfied.
In the past five years that I have been in this department I have seen some dramatic changes for the better but I know it can still be better and leaner. Success has yet to be achieved and that is my ongoing ultimate goal.
