Lean Principles that Apply to the

MachinistRosario Leiva & Tobey Strauch

What is Lean?

LEAN : The idea or culture of reducing waste and improving customer satisfaction.

Lean Enterprise Institute, Inc., LEAN LEXICON, ISBN-10: 0-9667843-6-7,January 21, 2014.

Results of having LEAN implemented on the plant floor for a machining shop:• Self directed teams• Reduced set up times• Reduced errors• Better customer satisfaction

Swissturn in Oxford, MA:• Everyone has their own “specialty”• Self directed teams allow scheduling and materials to happen within the team to get jobs

completed. • Swissturn in Oxford, MA have the following:

• Coordinator• Setup person• Operators• Inspector • Trainee

• This is lean because it allows people to know their job, while still being close to the process. When people know the process they work more efficiently.• Example: Set up times were decreased from 17 hours to 3.5 hours (Vanamatic Corporation).

Lori Beckman, Modern Machine Shop, “Self Directed Work Teams Offer Better Efficiency”, 8/2016

How are self directed teams possible?

• 5S• Ingrained Processes• Cellular Work Flow• Kanban• Gemba Walks

LEAN

Kaizen Institute, https://us.kaizen.com/knowledge-center/what-is-5s.html; retrieved 10/3/2016.

5S Steps• Sort: Sort out & separate that which is needed & not needed in the area.• Straighten: Arrange items that are needed so that they are ready & easy to

use. Clearly identify locations for all items so that anyone can find them & return them once the task is completed.• Shine: Clean the workplace & equipment on a regular basis in order to

maintain standards & identify defects.• Standardise: Revisit the first three of the 5S on a frequent basis and confirm

the condition of the Gemba using standard procedures.• Gemba: plant floor, the “real” place.

• Sustain: Keep to the rules to maintain the standard & continue to improve every day.

EXAMPLE OF 5S in a Machine Shop:

Processes• Lean processes require continuous improvement. • Machinist's may have ideas from working on the floor that can be turned into

processes.A Lean environment will allow everyone on the plant floor to improve on processes that:

• Reduces waste.• Saves money.• Improves safety.• Reliable.• Better quality.

• Why do we follow processes?• REPEATABILITY

Examples of a Process:1. Following Machine Maker Guidelines2. Using Process and Set up Sheets3. Creating Tool Lists for jobs.4. Start up and Shut down procedures.5. Tool Change Procedures.6. Die/Mold Change over procedures.7. Emergency procedures.

Example of Process:• Learning good habits on the optical

comparator to check your work.• Repeating quality habits every time.• Checking your process.• How is quality and process related?• Reduced rework.• Efficient use of materials and personnel.• CUSTOMER SATISFACTION!!!• Doing it right, first part through.

Why are Processes Important?• Real World Example:

1. Okuma machining center used in making the graphite inserts in the fuel cell stack failed.

2. Machine filled up full of graphite between Saturday night and Sunday morning.

3. Operator forgot to turn on the Torit air collection system.

4. Was this in the operator’s process?5. What could be done to improve?

Who? What? When? Where?• Failure Mode Effects Analysis (FMEA) procedure.• Procedure lacked information for the operator to look for failures based on

noise, poor performance.• There was no electrical safety to prevent the machine from running if the

Torit was not turned on.

FEMA Outcomes:• Update procedure• Put alarm on the machining control panel• Wire a 24 volt signal from the Torit, off of a Normally Open relay to input a

control signal to the Okuma, not letting the machine run if the Torit Air Collection was off.

• Training• Operators need to look, listen, feel, understand their machines.

What did this cost the company?• $40k per day of down time based on not getting parts for down stream inputs.• $5k technician callout.• Operators were paid for rest of shift, though no production. IE, no value added.• We had a 5 day down time that depleted WIP in other departments, so the

operator issue spread further.• Because Doosan runs 24/7 anyway, it effected our monthly output, so customers

that were expecting product, had to wait.

Took 5 minutes to update process, 1 hour to retrain operator. Took 2 hours to draw Autocad electrical drawings, plus 3 hours to wire the circuit. $2.50 relay.

Why are Processes Important?

1. Save money.2. Safe environment.3. Repeatability.

Cellular Work Flow:

HIGH WIPWasted MaterialSome groups may be faster than othersPoor on time delivery One Piece Flow

Reduce WastesWork as TeamsOn time delivery

Darren Dolcemascolo, “Achieving One Piece Flow, http://www.reliableplant.com/Read/14703/one-piece-flow , retrieved 10/3/2016.

Exercise:

https://youtu.be/l0Mxn2MutjE

Quality take away from the video:• Was there any waiting involved with the mass flow production?• Did the waiting change with the one piece flow?• Can you imagine the same thing in a machining area where we

produced only the parts needed for the customer order at the time?• Can you see how machined parts at station 1 or 2, if machined wrong

could effect the whole assembly?• Is this why we measure in place after making parts?

• Do you think Swissturn’s self guided teams know what their cellular stations do and who is responsible for what activity?

Kanban: Organizing what needs to be done.

Tell people when its done.

Kanban in Machining:Ace Metal Crafts in Illinois uses Kanban to let machinist know how people have progressed on orders between shifts.

Why go through the hassle of organizing the shop and creating Lean processes?

Tim Heston, an editor at “thefabricator.com” says: Delphi

Who is Delphi? Delphi is a billion dollar automotive supplier who's parts are found on personal and commercial vehicles, worldwide. This is why Lean principles are important to small shops: sustainability.

http://www.thefabricator.com/article/shopmanagement/can-lean-manufacturing-work-in-the-job-shopr

Clear Communication of Roles and Process:• Self Directed teams are not plausible unless processes are written

clearly, and agreed upon.• Cellular work flow has to be clearly laid out as well. • Everyone must know the definition of

1. Coordinator2. Setup person3. Operators4. Inspector 5. Trainee

• Plus, where they are assigned, as well as how to get to other positions.

Gemba Walks:• “Gemba” works on the principle of GO and SEE• Good plant managers will know what is happening on the plant floor.

The power of gemba lies in:1. Selecting a theme for each walk2. Questioning the supervisors about observed conditions3. Listening attentively – a learning experience for all leaders, managers and supervisors.4. Sharing what you learned during the gemba walk5. Writing and posting a brief memo publicly sharing what you learned6. Following up – monitoring the process

http://gembawalk.com/the-gemba-walk/

For more on Gemba Walks— Jim WomackJim Womack from the Lean Enterprise Institute in Massachusetts wrote THE book on Gemba Walks:

• whatever happened to Toyota and what happens next to lean?• how lean got its name 25 years ago; a special essay co-authored by Jim and John Krafcik, president and CEO, Hyundai

Motors America• work, management, and leadership—what is the real work of the lean leader?• don’t offshore or reshore—leanshore• why companies need fewer heroes and more farmers • how “good” people who work in “bad” processes become as “bad” as the process itself• how the real practice of showing respect means helping workers frame and solve their own problems• how the short-term gains from lean tools can be translated to enduring change by lean management.• how the lean manager has a “restless desire to continually rethink the organization’s problems, probe their root

causes, and lead experiments to test the best currently known countermeasures”Lean Enterprise Institute 215 First Street, Suite 300Cambridge, MA, 02142e-mail: jwomack@lean.orgTel: 617-871-2900Fax: 617-871-2999

LEAN IN THE MACHINE SHOP:• We’ve presented examples of how Lean principles effect the machinist and

where you might find these practices in the machine shop, or machining production.• We attempted to use Swissturn’s success at self directed teams as an

example of how applying lean principles can create a prosperous machining environment.• The lean tools presented:

1. 5S2. Ingrained Processes3. Cellular Work Flow4. Kanban5. Gemba Walk

Resources:• Lori Beckman, Modern Machine Shop, “Self Directed Work Teams Offer Better

Efficiency”, 8/2016• Darren Dolcemascolo, “Achieving One Piece Flow,

http://www.reliableplant.com/Read/14703/one-piece-flow , retrieved 10/3/2016.• Kaizen Institute, https://us.kaizen.com/knowledge-center/what-is-5s.html;

retrieved 10/3/2016.• Lean Enterprise Institute, Inc., LEAN LEXICON, ISBN-10: 0-9667843-6-

7,January 21, 2014.• Julie Wester, “What is KanBan?”,

http://www.everydaykanban.com/what-is-kanban/ , retrieved on 10/03/16