- LEANworx machine downtime tracking software enabled a firm to stop working in the night shift.
- With the help of Leanworx, they started making the same number of parts in 2 shifts, that they were making in 3 shifts earlier.
- This happened in 7 months.
Stop working night shifts through downtime tracking software
About the LEANworx user
Aerospace parts manufacturer with 40 machines connected to LEANworx. Machines are CNC lathes and machining centers.
Before LEANworx
Machines ran 24 hours, with 3 shifts of 8 hours each.
After LEANworx
After LEANworx data collection system was installed, machines ran 16 hours, with 2 shifts of 8 hours each, producing the same number of parts as before.
Result: lower power bills; fewer operators, supervisors, inspection personnel, logistics personnel, canteen personnel; lower wage bills; no canteen expenditure in night shift.
How did the transformation happen ?
In aerospace and tooling parts, part batches are very small or one-off. Standard cycles times and load/unload times are unknown or have no meaning. For such firms, we suggest tracking the spindle utilization % instead of OEE, as a measure of productivity. This is a simple method of machine downtime tracking.
LEANworx downtime tracking software tracks spindle utilization, the % of time that the spindle is working in the total time available. It shows this as dashboards, reports and large screen Andon boards on the shop floor. Leanworx also shows downtime durations and reasons, as part of machine downtime tracking.
When machine data collection was started with LEANworx, it showed that the spindle was running only 30% of the time. Which meant that machines were cutting only 1/3 of the total time, and idle 2/3 of the time.
The MD of the firm announced that if the spindle utilization went up to 50 %, all personnel would get a salary hike. In just 4 months, the spindle utilization went up to 55 %. It then went further to 64 % in 7 months, 70 % in 8 months. Machines were cutting 2/3 of the time, idle 1/3 of the time.
The reasons for the downtime were partly systemic and partly because of poor work ethics: high setup times, no raw material, high periodic inspection times, late start at the beginning of shifts, early stoppage at the end of shifts, long meal breaks, etc. The incentive of higher pay motivated the shop teams to work together and reduce all these.
LEANworx machine data collection system highlighted the downtimes and their reasons, through a variety of machine downtime tracking reports including Pareto charts. This enabled the firm to focus on top downtime reasons continously and reduce them.
Here are some of the reports from the downtime tracking software, that the firm used to achieve the transformation.
Firm and machine names have been changed to protect the identity of the firm.
Etc
Doggie moving up in life
I stayed in a hotel near Connaught Place in Delhi a while ago, for a week. While on an early morning jog (trying to shed the kilos that I was acquiring at the huge breakfast buffet spread every morning – part of the hotel’s package deal), I saw this dog sleeping on top of a parked car.
Two questions arose in my mind:
1. How in hell did the guy get on top there, negotiating the slippery metal and glass ?
2. Wasn’t he uncomfortable on the hard and possibly cold metal ?
I still haven’t figured out the answer to the first question.
As for the second one, it was a warm and humid monsoon morning, and the metal was probably nice and cool compared to the ground.
And now I’m wondering whether he (being a city slicker dog) will at some point in his life think “I’m tired of sleeping on these mid-range cars. It’s time I moved up in life. Should look for a Benz or a BMW to sleep on tonight, so I can impress the babes”. He’s actually moved up in life, literally, from sleeping on the footpath to sleeping on a car.
