Manufacturer Reduces Changeover Time by 64% with Lean Six Sigma

Manufacturer Reduces Changeover

Manufacturer Reduces Changeover Time by 64% and Eliminates Excessive Weekly Line Stoppages with Lean Six Sigma

Situational Overview

A high-volume manufacturer had significant challenges with production line downtime. Because of their high production rates, each minute lost not only cost sales, but it also put their delivery commitments at risk. An initial assessment revealed their biggest issues were changeover times across larger, more complex machines and stoppages due to blades needing to be replaced across several lines.

CEG anf Firefly trained a team in Lean Six Sigma concepts and facilitated through their implementation a single standard, documented and deployed.

Solution

To reduce changeover times, a team was trained in Lean Six Sigma concepts and facilitated through their implementation. After refining the process though several iterations, standard work procedures were developed and deployed to the rest of the facilities. The assessment revealed that no written procedures existed for blade changes, and at all three locations regularly experienced significant failures and incorrect mountings. Changeover reduction time principals were applied, and a single standard was established, documented and deployed.

Results

Changeover times were reduced from an average of 11 hours to an average of 4. The new training and higher morale led the team to set its own internal goal of 2 hours.

Improvements in blade changes and mounting reduced failures from 1+ times per week to fewer than 1 per month. Blade changes now take place during scheduled downtime and rarely stop production runs.

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