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Post date: Feb 7, 2017 2:15:38 PM
Building on a first pilot to showcase "Lean" impact on rapid service provision, an industrial client worked with Business Excellence to introduce cellular manufacturing from end to end of the value stream for the manufacture of complex tooling. Previously the production was in 3 stages with average lead time of 10 days for Stage 1, 11 days for stage II and 16 days for Stage III, totaling 37 working days for delivery of a complex tool. The conversion of the 3 stages to 3 separate lean manufacturing cells with average lead times of 4, 5 and 3 days respectively or 12 days total has resulted in a 300% acceleration of flow in the Value Stream. This enables the client to be more responsive to market opportunities and win more profitable business.Â
The cells have been implemented with a minimal investment approach; essentially rearranging and reorganising existing production to respect lean principles of built in quality and just in time flow. There has been extensive work in cross training team members to ensure resilience to absences, which has paid off in the winter "flu" season, which in the past seriously impacted on time delivery. Particular emphasis has been paid to ensuring laminar one piece flow using homemade "sequencers". Here the importance of visual control is seen with colours used to make late or advance highly obvious, so enabling the team members to manage flow without requiring management resources or IT solutions.
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