Henderson - Lean Manufacturing

7/30/2019 Henderson - Lean Manufacturing

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Implementing a

Lean Manufacturing

Plan


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Ryan Henderson

EMGT 594

Mentor: Dr. J. Lee

Fall 2006

Research Paper


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This paper was created to put one of my greatest accomplishments in my career on paper

to share with anyone that is encountering a similar scenario, wants to learn more about

lean or that is extremely board and has run out of reading material.

I added lots of opinions from lessons learned from my project experience. I have also

included valuable history on lean as well as comparisons of past manufacturing theories.

The research for this topic was fun. Lean Manufacturing is a passion of mine that I

excelled at and had a great time executing everyday with my previous job.

Unfortunately, in my current position as an Account executive for a Valve and

instrumentation representative company, I do not have the opportunity to create and

improve manufacturing processes as I did in my previous positions. However, I hope to

get the opportunity to implement the lean tools and resources again in a future position.


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Research Problem 6

2. Objective

1. Purpose of Research 6

3. Background

1. Definition of Lean Manufacturing 7

1. History of Lean Manufacturing 9-12

2. Value of Lean Manufacturing 13-14

3. Transitioning to Lean Manufacturing 14-17

4. Customer Focus 17-19

5. Lean = Perfection 19-20

6. Lean vs. Mass Production 20-26

7. Focusing on Waste 26-35

4. Lean Tools

1. Six Sigma 36

2. Kaizen 36-37

3. Value Stream Mapping 37

4. Spaghetti Diagram 37-38

5. Set up reduction 38

6. JIT 38

7. Takt Time 38

8. Value added vs Non-value added 38

9. 5-S 39


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5. Key Actions for a Successful Lean Manufacturing System 39-40

6. Lean implementation Plan 41-42

7. Case Study 43-52

8. Conclusion 53-55

9. Definitions 56-61

10.References 62

CHARTS AND ILLUSTRATIONS

1. Graphical explanation of lean 8

2. Illustration of Mass vs. Lean 23

3. Mass vs. Lean comparison charts 24-25

4. Case Study Utilization, Efficiency & Productivity results 53

ANNEXI

5-S IMPLEMENTATION

1. INTRODUCTION 64-68

2. LITERATURE REVIEW 69-74

3. METHODOLGY AND PROBLEM SOLVING APPORACH 74-76

4. EVALUATION OF METHODOLGY 76

5. CONCLUSIONS 76-79

6. REFERENCES 79


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Research Problem

The research problem is to attempt to create a Lean Manufacturing

implementation plan for an existing Manufacturing facility that has

been in service for over 30 years.

Lean Manufacturing is a new concept to this organization and most of

the workers have been performing in their current positions for at least

10 years. The work force is not open to change and management has

been pushing the lean concept for months.

Objective

The purpose of this research is to provide the reader with a thorough

definition, back ground and implementation plan for lean

manufacturing in an established manufacturing environment.

The layout of the paper will allow the reader the ability to fully

understand lean manufacturing, how it evolved, where it is going and


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how it can help turn any manufacturing firm into a successful, efficient

and cost saving company.

Background

Lean Manufacturing is a system that uses a minimal amount of

resources to produce a high volume of high quality products with some

variety. (Stevenson)

Lean Manufacturing can also be defined as:

"A systematic approach to identifying and eliminating waste (non-

value-added activities) through continuous improvement by flowing the

product at the pull of the customer in pursuit of perfection." (MFG

Solutions website)


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Lean Manufacturing

Objective: Elimination of Waste

Value added time = minutes

Cycle time = hours or days

Illustration provided by Cooper Cameron Corp.

Process

Stage&Ship

Assembly

MMaatt eerr ii aall ss

CCuusstt oommeerr (( ss))

A

dditionalProcess

(ifrequired)


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HISTORY OF LEAN MANUFACTURING

The "lean manufacturing" concept was introduced to American

factories in the early 1990s. A study was conducted by the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology which focused on the

manufacturing transition from mass production to Lean production.

This study was described in a book called The Machine That Changed

the World (Womack, Jones & Roos, 1990). Throughout the book,

Womack, Jones & Roos discuss the significant performance gap

between Western and Japanese automotive industries. The book

describes the key elements which were the infrastructure for which the

Japanese created their superior performance capability. This

performance is better known as lean manufacturing. The term "lean"

was used because Japanese business methods adopted this concept

decades before it was introduced to the USA, by utilizing less human

effort, capital investment, floor space, materials, and time in all aspects

of operations. The resulting competition among U.S. and Japanese

automakers over the last 25 years has lead to the adoption of these

principles within all U.S. manufacturing businesses. Taiichi Ohno, Eiji

Toyoda and Shingeo Shingo of Toyota Motor Co. were the fore fathers


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of the Lean manufacturing Concept. After World War II, Japan was

literally non existent, yet the Toyota Motor Co. planned to extend the

capacity of their automatic loom company by producing automobiles.

After visiting various automobile plants in the United States, Toyota

realized that they lacked the capacity to compete head-to-head with

established companies like Ford and GM. Toyota also realized that the

vulnerability of the Western style manufacturing system (Mass

Production) was that it worked best when only one type of model was

manufactured at a time, with no modifications and with absolutely no

setbacks with in the operation lines (i.e. machine breakdowns or

maintenance related issues, power outages, tooling issues, etc..) during

production.

Taiichi Ohno, one of Toyota's executives, realized that to compete with

mass production manufacturers, Toyota would have to produce small

quantities of automobiles with high variety.

In 1956, Taiichi Ohno visited the United States and came across an

unusual discovery that was ultimately the answer that Toyota Motor


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Co. was looking for. The surprising issue was that he did not find the

answer in a manufacturing plant. He found his answer in an American

grocery store. At the time, Japan did not have many grocery stores and

Taiichi Ohno was quite impressed with how American customers chose

when and where, how many, and what type of goods they wanted in

American grocery stores. Immediately, Taiichi knew that the only way

that Toyota could compete with the large mass production systems of

the US was to transform the Toyota automobile plants existing

manufacturing system into a process which offered the same type of

choices and efficiency available to their customers as the American

grocery stores were currently offering.

After an extensive array of experiments, Taiichi Ohno created a new

manufacturing concept called the Toyota Production System (TPS) or

later called the Lean Manufacturing System by the American

manufacturing enthusiast. The theory behind TPS was that small-batch

sized production runs could be achieved if waste was eliminated and

continuous flow was implemented.


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Lean Manufacturing is a concept that was created to give a

Manufacturing environment the ability to accommodate a variety of

different parts and sizes without having to adjust such factors as

increasing overhead, work force or equipment. In fact, the basic idea of

Lean Manufacturing is to reduce those factors in order to complete a

part in the cheapest, most efficient manor, without reducing the quality

of the product.

Some of the key factors in becoming successful when using the lean

concept are to have skilled/cross trained workers and flexible

equipment. In a lean environment, workers must be capable of

executing a variety of different tasks. They are also required to think

on their own and innovate ways of fixing and preventing defective parts

from occurring. Your equipment must have the capability to machine a

variety of different parts. It is vital to the success of a Lean

Manufacturing system that the machinery in that system has the

flexibility to quickly adapt to any type of catastrophic machine loss,

maintenance downtime, or a high volume of unusual parts, which were

driven by quick turn around customer orders.


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VALUE OF LEAN MANUFACTURING

In a lean production system, the value of a product is defined solely by

the customers needs. The product must meet the customer's

requirements at a specified time and for the right price. The various

behind the scene operations and manufacturing short cuts that

manufacturers conduct on a daily basis to deliver a product are

generally of little interest to customers. To view value through the eyes

of the customer requires most companies to undergo a comprehensive

analysis of all of their business processes. Identifying the value in lean

production requires the company to fully understand all of the activities

required to produce a specific product. Once the company understands

its processes, it must improve and upgrade the entire process from the

viewpoint of the customer needs. This viewpoint is critically important

because it helps identify activities that clearly add value (value-added

activities), activities that add no value but cannot be avoided, and

activities that add no value (non-value-added activities), and that can be

avoided. Once these activities are identified, the company can begin

making adjustments to build upon the positive, value-added-

activities, and change or remove the negative, non-value-activities.


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As a company begins to transition to the Lean system, the company, as

well as their customers quickly begin to see the positive effects, and the

overwhelming value of implementing the Lean Manufacturing System.

TRANSITIONING TO LEAN MANUFACTURING

For any organization, making the transition to the Lean Manufacturing

system involves everyone, sometimes even including vendors and 3rd

party individuals in the origination. However, there are a series of (4)

steps that typically make up the transitioning phases fro most

manufacturing organizations. The first step is getting your workforce

involved and to think outside of the box. In the past, most

manufacturing environments required each of their separate activities

or operational areas to focus on their specifically assigned task only. In

the Lean process, focusing on your job obviously still applies; however,

it is critical to the success of a Lean Manufacturing environment that

everyone looks at the entire process and not just their specifically

assigned duties.


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The next two steps is where the Manufacturing (ME) or Industrial (IE)

Engineering department plays the most critical and important role of

the entire organizations transformation to the Lean System. The

ME/IE department will be the designers, creators and implementers for

any organization that is planning on making the transition to the Lean

system. In most organizations the ME/IE department normally creates

the work and production orders, trouble shoots tooling or machine

issues, and assists the production personnel with whatever issues they

might encounter in the production facility. By understanding the

routine activities throughout the entire production facility, the ME/IE

department will understand the material flow and needs of the

production supervisors and the personnel in the production facility

throughout the entire transition to the Lean Manufacturing System.

The second step is to plot out the flow of material throughout the

manufacturing facility using diagrams and PC automated drawing aids.

Again, this step will more than likely be executed by the organizations

ME/IE department. By plotting out the material flow, companies can

see areas that need improvement by the way that they transport material


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to and from work centers and they will also be able to identify errors in

their current processes. The diagrams will also assist the organization

with identifying the non-value-added activities that must be removed or

improved.

The third step involves removing or improving the previously

identified non-value-added activities. Some examples of non-value-

added activities are material handling (forklifts, cranes, etc...), high

volumes of machine setups, material flow, parts storage, etc. In some

situations, it might be impossible to remove a non-value-added activity.

In this situation an organization would need to conduct a brain

storming activity to produce the proper answer for the non-value-

added activity that can not be avoided. This activity is usually hosted

by the ME/IE department and is called a Kaizen event.

The fourth and final step is continuous improvement. This is the most

difficult step throughout the Lean Manufacturing transition. It is a step

that must involve the entire organization in order for the Lean

Manufacturing transition to be successful. The transition to a lean


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environment does not happen easily or instantaneously. In order for a

company to successfully implement a Lean Manufacturing system, and

to more importantly keep the system in place and flourishing, a

continuous improvement mentality is a must, in order for an

organization to reach its preplanned lean goals. The term "continuous

improvement"means incremental improvement of products, processes,

or services over time, with the goal of reducing waste to improve

workplace functionality, customer service, or product performance

(Suzaki, 1987).

Continuous improvement principles, as practiced by the most devoted

manufacturers, result in astonishing improvements in performance that

competitors find nearly impossible to achieve (MAMTC website).

CUSTOMER FOCUS

An organization which operates under the lean manufacturing system

focuses more on its customers than it does on running machines faster,

in order to absorb unwanted labor and overhead expenses. In a properly


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run Lean system, an organization seeks out customer input and

feedback to assure quality and customer satisfaction. The lean system

operates under this philosophy in order to support present and future

sales.

The main goal of an Organization that has implemented the Lean

Manufacturing System is to eliminate wastes, which will ultimately

assist in producing a higher quality product in a limited amount of time,

in the most efficient manor, and at the lowest possible cost. This goal

is also the ideal transaction for the customer. Every customer wants the

best product available, at the best price and in the properly allotted

amount of time, according to their requirements.

Customer focus is a task that has been overlooked in the past

Manufacturing systems. Most of the manufacturing organizations that

were operating with the past manufacturing systems relied on large

batch sizes and repetitive sizes and designs. Under these guidelines,

the concern of customer satisfaction was not a priority. These systems

sold the customers a high volume of identical parts, in a reasonable


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amount of time, and at a decent, non-competitive price. However, with

todays market, these types of manufacturing systems have become

obsolete. With the ever-changing customer demand and the push for

decreased inventories, only a true lean system can actually meet and

exceed customer requirements and standards.

Making a high volume of various different products, in the same

facility, all delivered on time to the exact customer tolerances is a

concept that could have never been imagined 30 years ago. With

todays technology and with the support and resources that an

organization receives from implementing a Lean Manufacturing system

the unimaginable can become an everyday practice.

LEAN = PERFECTION

The true concept of lean production is pushing an organization to strive

for manufacturing perfection. What is manufacturing perfection?

Manufacturing perfection is when an organization can produce its

products with zero manufacturing defects, maintain a low inventory

system, consume little overhead and indirect labor costs, have zero


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maintenance or machine issues, zero safety related issues and meet all

of the customers requirements and delivery times on every orderthat

the organization receives.

There are endless opportunities for improving the utilization of all

types of assets in a manufacturing environment. By systematically

eliminating waste, an organization can reduce the unnecessary

operating costs such as rework, WIP, allotted handling times, and even

unneeded inventories. The most impressive and eye catching output

from implementing the Lean system in a manufacturing environment is

the satisfaction that is felt by the organizations customers from

receiving their ordered product at a maximum value and at the lowest

price. While reaching manufacturing perfection may be literally or

financially impossible, its pursuit is a goal worth striving for because it

helps maintain a constant awareness against non-value-added activities.

LEAN VS MASS PRODUCTION

For many years manufacturers that were operating in the Mass

Production system created a high volume of products in anticipation of


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having a stable market for them. Operations in the traditional Mass

Production system were driven by sales forecasts, causing firms to

stockpile inventories in case they were needed. One of the main

differences in Lean Manufacturing vs. Mass Production is that Lean is

based on the idea that production can and should be driven by real

customer demand. Instead of an organization producing what they think

they will sell in the upcoming months, Lean Manufacturing can

produce exactly what your customer wants, with shorter lead times.

Lean Manufacturing Instead of pushing a product to a particular

market, it's pulled there through a system that's set up to quickly

respond to customer demand.

When analyzing the flow of material in a successful lean environment

vs. a traditional mass production system, you will notice that all of the

parts of a finished product have production lines which work some

what independently of one another. This process was designed to work

this way so that all of the parts will be manufactured at the same time,

thus meeting at the assembly area at the same time. By designing the

process this way, individual production lines are never waiting on one


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another, which is normally the case in the Mass Production

manufacturing environment.

Lean organizations have the capability to produce higher-quality

products faster, and in more efficient and economically lower volumes

than organizations that are still operating in the mass production

system. A lean organization can produce double the amount of total

products, at a higher quality level, in a fraction of the time and space, at

a much lower cost, with a fraction of the normal (WIP) work-in-process

inventory than a Mass Production system. The concept of the Lean

management system consists of operating at the most efficient and

effective level possible, with the lowest cost, and without waste.

A comparison of a Lean Manufacturing System vs. Mass Production

System can be observed on the charts following this page.


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Mass Production

Value added time = minutes

Cycle time = weeks

Objective: Maximize Economies of Scale

ProcessMaterials

MMaatteerriiaallss

Receiving

Storage

Rework

AdditionalProcess(es)

Storage

Assembly

ShippingWarehou

SShhiipp


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(Chart found on www.MAMTC.com)

OVERALL

ORGANIZATIONAL

CHARACTERISTICS:

TRADITIONAL MASS PRODUCTION LEAN PRODUCTION

Business StrategyProduct-out strategy focused on exploiting economies of

scale of stable product designs and non-unique technologies

Customer focused strategy focused on identifying a

exploiting shifting competitive advantage.

Customer Satisfaction

Makes what engineers want in large quantities at statistically

acceptable quality levels; dispose of unused inventory at sale

prices

Makes what customers want with zero defect, when

want it, and only in the quantities they order

LeadershipLeadership by executive command Leadership by vision and broad participation

Organization

Hierarchical structures that encourage following orders and

discourage the flow of vital information that highlights defects,

operator errors, equipment abnormalities, and organizational

deficiencies.

Flat structures that encourage initiative and encoura

the flow of vital information that highlights defects,

operator errors, equipment abnormalities, and

organizational deficiencies.

External Relations Based on price Based on long-term relationships

Information Management Information-weak management based on abstract reportsInformation-rich management based on visual contr

systems maintained by all employees

CulturalCulture of loyalty and obedience, subculture of alienation and

labor strife

Harmonious culture of involvement based on long-te

development of human resources

ProductionLarge-scale machines, functional layout, minimal skills, long

production runs, massive inventories

Human-scale machines, cell-type layout, multi-skillin

one-piece flow, zero inventories

Operational capabilityDumb tools that assume an extreme division of labor, the

following of orders, and no problem solving skills

Smart tools that assume standardized work, strengt

problem identification, hypothesis generation, and

experimentation

Maintenance Maintenance by maintenance specialistsEquipment management by production, maintenanc

engineering

Engineering

"Isolated genius" model, with little input from customers and

little respect for production realities.

Team-based model, with high input from customers

concurrent development of product and production

process design


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(Chart found on www.MAMTC.com

MANUFACTURING METHODS: TRADITIONAL MASS PRODUCTION LEAN PRODUCTION

Production schedules are based on Forecast product is pushed through the facility Customer Order product is pulled through the

facility

Products manufactured to Replenish finished goods inventory Fill customer orders (immediate shipments)

Production cycle times are Weeks/months Hours/days

Manufacturing lot size quantities are Large, with large batches moving between operations; product is

sent ahead of each operation

Small, and based on one-piece flow between

operations

Plant and equipment layout is By department function By product flow, using cells or lines for product

families

Quality is assured Through lot sampling 100% at the production source

Workers are typically assigned One person per machine With one person handling several machines

Worker empowerment is Low little input into how operation is performed High has responsibility for identifying and

implementing improvements

Inventory levels are High large warehouse of finished goods, and central storeroom

for in-process staging

Low small amounts between operations, ship

often

Inventory turns are Low 6-9 turns pr year or less High 20+ turns per year

Flexibility in changing manufacturing

schedules is

Low difficult to handle and adjust to High easy to adjust to and implement

Manufacturing costs are Rising and difficult to control Stable/decreasing and under control


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FOCUSING ON WASTE

The main focus of a properly implemented Lean Manufacturing system

is to eliminate waste in every area of production, including customer

relations, product design, supplier relations, and operations

management. Waste" is anything that the customer does not pay for.

The goal of the Lean Manufacturing system is to reduce the amount of

human effort, inventory, time to develop new and existing products,

and floor space. These goals are set in order to transform the

organization in to a facility that has the capability to be highly

responsive to customer demand while continuing to produce high

quality products in the most efficient and economical manner possible.

The most common form of waste normally found in a lean

manufacturing system is over production. Overproduction occurs

when an organization produces more products than demanded by its

customers, or it produces a high volume of products before they are

needed.


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Some of the common causes for overproduction waste include:

Over stocking of commonly ordered products

Misuse of automation

Long process setup

Un-level scheduling

Unbalanced work load

Over engineered

Redundant inspections

Another common form of waste is operator waiting time and

transportation. In every Non-Lean Manufacturing environment operator

wait time and transportation are both unnecessary forms of waste. In

a non-lean environment, it is common to observe an operator that is

waiting for a non-efficient machine to finish machining a particular

part, a machine that is unusable due to scheduled or unscheduled

maintenance, or even the use of a crane or lifting device. Non-lean

environments will also have a high volume of transportation waste.

Examples of transportation waste could be due to operators waiting on

forklifts or part transportation vehicles or other transportation wastes

which are driven by an inefficiently laid out manufacturing facility.


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Operator waiting time and transportation wastes do not add any value

to the product. Instead of improving the waiting time and

transportation, they both should be minimized and eliminated (one way

to eliminate transportation and waiting time wastes is to implement

production cells). Some common causes ofwaiting time and

transportation wastes include:

1. Unbalanced work loads (mainly waiting time wastes)

2. Unplanned maintenance (mainly waiting time wastes)

3. Long process set-up times (mainly waiting time wastes)

4. Misuses of automation (mainly waiting time wastes)

5. Upstream quality problems (mainly waiting time wastes)

6. Limited amount of lifting devices

7. Improper machine/part designation

8. Poor plant layout

9. Poor understanding of the process flow for production

10.Large batch sizes, long lead times, and large storage areas

Waiting time and Transportation wastes are both problems that can

seriously affect the productivity and product throughput time of a

manufacturing facility. The ideal principle in the Lean system is to


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maximize the utilization and efficiency of the worker instead of

maximizing the utilization of the machines and other indirect resources.

One way to improve the utilization and efficiency of operators is to

form production cells. A production cell configuration is a strategy

that is designed to increase the flexibility of an operation in order to

produce a high volume of different products in smaller batch sizes,

while reducing wastes and operating costs and increasing the overall

production of the work force (Cooper Cameron Corp). Cells are

implemented in a manufacturing environment to allow the operator the

opportunity to execute 2 or more tasks at one given time. In a

production cell, an operator can have a part running in one machine,

while another part is running in a different machine, and be prepping,

drilling or marking a finished or unfinished part all at the same time in

the same cell. (In a properly configured production cell an

organization, in theory, is getting (2) or more operations completed for

the price of (1)operation).


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By implementing cells in a manufacturing environment, an

organization can substantially increase work force productivity, and

decrease product throughput and takt time.

Inventory or Work in Process (WIP) is also an unwanted type of waste

when working with a Lean Manufacturing system. This problem occurs

in operational situations due to over sizing of batch sizes or improperly

balancing the processes by not redesigning or adjusting the processes

with longer cycle times.

Some of the common causes of excess inventory include:

1. High volume of safety stock

2. Product complexity

3. Unleveled scheduling

4. Poor forecasting

5. Unbalanced workload

6. Unreliable shipments by suppliers

7. Misunderstood communications

8. Reward systems

An organization can also have types of waste that do not necessarily

reflect the back end of the business. Inadequately managed Business


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Processes are a common type of waste in a non-lean or improperly

managed lean environment. Business processes are derived from Sales,

purchasing, procurement, QA, Engineering, Management, HR, etc...

Business Process waste should be added or eliminated by asking why a

specific processing step is needed, does that process need to be

eliminated or created, will these processes help or not help create a

specific product and why is that specific product produced. By asking

and analyzing these questions, all unnecessary processing steps should

be eliminated.

Causes for processing waste include:

Product changes without process changes

Over stocking commonly ordered products

True customer requirements undefined

Over processing to accommodate downtime

Lack of communications

Redundant approvals

Extra copies/excessive information

Shortage of needed vendor produced parts

Weak management

Undefined work processes

Lack of procedure or process ownership


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Non-value added activities are a type of waste that must be removed

from an organizations existing processes. Non-value-added activity is

any activity in a manufacturing environment that does not provide

value or assistance in producing a particular product.

Causes of non-value-added-activities are:

1. Poor facility or cellular layouts

2. Longer cycle times

3. Unbalanced work loads

4. Improperly managed inventories

5. Lack of transportation resources

6. Rework or deficiencies

7. Inconsistent work methods

8. Poor work organization and cleanliness

9. Lack of discipline and managerial presence

Manufacturing defective products is also a common form of waste. A

theory in a Lean Manufacturing System is to prevent the occurrence of

defects instead of finding and repairing the defects. Reworking

personnel errors or even vendor related errors on products is a form of

waste that is detrimental to the success of an organization that is

operating in the lean manufacturing system. When reworking defective


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products, an organization is forced to absorb the cost of the original

production that caused the defective finished parts. By continuously

absorbing rework type costs an organization begins to suffer from a

decrease in profit on those particular products. The organization will

also suffer in many other ways from rework related operations. One

major setback that is also caused by rework operations is product

delivery time. In most manufacturing environments, all operations are

executed within a tight production schedule. When a defect is found in

a finished part, the preplanned delivery schedule is affected. The

rework operation ultimately offsets the delivery time that was quoted to

the customer. The effected delivery time could possibly reduce the

profit margin of this product, or it could even impinge on future

relations with the customer.

Causes of defective waste include:

1. Weak process control

2. Poor quality

3. Unbalanced inventory levels

4. Improperly planned maintenance

5. Inadequate education/training/work instructions

6. Product design


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7. Customer needs not understood

8. Underutilizing personnel

9. Personnel not willing to change, politics, the business culture

10.Poor hiring practices

11.Low or no investment in training

12.Under paid workers, high turnover strategy for personnel

Nearly every type of waste in the production process can fit into at least

one of these categories. Organizations that understand the concept of

Lean manufacturing view waste as the main variance, which

significantly limits business performance and threatens success unless

it is persistently eliminated over time. Lean manufacturing is an

approach that eliminates waste by reducing costs in the overall

production process, in operations within that process, and in the

utilization of direct labor.

In a Lean Manufacturing System, the focus is on making the entire

process flow correctly, not just the improvement of one or more

individual operations.


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LEAN Tools

1. Six Sigma (Lean Sigma) the objective of Six Sigma is a

measurement-based strategy that focuses on process

improvement and variation reduction through successful Six

Sigma Improvement projects. These projects are executed

through 5 principles called DMAIC.

1. Define

2. Measure

3. Analyze

4. Improve

5. Control

2. Kaizen event is a meeting that is coordinated to bring togetherseveral functional areas of a Manufacturing facility in order to

design a concept to fix a non-value-added operation that is

unavoidable.

When a Kaizen event is scheduled, all of the disciplines that are

involved with that specific non-value-added activity are

requested by the ME/IE department to attend the event. Usually


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areas such as Product Engineering, QA/QC, Shop Supervisors

and Production Control (PC) are the attendees who join in with

the ME/IE department to conduct the event. The participants of

the event will ultimately work together to create and implement a

process to transform the non-value-added activity into a value-

added activity or lessen the overall negative effect of that specific

activity.

3. Value Stream Mapping, VSM is a visualization tool oriented to

the Toyota version of Lean Manufacturing (Toyota Production

System). VSM helps to understand work processes in support of

the Lean Manufacturing principles through the use of graphical

models that display the entire process and the products move

from one step to the other.

4. Spaghetti Diagram is another visualization tool that is created

with a series of lines that start at the point where the part is

received at the facility as raw material or partially completed and

then each move, , all the way to the shipment of the part is

labeled with a simple line. In the end, the spaghetti diagram will

show every step the part takes until completion in order to help


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the lean representative eliminate unnecessary waste within that

process.

5. Set up reduction, decreasing the set up time for each part or

process step.

6. JIT - Just in time inventory is requesting inventory from suppliers

just in time to manufacture the parts forthe required delivery

time.

7. Takt time, the rate or time that a completed product is finished

8. Value added vs Non value added times; Value added actions

meet the following criteria:

1) the customer is willing to pay for this activity.

2) It must be done right the first time.

3) The action must somehow change the product or service in

some manner.


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9. 5-S = Sort, Set in order, Shine, Standardize and Sustain.

1. Sort(Seiri) the first S focuses on eliminating unnecessary

items from the workplace.

2. Set in Order (Seiton) is the second of the 5Ss and focuses

on efficient and effective storage methods.

3. Shine: (Seiso) Once you have eliminated the unneeded

items that have been clogging your work areas and identified

and located the necessary items, the next step is to thoroughly

clean the work area.

4. Standardize: (Seiketsu) Once the first three 5Ss have been

implemented, you should concentrate on standardizing best

practice in your work area.

5. Sustain: (Shitsuke) Sustain focuses on defining a new status

quo and standard of work place organization.

**Note5-S is explained in further detail in ANNEX I**


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KEY ACTIONS FOR A SUCCESSFUL LEAN MANUFACTURING SYSTEM

Elimination of waste

Equipment reliability

Continuous process capability improvement

Implement (FMS) Flexible Manufacturing Systems

Continuous flow

Less inventory required throughout the production process, raw material, WIP,

and finished goods

Reduction of rework and scrap

Lead time reduction

Error proofing

Stop the Line quality system

Implement Kaizen events and Kanban systems

Visual management/5-S

In station process control

Prepare and motivate people

Must create a common understanding of the need to change to lean

Push decision making and system development down to the "lowest levels"

Remove roadblocks (i.e. people, layout, systems (non-value-added initiators))

Tolerate the beginning transition mistakes, patience, etc

Willingness to take risks

Share information and manage expectations


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Key Actions continued:

Level production

Favorable Takt Times

Quick Changeover

Teamwork

Point of use storage

Widespread positive attitude towards continuous Improvement, quality, training

and recruiting future workers with the appropriate skills

Employee involvement and empowerment

Cross-trained workers

Identify and empower champions, particularly operations managers

Will need to install "enlightened" and realistic performance measures, evaluation,

and reward systems

Measure results and not number activities/events

Tie improvements, long term, to key macro level performance targets (i.e.

inventory turns, quality, delivery, overall cost reductions)

The need to execute pilot projects prior to rolling culture out across the

organization

After early gains in operations, share the info across the ENTIRE organization

Involve everyone when creating the LEAN goals.


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Implementation Plan

In considering the creation of my implementation plan for the Valve

manufacturing facility I considered the following steps in the design of

the plan.

1. Map our (spaghetti diagram) of the entire facility and flow of the

material throughout the plant.

2. Conduct research that consists of interviewing and spending

quality time with the personnel on the shop floor. This step is

extremely important to ensure that the plan is realistic and to

grasp the technical language and actual everyday processes that

are used on the shop floor.

3. Involve the chain of command, Shop Supervisors and key shop

floor personnel through out the process, especially in the final

stages for feedback that will ensure that the plan is realistic from

an operations view as well as a fincial and budgetary view.

4. Involve outside vendors for external input and quotes for

budgetary purposes

5. Complete the planmodify processes, complete machine move

drawings, discuss plan with lean team & involve COC.


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6. Calculate costs and compare with budget

7. Plan modificationsmodifications were required due to

budgetary issues, Chain of command required adjustments and

lean team meetings.

8. Execute the plan

9. Utilize 5-S, Six Sigma and other lean tools to improve and

sustain the Lean Plan.


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Case Study

STEP 1

I conducted this research experiment while I was in a Lean

Manufacturing Engineering position with a local Oil & Gas Valve

manufacturer. The Manufacturing facility is state of the art, with

central A/C & Heat, and is over 200,000 Square feet in size. The

facility was technologically advanced with 21st Century Processes and

Equipment. The Facility contained over 75 CNC vertical and

horizontal Lathes and Mills.

The mapping process took over 2 months to finalize and piece together

in a package that could be used to create the concept of the future plan.

Spending 6 hours on the shop floor on a daily basis was normal.

Normally, I would spend 4 of the 6 hours per day with the machinist

and welders asking questions, listening to their problems and watching

them execute their daily responsibilities. This is a very tough task

because most of these machinists have been doing their assigned duties

for 1020 years. They have seen many people come and go and lots

of plans for change implemented and then fail. They are wise beyond


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their years to say the least. The problem persists because the operators

sometimes feel as if you are prying in their business or that you are

observing them only to run to their supervisors critiquing every move.

It was very important to ensure they were comfortable and to

immediately get the point across that you were there to help, not take

their job away. It was a difficult task at times, but it was vital to the

success of the Lean plan.

The last 2 hours of my daily shop time consisted of collecting cycle and

throughput times. This task was also tough and consisted of

clandestine type operations to sneak around and time the operators

during their machine or welding runs. These times were very

important; in order to properly record the data that was needed to create

a successful lean plan.

The balance of my day after the time in the shop consisted of transfer

the data and notes that were recorded to a digital journal posted on my

pc. This daily journal was finally combined, critiqued and finalized in


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to a report that was ultimately the design of my Lean implementation

plan.

STEP 2

As stated in the initial paragraph of this case study, the facility had

incorporated 21st century processes from previous 6 sigma projects.

Cooper Cameron Corporation implemented a huge 6 sigma initiation

program several years before the Lean concept was initiated. The

processes were excellent and definitely reduced costs and improving

quality. However, all of the processes worked in an individual manor.

They did not overlap and interconnect like processes should work in a

properly designed lean manufacturing plan. The processes

modifications and new designs absorbed the majority of our time and

focus during meetings. Successful processes are the key to a successful

lean plan, and we ensured that our processes were sounds, well thought

out and critiqued.


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The process modifications were changed and created mainly due to the

machine moves and new machine purchases. There were 8 New

Processes implemented and 35 existing processes modified.

Some of the existing processes were modified due to the production

lines transforming in to a series of cells. By converting the previous

machine layouts in to cells, now instead of moving from one machine

to the next, the operator could perform any where from 3 to 5 tasks all

at one time, once the machines are set in the designed cells and

running.

STEP 3 & 4

There were 25 Shop personnel, 4 office workers, 3 outside contractors

and 1 lean consultant that were involved with the project. The shop

personnel were supervisors, lead men and senior operators. The office

workers consisted of 1 production engineer, Six Sigma Black belt,

Accountant and I. The 2 of the 3 contractors were from the 2 vendors

that were supplying the new machines for us and the 3 rd contractor was

supplying us with our new equipment for the assembly and test areas.


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The lean consultant was not a really big help, but he did provide us

with some excellent resources.

STEP 5

The training that was involved was priceless and was an excellent tool

to not only train but to build up motivation and to brainstorm processes

and potential layout plans. Each shop worker had a total of about 40

hours of training over the duration of the initial phase. The meetings

took up about 25 hours of time over the 14 months. The training

sessions consisted of lean, 5-S, JIT inventory, MRO scheduling & 6-

sigma. Our meetings focused mainly on machine moves, 5-S and

process modifications.

The discussions involving designing and modifying our existing

processes took place during our lean team meetings. The new and

existing modification processes were modified again, and finalized

during our final week of the planning phase, which was when we

completed the plan.


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STEP 6

After the plan was finally approved by management, an AFE

(Authorization for expenditure) was then required and needed approval

in order to receive the capital funds necessary to pay for moving the

machines, purchasing new machines, part conveyors, rollers, chains,

slings, etc

Once the AFE was created and put into the corporate system for

approval, I had a lot of time on my hands (5 weeks) waiting for the

authorization and budgetary numbers to begin the implementation.

During the waiting period I had a minimum of 2 meetings per week

with the supervisors and 2 specialty selected employees from each

product line. The meetings were held to review the future lean plan, as

well as to strategize what moves should be executed first, which lines

had to be completed the quickest due to importance to the overall

throughput of the products and many other issues that related to these.

There were also several issues that were critiqued and revisited during

this time. Some of these issues were changed due to justifications and

total agreements by the supervisors, operators and me.


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STEP 7

Finally the AFE was approved. A major project meeting was called

and all of the shop and office personnel and the chain of command that

had been involved with the project from the beginning stages up to that

point were required to attend. The meeting was held to finalize any the

budget, prioritize the sequence of events once the project would begin,

and to discuss any open ended issues. After these issues were taken

care of the processes had to be modified again, due to the chain of

command requesting changes due to statistical impact estimates as well

unrealistic budgetary requests during the initial planning phase. Once

the processes were finalized, all final questions were answered and we

moved on to reviewing the scheme of how the plan was to be

implemented.

Following the meeting, the work began. Between the contractors that

were called in and the in-house work, the project took 5 months,

costing 1.2 million dollars. This was a major facelift to the facility.

The original concept of implementing a lean implementation plan was

to improve the throughput and delivery of the products, increase the


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companies cost savings, and to make room for several new product

lines that were moving to this facility due to a corporate level buyout of

several competitor lines.

STEP 9

Once the main phase of the plan was completed, another tough step was

in our path to success. I realized that I needed to create a set of

procedures that would help the plan to continue the improvements from

a standard operating procedure (SOP) point of view. After researching

several topics, I quickly discovered a concept that actually falls under

the lean concept. The concept that now covers the SOPs for the

company is called 5-S. **Note there is a further explanation with

examples of 5-S in the Annex that accompanies this research paper.**

The project was a success. The major construction, capital expenses

and machine movement took place during the initial 5 months as

previously described. In total, the project took 14 months to complete

the initial phase. I consider the 14 month point the initial phase due to

Cooper Cameron acquiring several new valve lines. The new valve


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lines moved in shortly after the project was approximately 90%

complete. The new lines required some modifications to my Lean plan

as well as to accompany the new processes and equipment.

The project cost over $800,000. The cost covered new personal

equipment, modifications to existing equipment and machine platforms,

meetings and training resources, machine moves and sustain

operations. The costs did not cover the new machine purchases. The

new machines fell under several different 6 sigma projects that were

taking place simultaneously with the lean plan. This was an excellent

situation because the machines were not allocated to the lean budget,

but played a vital role in the success of the layout of the new lean

facility and the new processes.

The benefits of the lean implementation plan exceed the initial

calculated returns. The pay per year was estimated to be over $450,000

per year. This was a surprising value, when considering that the initial

calculation produces a savings of $300,000 per year. The $450,000

significantly decreased out pay back time from 2.6 years to 1,7 years.


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The difference in pay back period is huge when justifying the project as

well as promoting the success of a project to the Chain of Command

and the Accounting and Finance Managers.

Utilization, Efficiency and Productivity are 3 factors that are calculated

and tracked on a weekly basis by that facility Chain of Command all

the way to corporate level. Utilization is defined by the corporation

as the amount of time with in a given work period that a particular

machine is running (utilized) to standard. Efficiency is defined as the

amount of parts produced to standard by a particular worker at his or

her assigned machine with in a given work period. Productivity is

calculated by dividing the utilization by the efficiency.

Prior to the lean implementation plan being executed with in the

facility, the facility was producing excellent results for utilization,

efficiency and productivity. However, the results were dramatically

improved after the lean plan was implemented.


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Old New

Utilization 92 97

Efficiency 94 98

Productivity 97 98

Tough issues that were encountered throughout the case study:

Dealing with the Chain of Command and Accounting andFinance Managers.o Getting them to agree on the following

Cost of the Lean Plan. Hard sell in the beginning due to Old School

mindset. Productivity and fear of revenue loss due to plan

execution.

Changing the mindset ofthe shop operators from the oldway to the lean way.

Keeping all personnel motivated throughout the planningphase of the project.

Convincing the Supervisors to allot time for the operators toattend the meetings and training, which ultimately effectedproductivity and parts produced.

Sustaining the plan, modifications, new processes and the leanconcept.


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CONCLUSION

An organization that has created and implemented a proper Lean

Manufacturing System shows that it has the ability to learn, improve

and change. The Lean production concept is a manufacturing process

distinct to all of the other manufacturing processes. The Lean

Manufacturing system is a system that requires office and shop

personnel cooperation and empowerment, continuous improvement and

process upgrading and change. When an organization decides to

transform its existing manufacturing system in to a lean system, the

organization will make errors along the way. However, in a properly

implemented and maintained lean system, errors are usually a one-time

issue. In a properly designed and managed lean system these errors are

a form of waste that the lean manufacturing philosophy and its methods

identify and eliminate. Once the lean system is in place, and the waste

have been eliminated, an organization which is manufacturing in a

properly run Lean system will optimize its overall business and

customer relations, as well as separate itself from its competitors by


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raising the business standards to an unimaginable level with in that

organizations industry.


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Definitions:

TAKT Work time available divided by the number of pieces sold

during a given period of time. (http://www.mamtc.com)

MAMTC The Mid-America Manufacturing Technology Center

(MAMTC) is a service organization that helps small and mid-sized

manufacturers increase their sales and productivity, reduce costs, and

improve quality. (http://www.mamtc.com)

Value-added activity isany activity in a manufacturing environment

that provides value or assistance in producing a particular product.

Non-value-added activityisany activity in a manufacturing

environment thatdoes not provide value or assistance in producing a

particular product.
http://www.mamtc.com/http://www.mamtc.com/http://www.mamtc.com/http://www.mamtc.com/http://www.mamtc.com/http://www.mamtc.com/http://www.mamtc.com/http://www.mamtc.com/


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Kaizen eventis a meeting that is coordinated to bring together several

functional areas of a Manufacturing facility in order to design a

concept to fix a non-value-added operation that is not a simple fix.

Kanban SystemsA Kanban system allows an organization to reduce

production lead time which in turn reduces the amount of inventory

required. A Kanban is a card containing all the information required to

be done on a product at each stage along its path to completion and

which parts are needed at subsequent processes. A Kanban System

consists of a set of these cards, with one being allocated for each part

being manufactured, that travel between preceding and subsequent

processes. These cards are used to control work-in-progress (W.I.P.),

production, and inventory flow. A Kanban System allows a company to

use Just-In-Time (J.I.T) Production and Ordering Systems which allow

them to minimize their inventories while still satisfying customer

demands. (www.scm.ittoolbox.com)
http://www.scm.ittoolbox.com/http://www.scm.ittoolbox.com/http://www.scm.ittoolbox.com/


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WIP Work-in-process. WIP is a term that is used when products are

sitting still, or not being worked on, while moving throughout a facility

from one work area to another.

Overproductionoccurs when an organization produces more products

than demanded by its customers or it produces a high volume of

products before they are needed.

Continuous improvementis the incremental improvement of

products, processes, or services over time, with the goal of reducing

waste to improve workplace functionality, customer service, or product

performance (Suzaki, 1987) (http://www.mamtc.com).

Lean Manufacturingis a system that uses a minimal amount of

resources to produce a high volume of high quality products with some

variety. (Stevenson)

Lean Manufacturing can also be defined as:

"A systematic approach to identifying and eliminating waste (non-

value-added activities) through continuous improvement by flowing the
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product at the pull of the customer in pursuit of perfection." (MFG

Solutions website)

Flexible Manufacturing Systems (FMS) is a configuration of

computer-managed numerical work stations where materials are

automatically handled and machine loaded. (www.kwaliteg.co.za)

Production cell configurationis a strategy that is designed to

increase the flexibility of an operation, in order to produce a high

volume of different products in smaller batch sizes, while reducing

operating costs and increasing the overall production of the work

force. (Cooper Cameron Corp)

Wasteis any type of service or operation that the customer does not

pay for. (This is the same as non-value-added activities)

Stop the Line Quality Systemis when thepower is given to

workers to stop the process when abnormalities occur, allowing them
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to prevent the defect or variation from being passed along.

(http://www.profitec.com/)

Throughput is the total amount of time it takes a part to reach

completion from the time that it starts being machined, to the minute it

is finished and moves on the next phase of its production cycle.

Safety Stock is a surplus inventory which is stored in order to protect

the company from inefficiencies and unexpected problems or customer

orders.

Manufacturing perfectionis when an organization can produce its

products with zero manufacturing defects, a low inventory system, little

overhead and indirect labor costs, no maintenance or machine issues,

zero personnel safety related issues and meet all of the customers

requirements and delivery times on every order that organization

receives.
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Just-in-time is a strategy forinventory management in which raw

materials and components are delivered from the vendoror supplier

immediately before they are needed in the manufacturing process.

(http://www.investorwords.com/cgi-bin/getword.cgi?2688)

Visual Management (5-S)focuses on effective work place

organization and standardized work procedures. 5S is a tool that is

designed to simplify your work environment. 5-S reduces waste and

non-value activities, while improving quality, efficiency and safety.

(Cooper Cameron Corp)

1. Sort (Seiri) Keep only what is required

2. Set in Order (Seiton) Arrange and identify for ease of use, organize

3. Shine (Seiso) Clean regularly. Clean up everything thats left

4. Standardize (Seiketsu) Eliminate causes and reduce variations, make

standards obvious

5. Sustain (Shitsuke) Set discipline, plan, schedule, train AND STICK TO

IT!
http://www.investorwords.com/cgi-bin/getword.cgi?2589http://www.investorwords.com/cgi-bin/getword.cgi?4048http://www.investorwords.com/cgi-bin/getword.cgi?4048http://www.investorwords.com/cgi-bin/getword.cgi?5234http://www.investorwords.com/cgi-bin/getword.cgi?2688http://www.investorwords.com/cgi-bin/getword.cgi?2688http://www.investorwords.com/cgi-bin/getword.cgi?2688http://www.investorwords.com/cgi-bin/getword.cgi?5234http://www.investorwords.com/cgi-bin/getword.cgi?4048http://www.investorwords.com/cgi-bin/getword.cgi?4048http://www.investorwords.com/cgi-bin/getword.cgi?2589


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References:

1. Operations Management (7th

Edition), William J. Stevenson (pgs.

26-27)

2. Cooper Cameron Corp. Lean Manufacturing training presentation

3. 5-S for Operations: 5 pillars of the visual workplace, Productivity

Press, 1996

4. The Machine That Changed the World, Womack, Jones & Roos,

1990

5. http://www.profitec.com/.

6. www.kwaliteg.co.za

7. www.scm.ittoolbox.com

8. http://www.mamtc.com/lean/intro_intro.asp

9. http://www.mfgsolutions.org/lean.html
http://www.profitec.com/http://www.profitec.com/http://www.kwaliteg.co.za/http://www.kwaliteg.co.za/http://www.scm.ittoolbox.com/http://www.scm.ittoolbox.com/http://www.mamtc.com/lean/intro_intro.asphttp://www.mamtc.com/lean/intro_intro.asphttp://www.mfgsolutions.org/lean.htmlhttp://www.mfgsolutions.org/lean.htmlhttp://www.mfgsolutions.org/lean.htmlhttp://www.mamtc.com/lean/intro_intro.asphttp://www.scm.ittoolbox.com/http://www.kwaliteg.co.za/http://www.profitec.com/


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APPENDIXI

Implementing the 5-S concept in an Oil and Gas

Ball Valve Manufacturing Facility

Final Research Paper

EMGT 540SP 2006

Ryan Henderson


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INTRODUCTION

Organization, cleanliness, appearance, quality and safety are issues that

are key factors involved in the direct success of Manufacturing

Processes. All of these issues must be closely observed, tracked and

constantly improved to perform consistently at a level which allows the

company to meet the customers demands. Numerous organizing quality

methods have been developed to prevent problems with the issues

previously listed. Some of the main issues with the proposed methods

were inconsistency and unrealistic goals. The Management team

decided to implement the Japanese 5-S concept.

This research is motivated by an actual manufacturing problem in a

continuous manufacturing system of a Trunion Ball Valve Company. On

the average, the Ball Valve plant receives more than 100 customer orders

in a month, totaling about 250 valves. The production system is capable

of producing a large number of valves with different sizes, through

multiple processing lines. A large number of process constraints exist

due to varied capabilities of the production lines and the sizing


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differences of the valves. Most of the valves can be produced on more

than one line and some of the processes require the sharing of special

tools. However, most of the problems are due to the lack of organization,

consistency and standardization.

The current work place organization plan is informal and based on the

operators personal preference and experience. With an increasing

emphasis on the multiple responsibilities of workers, increase of valve

options and operational shifts the management team decided to

implement a plan that would eliminate the current process issues in the

Manufacturing facility. The management team decided that the 5S

concept could effectively impact the way the company do business.

Based on Japanese words that begin with S, the 5S Philosophy

focuses on effective work place organization and standardized work

procedures. 5S was designed to simplify the work environment, reduces

waste and non-value activity while improving quality efficiency and

safety.

1. Sort(Seiri) the first S focuses on eliminating unnecessary items

from the workplace. The operator is required to sort through his


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or her work area, removing all of the tools that are not needed on

a daily basis. The operator moves all of the seldom used or

special items to an easily identifiable area for storage.

Sorting is an excellent way to free up valuable floor space and

eliminate such things as broken tools, obsolete jigs and fixtures,

scrap and excess raw material. The Sort process also helps

prevent the JIC job mentality (Just In Case.)

2. Set In Order (Seiton) is the second of the 5Ss and focuses on

efficient and effective storage methods.

You must ask yourself these questions:

What do I need to do my job?

Where should I locate this item?

How many of this item do I really need?

Strategies for effective Set In Order are: painting floors,

outlining work areas and locations, shadow boards, and

modular shelving and cabinets for needed items such as trash


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cans, brooms, mop and buckets. Imagine how much time is

wasted every day looking for a broom? The broom should

have a specific location where all employees can find it.

3. Shine: (Seiso) Once you have eliminated the unneeded items that

have been clogging your work areas and identified and located

the necessary items, the next step is to thoroughly clean the work

area. Daily follow-up cleaning is necessary in order to sustain

this improvement. Workers take pride in a clean and clutter-free

work area and the Shine step will help create ownership in the

equipment and facility. Workers will also begin to notice changes

in equipment and facility location such as air, oil and coolant

leaks, repeat contamination and vibration, broken, fatigue,

breakage, and misalignment. These changes, if left unattended,

could lead to equipment failure and loss of production.

4. Standardize: (Seiketsu) Once the first three 5Ss have been

implemented, you should concentrate on standardizing best


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practice in your work area. Allow your employees to participate

in the development of such standards.

5. Sustain: (Shitsuke) this is by far the most difficult S to

implement and achieve. Human nature is to resist change and

more than a few organizations have found themselves with a dirty

cluttered shop a few months following their attempt to implement

5S. The tendency is to return to the status quo and the comfort

zone of the "old way" of doing things. Sustain focuses on

defining a new status quo and standard of work place

organization.

Once fully implemented, the 5S process can increase morale,

create positive impressions on customers, and increase efficiency

and organization. Not only will employees feel better about

where they work, the effect on continuous improvement can lead

to less waste, better quality and faster lead times. Any of which

will make the organization more profitable and competitive in the

market place.


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LITERATURE REVIEW

Implementing the 5-S concept into an Oil and Gas service industry

company is not the easiest concept to create a plan for. Reason being,

most firms change processes for each job. Their workers are cross

trained and are veterans of their trades. These issues culminate into an

ending conclusion that consists of personnel that are unwilling to

change, inconsistent processes which make it hard for the 5-S leaders to

arrow down their scope to create the perfect scenario and the industry is

not use to improvement plans such as 5-S.

During my research for implementing 5-S in a Valve Manufacturing

environment, it was difficult to find documentation that pertained to the

industry that I was focusing on. Many concepts have been created from

5-S, which focus mainly on repetitive manufacturing facilities. In the

Oil and Gas or energy service industry, it is hard to find a repetitive

type manufacturing environment. Most Energy service companies

change processes for each job. Some Energy service manufacturers

create new processes everyday. Another key issue is time. Usually


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these firms are under thin time restraints. This impedes upon the

workers time to create and implement 5-S related ideas.

The article titled, An investigation into Japanese 5-S practice in UK

industry, Warwood & Knowles, Oct 2004, provides the findings from a

survey on 5-S from Manufacturing Organizations throughout the

United Kingdom. The research thoroughly reviews the 5-S literature

and how it pertains to the UK workers. The authors also conducted a

survey using a questionnaire, and then they followed-up the

questionnaire with a series of semi-structured interviews and critique

findings with the literature. The conclusions of the research are that

practice and theory are closely related and any differences in the

implementation of 5-S can be attributed mainly to the maturity of the 5-

S program. Clearly, there is great scope for the application of 5-S in the

non-manufacturing environment. I found these types of research

articles to be overwhelming popular throughout my research.

However, as you can tell by my summary of the article, they are

normally very vague and unrelated to specific fields, especially the

Energy Services Industry.


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Switched on, JUNE 2004, five successful years into lean

manufacturing, ASCO Valve is on a never-ending journey of

continuous improvement, as Director of Operations Pete Viens

explains to Gary Toushek.

This was an interesting article that I found in North American Industry

Magazine. ASCO valve is a very popular valve manufacturing

company. They have an excellent reputation and produce a wide

variety of valve options. This article, though not directly for the energy

service industry, correlates perfectly to what I am trying to accomplish

with my research. In the article, Pete Viens explains how ASCO has

implemented Kaizen events or quick change over events in

combination with the 5-S concept, which now occur monthly, have

dramatically changed the way that ASCO manufacturers their valves.

These changes have ultimately increased productivity by 30 - 60 %.

That is a remarkable improvement when you consider the simple

changes that are involved with the 5-S concept.


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5-S is an excellent tool to motivate and improve the moral of the work

force. Not only does it help to improve Quality, Safety and appearance,

it allows the lowest level workers to express and implement their ideas.

By allowing the workforce the opportunity to become involved in 5-S

they are immediately responsible for implementing 5-S into their work

area. This gives them the responsibility of a project manager for that

area. That statement says it all. It creates and builds confidence in that

individual gives them purpose and excitement to create, implement and

constantly improve their 5-S plan. The following article is an excellent

example of how 5-S can positively impact an organization on an

individual basis.

The following is a transcript of the prestigious Industrial Maintenance

and Plant Operation (IMPO) Magazine's Cover Story of September

2003. Best Practices: Metaldyne's 5S Showcase. The auto supplier's

die-casting facility in Niles, IL, is nearing plant-wide completion of a

5S strategy that has both bonded the workforce and helped keep the

unit competitive through tough times.


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Dolack adds that management at Niles and corporate-level managers

are honestly interested in what the workers do "and how they do it.

Through 5S," he says, "the Metaldyne Corp. is trying to communicate

to the working people that they have a lot more control over their own

destiny than they think, that they are really the people who make the

difference as to whether the parts are good or bad or a plant is safe or

not safe, and whether we get jobs or not." This quote from the article

sums up my previous statement and shows how the 5-S tool is not only

a productivity, cleanhouse and safety improvement tool, it is also a

morale boosting tool that brings the entire work force together. It also

generates enthusiasm, energy and builds pride among the workers for

their efforts in implementing the 5-S tools in to their assigned work

areas.

A few questions that must be addressed that have been discovered after

conducting the literature review for this research paper are as follows:

1. How will the shop workers react to the changes that will be

caused by implementing the 5-S concept within the Valve

Manufacturing Facility?


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2. How long will it take for the workers and management to

accept the changes and the new responsibilities from the 5-S

implementation?

3. What are some key areas with in the shop that need more

focus compared to less used areas.

4. How will the responsibilities be assigned and how will

supervisors allot time for workers to implement the 5-S tools

into their every day practices.

METHODOLGY AND PROBLEM SOLVING APPORACH

The methodology used to implement the research objective was fairly

simple. From the resources that are available via the internet and

books/journals, the most important part was establishing a solid plan.

The plan included the following:

Get line supervisors involved immediately

Allow them to pick the lead men for each line

Start small

Introduce all of the members to 5-S

Help with the first project on each line


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Start and complete a project before moving to the next

one.

Continue to teach the 5-S concepts on a bi-weekly

basis

Ensure that everyone is committed

Continue to push and motivate

Change out lead men from each line on a quarterly

basis

Reward excellent performance

By creating and implementing this plan, everyone with in the 5-S

implementation plan was onboard and ready to go from Day1. The

workers thoroughly enjoyed the 5-S program. It instilled pride and

enthusiasm among all of the workers. They were all very excited to

finally have the opportunity to implement ideas that they had though of

for years. Many of their ideas were excellent and played a vital role in

increasing the efficiency and productivity of the manufacturing process.

In many ways, the quality and safety improved with in the facility as


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well. Most importantly, all of the workers now took more pride and felt

responsible for their projects and daily work.

EVALUATION OF METHODOLGY

The outcome of the 5-S concept project was excellent. All of the

personnel involved thoroughly enjoyed coming up with various

improvement ideas. The projects allowed the workers to come out of

their working molds and use some of their creativity and ingenuity. The

projects also instilled pride with in the workers, knowing that they

implemented their own ideas.

Quality, safety and visual improvements were also noted from the

completion of each project. Areas were now neat, efficient, more

productive and clean. It was very impressive to observe some of the

before and after pictures of each project.

CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE RESEARCH DIRECTIONS

The 5-S Concept is an excellent project to implement in any workplace.

5-S was created to improve Manufacturing environments but the

concept can be used to help improve any workplace or home. Once the


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5 steps are implemented, discipline and continued effort will be needed

in order for the project to succeed and expand throughout the mindset

of the workforce and the facility.

In an Oil and Gas environment change is a hard challenge for any

skilled process holder no matter what the skill level or age. Most of the

workers have been around for decades and understand their work and

perform very well in that discipline. However, once someone

introduces the workers to 5-S and provides them the teaching, resources

and time to implement the ideas, they will run with it. The Oil and Gas

work force will do an excellent job due to their pride and knowledge of

tricks of the trade and experience.

The 5-S concept is an excellent concept for any environment or

industry. It is also a must for the Oil and Gas industry. Due to

increased customer demands and work force cutbacks, it is extremely

important to be lean, organized and produce quality product in a safe

and efficient environment. There is no better way to create an

environment that can compete in todays Oil and Gas market than by


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implementing the 5-S concept into the mindset of the worker and the

workplace.

The outcome for the 5-S implementation for the research objective was

positive. The manufacturing operations benefited greatly from the

improved morale, motivation and enthusiasm of the workers. The

quality, safety and productivity reaped the benefits of the 5-S program

too. The over all looks of the facility improved greatly as well. Most

importantly, the workers pride and team mindset improved in a

positive dramatic fashion.

Future research directions for the facility are ongoing. The company

implemented Six Sigma at the corporate level in 1998. This is a long

term project that will take years to fully integrate within the mindset of

the office and shop personnel. Most have embraced it, but with

workers in the tens of thousands and over 100 facilities World wide, it

will take a while for the concept to be fully grasped across the board.

The 5-S concept has been updated and ongoing everyday after the

conclusion of this research with in the specified facility. The

researched facility has undergone many changes and taken on several

new product lines from buy outs. These product lines and changes will


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soon undergo the transformation caused by implementing the 5-S

concept. Until the opportunity to implement the 5-S concept is

available, the 5-S initiative team will continue to implement the

toughest 5-S step, sustain.

REFERENCES

1. 5-S TrainingCooper Cameron2002

2. An investigation into Japanese 5-S practice in UK industry,

Stephen J. Warwood, Graeme Knowles, TQM Magazine, Oct

2004 Volume: 16 Issue: 5 Page: 347353.

3. Switched on, June 2004, Five successful years into lean

manufacturing, Director of Operations (ASCO Valves) Pete

Viens explains to Gary Toushek,

http://www.themanufacturer.com/naindustry/content_page.html?

article_id=214

4 Best Practices: Metaldyne's 5S Showcase Industrial Maintenance
http://www.themanufacturer.com/naindustry/content_page.html?article_id=214http://www.themanufacturer.com/naindustry/content_page.html?article_id=214http://www.themanufacturer.com/naindustry/content_page.html?article_id=214http://www.themanufacturer.com/naindustry/content_page.html?article_id=214http://www.themanufacturer.com/naindustry/content_page.html?article_id=214

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