Foundry
Issue:
A grinding area was having trouble keeping up with increased customer demand. The work area was also causing ergonomic concerns.
Scope:
Improve productivity of the work cell by a minimum of 10% while increasing the ergonomics of the work area by at least 10%.
Approach:
A team of workers from the targeted area was brought together and explained the situation. The team gathered baseline times and compared those times to the takt rate for the area. A cycle time bar chart revealed that existing upstream equipment would not be able to keep pace with the improved productivity. The team brainstormed solutions to the equipment and other productivity issues. The team also mocked up a new work bench to improve the ergonomic score of the area.
Results:
Unpainted products saw an increase in productivity of 50%. Painted products saw an increase of 17% in productivity. The new work benches were a big hit that improved the ergonomic score by over 48%. Workers used to hate working in that area – with the improvements – workers were asking to be placed in that area!