How to improve Quality at Manufacturing Process? Insiders are reporting their Secrets. Follow our new series for your profit growth. Chapter 7.
Karlheinz Zuerl
Interim Manager "Transformation" of the Year 2024. Asia Expert for Supply Chain, Process and Business Development/ Executive Consultant Automotive Industry/ Author "Effective Cost Cutting in Asia", "Management in China"
At the manufacturing department, how did you increase the line’s productivity from 9.36 to 12.86 pieces/operator/day (+38%)?
We used TOC (Theory of Constraints)
TOC is a management paradigm that views any manageable system as being limited in the achievement of its goals by a very small number of constraints. There is always at least one constraint, and TOC uses a focusing process to identify the constraint and restructure the rest of the organization around it. TOC adopts the common idiom "a chain is only as strong as its weakest link.” This means that processes, organizations, etc., are vulnerable because the weakest person or part can always damage or break them or at least adversely affect the outcome. The five focusing steps are taken to ensure ongoing improvement efforts are centered on the organization's constraint(s). In the TOC literature, this is referred to as the process of ongoing improvement (POOGI).
Operations
In the context of manufacturing operations and operations management, the solution seeks to pull materials through the system, e.g., Kanban, as opposed to push them into the system.
Supply chain and logistics
Generally, the solution for supply chains was to create flow of inventory so as to ensure greater availability and to eliminate surpluses in warehouse entry and exit, but you need some buffers (see project management).
Project management
Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM) was used in this area. It’s based on the idea that every project looks like an A-plant, in which all activities converge to a final deliverable. As such, in order to protect the project there must be internal buffers to protect synchronization points and a final project buffer to preserve the overall project.
Details see https://www.tocinstitute.org/examples-of-constraints.html, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_constraints, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_constraints#The_five_focusing_steps
Multiskilled operators
We introduced this opportunity to workers and gave them outlook in additional bonus and salary after training and examination.
Team-building events
Such as external training, mountain hiking, tug-in-war competitions, table-tennis-, badminton-, and soccer-tournaments, helped to bind people together, helped each other and took care of each other. This motivated and increased working efficiency drastically.
Process stability
Process stability could easily be determined using?control charts. Processes that are "out of control" need to be stabilized before they can be improved. Special causes require immediate cause-effect analysis to eliminate the special cause of variation.
Process capability
The?histogram?is the correct tool with which to analyze?process capability. The QI Macros histogram will calculate the process capability measures (Cp, Cpk, Pp and Ppk) based on your data and on the specification limits. For details, see https://www.qimacros.com/lean-six-sigma-articles/stability-analysis-vs-capability-analysis/#:~:text=Process%20stability%20can%20be%20easily,are%20calculated%20from%20the%20data.
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Visual management
This?is a way to visually communicate expectations, performance, standards or warnings in a way that requires little or no prior training to interpret. We used scoreboards, qualification and bonus boards. Even 5S boards can be used for visualization if tools and gauges are missing. https://www.100pceffective.com/blog/what-is-visual-management/#:~:text=Visual%20management%20is%20a%20way,all%20sorts%20of%20everyday%20scenarios.
Eisenhower Diagram
We created TPS and FP to-do lists for follow-up, then we trained our staff to focus on the Eisenhower diagram. To work on important and urgent tasks, we had to stay focused and use time management. For details, see https://nlctb.org/tips/increase-your-productivity-at-work/?gclid=CjwKCAiAjeSABhAPEiwAqfxURUmoqJWLHIZJ5_HXt1h5Dm05Ti1_twZUJktxrp6kX-wYAfobF2pA7hoC6MoQAvD_BwE
Summary and roadmap of all steps needed to become the best Lean plant in your group within two years:
More solutions you will find on our website and in our eBook shop.
If any questions and wishes, please contact me for a Zoom meeting?in order to dig into details.
Karlheinz Zuerl
GTEC German Technology & Engineering Cooperation
website: gtec.asia
Mobile: +86 134 8243 8080 (Karlheinz Zuerl)
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