October 1, 2018 Case Studies, Resources Reducing costs through the application of Total Productive Maintenance Background Philips Lighting Uden are part of Philips Electronics. The core business in Uden is the development and manufacturing of translucent ceramics (Alumina) for HID (High Intensity Discharge) lamps. HID lamps are widely used for retail, shop lighting and offices. These HID lamps have a unique combination of quality of light and lowest cost of ownership (low energy consumption). CDM lamps use only 20% of the energy, compared to Halogen lamps. Over the last years Philips changed over the main production technology from extrusion to Ceramic Injection Moulding (CIM). With a, highly mechanized, annual CIM production capacity of 25 Million translucent ceramic components, Philips Uden is the largest translucent ceramic injection molding facility in the world. The Challenge Philips (Uden) has been using Lean Improvement techniques to improve the productivity, delivery and quality of the factory for several years but they recognised the need to reduce costs even further to ensure that they remained competitive against emerging market competition. The Objectives The introduction of TPM was seen as a long term solution for the company which would allow the losses within the business to be identified and eliminated. This would allow them to achieve a production cost of €0.40 for a typical 70W ceramic component, a reduction of over 60% within a 4 year period. The Industry Forum Solution In 2010 Industry Forum and Philips (Uden) conducted initial management training and a pilot TPM project, focused primarily around Autonomous and Planned Maintenance on the Front and Mid End process. Following on from this a decision was taken by the Senior Leadership to use the Japan Institute of Plant Maintenance (JIPM) Total Productive Maintenance Award as a structure to drive sustainable business improvement within the organisation. During early 2011, further TPM Pillar training was conducted with members of the leadership team, followed by a roadmap activity to help establish a TPM Pillar structure and align it to the Vision and Strategy of the Philips (Uden) factory. This improvement structure is known as ‘One Uden World Class Manufacture’. It includes the standard 8 TPM pillars that are assessed by JIPM together with 2 additional Philips Specific Pillars: Lean and Supply Chain. Activities to support the introduction and sustainability of TPM within Philps (Uden) were conducted throughout the following 3 years. Periodic assessments against the JIPM Award criteria have shown that the Philips (Uden) team is on track to be to apply for the first level TPM Award in 2014. Philips (Uden) already have examples of zero breakdown equipment and zero accidents, operators have ownership for their areas and OEE, delivery and quality has improved across all areas of the factory. The Customer’s View “With the implementation of TPM we have focus for our improvement process. The improvements are on all areas of the factory, and the co-operation between departments is significantly improved! IF has given us direction where to go to. In the beginning the support was explaining the concept and benefits of TPM, and later in the process IF regularly audited our progress and kept us on track.” Marijke Swaving, Manager Operational Excellence and Cost Eng. , Philips Lighting B.V. Reference file: Download Case Study (pdf)
October 1, 2018 Case Studies, Resources A case study of increasing profitability through the development of a world-class supply chain. Background Perkins Engines at Stafford intended to support rapid growth in volumes and to drive an increase in profitability by developing a supply chain capable of world-class performance. The Challenge Perkins Engines at Stafford produces medium-to-large size engines for the Electrical Power Generator industry, employs 500 people and has sales of £133m. Having seen a substantial increase in volumes in Year 1 to more than 2000 engines (from 600-800 in previous years), and plans to deliver a further 30% increase in Year 2, Perkins’ supply chain was under pressure. The Objectives Key objectives for suppliers in Year 2 was to support Perkins’ intention to achieve Class A re-accreditation: 40% reduction in both customer and supplier delivered quality defects Significant improvement in supplier delivery performance – currently 66% 30% increase in capacity in Year 2 100% increase in stock turns Further development of lean manufacturing capability The Industry Forum Solution A 2 year project was delivered by SMMT Industry Forum under direction from Project Champion Paul Lloyd, one of Perkins 6 Sigma Black Belts. It built on the success of a pilot project that took place in Year 1, where Perkins worked with two key suppliers to increase their manufacturing capacity, overhaul their management control systems, deploy lean thinking and encourage a culture of continuous improvement. The programme was developed through a 6 Sigma DMAIC process (Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve & Control) A Business Improvement Review was used to analyse supplier performance in terms of quality and delivery performance, spend, growth in spend since Year 0, and strategic importance. Subsequently, a ‘supplier day’ was held to fully explain the challenges that faced Perkins and its supply chain. Key training and improvement activities: Change Agents underwent training and assessment during the lifecycle of the project Value Steam Mapping’ was used to establish the current position, assess the future position and identify opportunities for improving QCO performance A Partnership Assessment survey was used to evaluate ‘interface waste’ and identify gaps in cross-functional relationships with suppliers The ‘7 measures of QCD’ were implemented to analyse performance, identify gaps in Class A requirements and create action plans Quarterly Steering Committee Meetings reviewed progress against the activity plan and agreed KPIs The Customer’s View “Significant growth in Perkins’ business has put severe pressure on the Stafford facility and its workforce. Over the last 2-3 years we have invested several million pounds in new plant and equipment both at Stafford and within the supply chain. The issues now facing the Stafford business are the development of key processes and people to maximise the return on assets and assure future prosperity. We see the Supply Chain Group project as a cornerstone of future process development. Improved effectiveness of our suppliers will enable Perkins to operate a more lean and agile business.” Robin Mackness, General Manager, Perkins Engines Reference file: Download Case Study (pdf)
October 1, 2018 Case Studies, Resources Industry Forum is working with Owens Corning to roll out the tools and techniques of Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) across all of their plants to increase process and plant reliability. As a consequence, Owens Corning hopes to have all of its plants ready for the JIPM TPM Award by 2018. “It has been a great experience to work with Industry Forum these last two years. We’ve been learning a lot…it’s a great partnership and we’re ready to share our experiences with other business within the group.” “Industry Forum is helping us to change our operations mainly in the way that they coach and teach because they challenge us in a very good way.” “We are seeing results in less downtime in our machines, better quality, less waste and for sure in the bottom line we see we have some big savings.” Luis Martins, Vice President, Global Operations, Glass Reinforcements, Owens Corning “The scheduled visits every six to eight weeks to come into the facility really team with us and help us do all that is required to ensure we understand we are on track with the programme.” “They go above and beyond ensuring that the trainer supplied during the process was meeting the needs of our facility” “The key to success is getting sustainability and it was after one or two years as we started to see the culture change moving towards a culture of continuous improvement that we knew this approach was working for us.” Chuck Taylor, Plant Manager, Owens Corning, Jackson Tennessee Facility
October 1, 2018 Case Studies, Resources Improving assembly processes through the application of lean manufacturing. Background Leyland Trucks manufactures the full range of DAF Trucks, from 7.5 to 44 tonnes, at its facility in Leyland. All vehicles are produced on one line at a rate of 20,000 per year. The facility operates in line with the Paccar Production System (PPS) and Leyland Trucks is one of the best performing assembly plants within the Paccar family. In addition, Leyland Trucks has a Queen’s Award for Enterprise, has won the IMechE MX award in two consecutive years, and has recently been awarded the Bronze Shingo Award. Leyland Trucks can demonstrate strong continuous improvement, grounded in Six Sigma, and the company is striving for new ways to improve its business. The Challenge Leyland Trucks wanted to target productivity and quality improvements of a minimum of 10% by implementing advanced lean manufacturing mentoring. The Objectives With the largenumber of vehicle specifications and options, maximising efficient production is a significant challenge, from both an assembly and material flow perspective. Leyland Trucks wanted to create a template for theenhanced, sustainable deployment of advanced lean techniques within the Paccar Production System. Specific assistance was sought in the facilitation and mentoring of staff in key aspects such that they could roll out the techniques across the facility. The intention was to enable a dedicated team to support this project, with specific mentoring support in work standardisation, 5S, visual team processes and lean material flow. The Industry Forum Solution The programme received funding assistance and advice from the Northwest Automotive Alliance (NAA) Business Excellence (BE) programme and was delivered by SMMT Industry Forum Ltd. The activity focused on the identification and elimination of waste from manufacturing operations in a specific cost centre with a team of 11 operators. The project was resourced by Leyland Trucks to include five permanent team members from different areas of the business to provide a broad range of knowledge and abilities. The time period for the improvement activity was set at 40 days to provide sufficient time to complete all the phases and to maximise operator involvement. Key objectives of the activity were: Improve visual management Create standardised work Have an impact on key metrics – Defects per Unit, Inventory Accuracy and Truck Hours Implement a 5S standard Sustain the changes The Customer’s View The activity successfully implemented changes within the cost centre, achieving improvements in all of the key objective areas. An important outcome of the activity was the implementation of a cost centre team board to present and record information relevant to the team. This became a focal point for the team and has been extended to other cost centres in the business. The outcomes of the project included improvements in the following areas: defects per unit for air conditioning assignment; process time for radiator assembly; inventory accuracy – by part location and by quantity. In particular, a focused improvement on the assembly process for clutch pipe assignment and the reduction of waste brought about a 25.9% decrease in the number of reported defects. John Keegan, PPS Co-ordinator, Leyland Trucks Ltd “The support from the Northwest Automotive Alliance (NAA) Business Excellence programme has enabled Industry Forum to work with and our team to implement practical, common sense solutions, which have resulted in significant outcomes in a number of areas such as a reduction in defects and improvements in productivity.” Reference file: Download Case Study (pdf) This case study has been produced with the kind permission of Leyland Trucks Ltd & The Northwest Automotive Alliance All information in this document is copyright of Industry Forum © 2013
October 1, 2018 Case Studies, Resources A business process improvement programme resulting in a 60% reduction in lead times. Background ENER-G designs, develops and finances energy efficient, sustainable and renewable solutions on a business-to-business basis globally. Components, primarily engines, are purchased from automotive suppliers to support the business. The engines are used at the heart of ENER-G’s efficient Combined Heat and Power systems which allow businesses to save money on their energy bills whilst reducing their carbon footprint. ENER-G was established in the 1980s and since then the company has grown through acquisitions and organically to a current turnover of £130 million. ENER-G employs more than 750 people globally and has a presence in 17 countries. It operates more than 365MW of generation capacity, which enables its customers to reduce their collective CO2 emissions by 5 million tonnes per year, equating to the environmental benefit of taking 1.7 million cars off the road per year. The Challenge ENER-G identified a need to improve the cost base and delivery of its products due to increased pressure from the marketplace. The Objectives The project aim was to improve competitiveness and the ability to respond quickly to market conditions. The Industry Forum Solution With funding assistance from the Northwest Automotive Alliance (NAA) Business Excellence (BE) programme and advice and mentoring from Industry Forum in quality, cost and delivery (QCD) both internally and through ENER-G’s supply chain, the following initiatives were undertaken in the Combined Heat and Power business based in the North West: A manufacturing improvement programme including a manufacturing diagnostic looking at QCD data, material flow, value-add/non-value-add analysis with improvement workshops. A business improvement project for the company’s sales order and planning process, consisting of a value stream mapping exercise together with capacity analysis, development and implementation of a new framework. The Industry Forum ‘learn by doing’ approach encouraged staff on the front line to identify and carry out improvements themselves rather than be told what to do, in order to get things right first time and the mantre was carried across to include the quality of all supplied parts. Rework activity was identified and waste eliminated. To help with this, employees were provided with globally recognised tools and techniques to make the improvements. The Customer’s View Since the project, significant benefits have been seen in QCD performance – both internally and within key suppliers. ‘Right first time’ has been improved by an impressive 80%. Robust systems have now been put in place within the supply chain resulting in suppliers now taking responsibility for quality issues instead of ENER-G having to fix problems inherited from suppliers. An important outcome is that there have been significant reductions in assembly time and lead-time in excess of 60%. “A key element of our business is sourcing and working with automotive engines, and the NAA provided excellent support to improve quality and efficiency in this area. I am hugely impressed by the outcomes that this project has delivered and I would certainly recommend the NAA Business Excellence programme to others.” Craig Allen, Group Manufacturing Director at ENER-G Holdings plc Reference file: Download Case Study (pdf) This case study has been produced with the kind permission of ENER-G Holdings plc & The Northwest Automotive Alliance All information in this document is copyright of Industry Forum © 2013
October 1, 2018 Case Studies, Resources Industry Forum worked with Electrolux to develop their global lean manufacturing programme, the Electrolux Manufacturing System (EMS).Currently, it is used throughout their global operations with great success and has helped to improve process and Quality, Cost and Delivery (QCD). “The key to success is getting sustainability and it was after one or two years as we started to see the culture change moving towards a culture of continuous improvement that we knew this approach was working for us.” “The standard of implementation we’ve very high and that was largely due to the support received from Industry Forum. The knowledge and training that has been passed onto our people has been invaluable in getting that culture of continuous improvement.” Gareth Berry, Vice President, Global Operations/EMS, Electrolux
October 1, 2018 Case Studies, Resources A case study in the introduction of lean training for employees. Background Formed in 1955, and privately owned since 2000, ELE Advanced Technologies (ELE) located in Lancashire, specialises in non-conventional machining for aerospace and land based industrial gas turbines. They also produce precision components for the automotive industry. Key customers include Rolls-Royce, Siemens and Alstom. UK operations currently employ 100 people on a 3.6 hectare site and their plant in Slovakia employs 50 people. The Challenge ELE wanted to engage their employees in the improvement process and to increase sustainability while at the same time giving their entire workforce an overview of the concepts and benefits of continuous improvement. Particular focus was required on one piece flow, smaller batch sizes, 5S and workplace organisation. The Objectives The aim of the Lean Awareness training was to give all employees an appreciation of the impact that lean tools and techniques have on profit and cash flow in the business. The Industry Forum Solution The Industry Forum training programme was facilitated through the use of the ‘Plug Production System’, a simulation activity designed for small teams that combines the practical application of lean tools and techniques with the theory behind it. Through ‘manufacturing trials’ within the game, teams identified wastes such as poor flow, workplace organisation, material presentation and layout. The session also highlighted the connection between the teams’ performance and that of the external supplier, illustrating the need for the whole value stream to be able to achieve the target output rate and operate at ‘Takt time’. The Customer’s View “We had a need for Lean training on waste reduction and the 7 types of waste and we approached various lean training providers for ideas on how to give a taster on lean thinking to the entire workforce. Over the course of two weeks, Industry Forum led the entire workforce through half day training sessions from which they gleaned an understanding of the 7 wastes, especially overproduction, excessive inventory, line balancing and defect reduction. To spice things up a little, a leaderboard of profits or losses incurred was collated, with the winning team receiving recognition! I have no hesitation in using Industry Forum again and cannot fault the service we have received.” Peter Calderbank, Operations Director, ELE Advanced Technologies Reference file: Download Case Study (pdf)
May 11, 2015 Case Studies, Lean Manufacturing Background The client company is a provider of advanced composite materials and technologies. Having previously applied the principles of 5S in other areas of the business and seen operational and efficiency improvements, they wished to further apply the approach in an attempt to sustain a culture of continuous improvement, while using a successful, standardised and structured approach. The Challenge The company are making a transition from the traditional manufacturing model and have a vision to become a leaner organisation. With the acknowledgement that their employees are the only people that can bring the change required, the managers of the production area agreed that it was necessary to educate them in one of the foundation tools of any lean business. Although some of the workforce had heard of 5S before, not all necessarily had the understanding that 5S transcends beyond a ‘housekeeping exercise’ and does in fact underpin a profitable organisation and a lean culture. The Objectives To upskill and ensure team members have an understanding of the 5S principles and how to apply them to their working environment using a structured approach. The Solution Following the traditional ‘learn by doing’ approach, Industry Forum developed two 1 day 5S workshops that consisted of a mix of theoretical training, a short example and practical activity. The team were led through the 5S teach point and played the ‘numbers game’ before carrying out a assessment of the current 5S condition in their target areas. The 5S numbers game is a simple but practical example that presents the 5S concepts to the team and demonstrates how to practically apply it. This interactive example clearly highlights the efficiency improvements that can be gained by applying 5S. All participants then went into the target area and worked together to remove all unnecessary items from the area (Sort) and arranged the work space to ensure that it was safe, organised, and promoted an efficient, clean workplace (Simplify). Coaching was given to the team to develop visual standards in the form of 5S checksheets (Standardise) to help maintain the standard of the activity and guidance on how to sustain 5S across the organisation (Sustain). The Benefits Improved visual management in the target areas means teams can easily and quickly identify abnormal conditions and act on them before they manifest into major issues. All excess consumables were returned to stores, freeing up valuable space lineside and reducing the clutter. Items are now easier to find in the area. Better organisation in the target area(s) means that the team can ensure time isn’t lost searching for key equipment and materials. Identification of overproduction and countermeasures put in place to eliminate it. This led to a reduction in inventory. Obsolete plant equipment removed from area. This not only decluttered the area, but also meant that essential items could to be stored closer to point of use, and improved safety. The Customers View “With the help from Industry Forum, we as a business have learned the key principles of 5S. This training has helped our business successfully implement 5S within our busy production facility. We now have a structured and standardised approach to 5S”. Neil Worthington, Production Manager Reference File: Download case Study (pdf format)
March 31, 2015 Case Studies, Lean Manufacturing Background The client is a major supplier in the automotive industry. They develop and produce mechatronics systems for vehicle doors and seats as well as electric motors. Within an organisation of over 50 locations across the globe, the UK division has seen phenomenal growth in recent years. With this growth set to continue, the client has recognised the need to drive key skills across the organisation. They have embarked on a major training programme, creating a brand new training school and training over 400 members of staff to date. A critical tool for both daily management and process improvement is problem solving. The client approached Industry Forum to provide practical problem solving training based around the 8D principles, as part of a larger ‘core tools’ quality systems training package . The Objectives As well as upskilling the employees in problem solving techniques and the use of their problem solving documentation, one of the key course objectives was to begin to break down some cultural barriers. The training would need to demonstrate why a structured, team based approach should be adopted when carrying out problem solving activities and also highlight the reasons why constantly operating in ‘firefighting mode’ is not sustainable in the long term. The Industry Forum solution Industry Forum ran three one day workshops for delegates who were trained in the 8D approach to problem solving. To help bring the training to life, Industry Forum used a simple but technical simulation to demonstrate the different stages of effectively solving a problem. In this simulation, delegates are presented with a pot of ‘faulty’ pens which they need to analyse and investigate using the problem solving techniques to get to the root cause. During the course, the teams have the opportunity to define the problem by creating pie charts, pareto charts and process maps, brainstorm solutions using Ishikawa (fishbone) diagrams, use 5 why analysis get to the root cause, and evaluate potential permanent actions. As the client had already developed their own standard 8D templates, Industry Forum worked with them to integrate the documentation into the training. This early alignment enables delegates to apply their learning to future problems in a standardised way. Delegates are able to use the documentation developed during the training simulation activity to provide a route-map when they commence activities on live problems. Results Thirty six people were given a levelling understanding of 8D problem solving. To ensure the training was then applied in the workplace, teams were set real business problems to solve. They were given a timeframe to use the 8D techniques learned to identify and eliminate the root cause of the problem. The Problem Solving course was part of the Core Tools Training, a quality focussed system, for which upon passing a written exam, delegates receive Certification from the SMMT, the IATF approved oversight office in the UK. Need 8D Problem Solving training for your organisation? Find out more The customers view “I will be able to take a far more active role in problem solving and managing an 8D process” Production Supervisor “The course was well planned and structured. Team work was encouraged and well executed throughout the course” Industrial Engineer “I am glad it was a cross functional session, not just the quality department.” Quality Engineer “This course will allow me to follow the correct process and broaden my solutions to problems rather than focus on just one.” Quality Engineer “The course exceeded my expectations. It was well paced and enjoyable and will help me to resolve problems in my area.” Supervisor Reference File: Download Case Study (pdf format)
