Early Management in TPM ②

In this article, we continue to convey the content of the activities carried out under the title of "Early Management". As you know, we are progressing in two different areas as "Product Development" and "Equipment Development". Regarding product development; There are different trials until the product comes to mass production conditions, isn't it? Consider, for example, how many times do you try before putting it into mass production? Even if we do a small number of trials, if problems arise in mass production conditions, it is necessary to go back again. That's why we try to identify and solve problems at an early stage. When we switch to mass production conditions, the problem should no longer exist. This should be one of the targets of the studies in the field of product development.

Of course, different products are produced in many sectors, but for example, when the first product in the automobile is on the market, it is mostly sold in that period. After a certain period of time, sales starts to decrease. That's why you need to be able to sell a sufficient amount when it is first released. At the same time, we need to be prepared for this in terms of production. If we make the customer wait, the customer can buy that product from another consumer for the product to be notified.

What should we do to avoid this problem?

It is necessary to put the current product development flow and TPM's recommended product development flow side by side. The product development process flow that TPM recommends includes a design review (DR) approach. The company determines how many times it will do the design review. It is necessary to clarify what each department should do step by step. What topics need to be checked in each department? These should be clearly defined and what standards we need to meet should be defined and visible. We are also doing a (CR) Cost review. Since the costs tend to increase in the process, we aim to produce the product at the targeted costs by making some improvements.

In the past, from the time we started the first design until the product was put into use, it took 4 years in the automotive industry. Now, in less than a year and a half, the concept emerges and the automobile is ready. During this process, we make improvements by conducting cost review studies and receiving many cost-reducing offers from production.

There are some tables where we evaluate the process. We create operation-specific review pages. If we have friends who request, there are some standard approaches and I can share them.

Another responsibility of ours in this process is to commission products that are easy to produce. Of course, how well we achieve this is important. For example, how much can we reduce the number of screws in a automobile, without compromising safety criteria, in order to make the product cheaper??Can't we just combine the two parts into one? We continue our work with such a perspective. The element I would like to add here, in fact, the most important point, is a point that we pay attention to in our cost reduction efforts, on the condition that it raises the existing quality. In other words, to increase the quality at the same time in the cheapening phase. Even on television, the number of bored parts gradually decreased. I think that there are still many points that can be made kaizen in both television and white goods. Recently, a domestic television factory in Turkey received the WCM Award. This is a great success. They put effort for a very long time and worked with great patience without giving up. Great effort requires great commitment. With good cooperation, you can succeed.?

Yet another responsibility of ours is to develop products that are easy to automate. We are also creating an area of activity in the field of designing products that are easy to automate. Of course, employee costs in Turkey are increasing day by day. I would like to write here as an important advice to companies that want to increase the rate of automation in the future. While doing this, we need to prepare an infrastructure that can be automated with simpler methods, not very expensive automation equipment, while designing the product. In automotive, most of the production lines used to be manual lines. There is so much equipment right now that has become 100% automated. While transitioning to 100% automation, they designed products that allow easy transition to automation, both in production, product development and product design.

Mould design, which does not allow quality defects, is also one of the important points. For example, it is one of the frequent efforts to produce another product from the part of the mould that we have to throw away. We look at it as wasted energy when a product is produced in a mould. Design and engineering effort is required at this stage. We expect our designer friends to spend a lot of time at the production site. In general, many designers do not spend time on the production floor, even in the same factory. We expect our designer friends to go to the field to examine what kind of problems there are in the field and talk to people and determine their progress towards solving them as a policy. While we understand the current situation and design the next product, our main goal should be to ensure that the same problems do not happen again. In complex products, we come across people who make many designs without knowing the production area. There is an approach of “I designed like this, produce like this”. With such an approach, we cannot produce good products.

There are some strategies we follow to ensure easy manufacturability. The first strategy is about MP Information. It is about bringing the existing information to the design department. Then process analysis. Design review activities. Our basic principle is to involve the production department in the design phase at an early stage. Since field workers produce their own products, they are the ones who know the problems best. When we look at it like this, we want to carry out value-added activities as much as possible. As TPM advances and raises the level of the employees in the field, they also contribute to the design with very good ideas during the design phase. We involve operators in the design process at much earlier stages as their level rises. This approach also has the advantage that when the operator says he designed it with my idea, he can no longer say "the design was bad and I can't do it because of it", even if there is a problem, and he owns it. Even if there is a problem, they come to a consensus and go to the solution together. At the same time, we also attach importance to the FMEA studies carried out during the design phase, but it is not easy to foresee. However, we continue without compromise. One of the most common problems we encounter during the design phase is that the information flow is not healthy. It is necessary to manage the flow of information well. In this process, the subject of MP Information that we focused on the most. Companies that adopt the TPM Approach pay more attention to details in this regard.?

In the next post, I will continue from where I left off with Concurrent Engineering.