Kaizen Event

Part Inventory Management

Overview

While working at Norton-Rixson Door Controls as an automation engineering intern, I was tasked with a several-month-long Kaizen event involving organizing the maintenance and tool crib area on the plant floor. This Kaizen event included 5S-ing an 845 square-foot space that houses our automation build materials. This automation build area had 6 large shelves full of undocumented, unorganized parts, along with several tripping hazards. There was a cluttered, unused robot cell, and several filing cabinets full of miscellaneous parts.

5S Objectives

Shine: Remove unused robot cells and filing cabinets
Sort, Standardize: Catalog all necessary and frequently used parts
Set-In-Order: Put cataloged parts in open-top organizational containers
Set-In-Order: Create a look-up system for part locations and part ordering
Sustain: Meet with involved persons weekly to continue to maintain the area

Organizational Equipment

We ordered organizational carts with open bins from Global Industrial to place cataloged parts. We also ordered a wire spool rack to hold pneumatic tubing and multi-conductor electrical wire.

See image citations in footer.

Removing Clutter

We removed the unused robot cell, one large shelf, two filing cabinets, and several unnecessary parts that we had stored.

Before

After

Wire & Tubing Organization

By installing the wire spool rack, we were able to hold all of our stored tubing and cable. This allowed us to remove the cabinet that previously stored the tubing, as seen in the before image to the right. The wire rack opened the area up and helped us remove surrounding clutter.

Before

After

Barcodes & Labeling

This was the longest and most arduous part of the Kaizen event. I was tasked with creating a barcode for each cataloged part that leads to its store page. I created an Excel spreadsheet to catalog each part and its URL for purchase. I then used a short Python program to generate QR codes for each part's URL. Now, when workers scan the QR code, they will be directed right to a part's page for purchase. I created over three hundred labels for each of the cataloged parts.

I also sorted each part by category such as cables, grippers, pneumatic fittings, sensors, etc. As shown in the top picture to the right, each label included the manufacturer we purchase the part from, the manufacturer part number, and a short description of the part for easy identification.

Finalizing Area

We stored the labeled bin carts for the pneumatic and electrical parts in the area we removed the robot cell from. The red bins hold electrical components, and the blue bins hold pneumatic components. Over 300 parts were labeled and stored. I attached a printout of the spreadsheet to each cart for part-lookup.

5S Score (Before & After Phase One)

Based off of 5S scorecard found here: https://www.creativesafetysupply.com/5s-scorecard/

Before: 38% (67/175)

Lot of clutter and not required equipment, tools, spare parts, paperwork
Several tripping hazards & cluttered work areas
No identification of tools, containers, bins, boxes, paperwork
Dirty tools, equipment, work surfaces, walls, partitions, rails, floors, paperwork, containers, bins, labels, & signs
Unstandardized tools, equipment, & paperwork

After: 84% (147/175)

5S program implemented
Tripping hazards & clutter removed
Created spreadsheet catalog of tools, containers, bins, boxes, & paperwork
Clean tools, equipment, work areas, paperwork, containers, bins, labels, signs
Equipment and paperwork standardized

121% increase!

For more detailed explanations of the 5S score, see the links below!

5S Score Report - Before 5S Score Report - After

Phase Two Plans

To further improve the automation build area, the second phase involves the following:

Shine: Polishing & repainting the concrete floor

Set-In-Order: Taping off designated areas for new-part dropoff

Set-In-Order: Move part catalog to a SQL database for faster part-lookup

Sort: Create tool wall for storing standardized tools

Sustain: Create a schedule for continued 5S maintenance program

Potential updated 5S score: 94% (165/175)

Bibliography

“Durham - Wire Spool Cart.” Global Industrial, 2023, https://www.globalindustrial.com/p/durham-wire-spool-cart. Accessed 18 July 2023.

“Global IndustrialTM 16 Shelf Double-Sided Mobile Pick Rack - 64 Blue Plastic Shelf Bins 8" Wide.” Global Industrial, 2023, https://www.globalindustrial.com/p/16-shelf-bench-rack-with-64-bins-8-wide-1. Accessed 18 July 2023.

“Global IndustrialTM Reel Rack Starter Unit 48"W x 24"D x 96"H.” Global Industrial, 2023, https://www.globalindustrial.com/p/reel-rack-starter-unit-48-w-x-24-d-x-96-h. Accessed 18 July 2023.

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