Everything in flow
Initial situation:
Within this project we worked with a medical technology company. Due to its first-class products, it was almost overrun by the increasing demand and had severe delivery problems.
The challenge was to find a solution to ease the pain of growth in the short term and to align production to long-term growth.
Procedure:
In the first step, the flow principle was introduced in final assembly. In the second step, the large-volume machines (e.g. presses) were integrated into the production flow.
"People" successes:
The employees learned to "see". They quickly recognized waste and took these points with them for inclusion in the shop floor rounds. The deceptive feeling of safety stock was replaced by the enthusiasm of seeing a process flow without stopping production.
"Process" successes:
The throughput time and intermediate stocks were significantly reduced through the implementation of the flow principle. The logistics integrated into the flow principle benefited from harmonized processes thanks to the introduction of the supermarket principle and material supply via Kanban.
In order to ensure sustainable results, we also introduced shop floor management. The daily rounds secured the process chain in the flow and eliminated waste. The productivity increased considerably, since once a day the decision makers were gathered directly at the shop floor to initiate and implement immediate measures.
Facts – Figures - Data
Successes:
- Reduction of lead time by 45%
- Reduction of logistics costs by 35%
- Reduction of machine set-up times by 50%
- 100% increase in motivation
- Benchmark Partner GO LEAN
Topic excerpt:
- Introduction of U-line production
- Restructuring of the production layout according to the flow principle
- Holistic value stream concept
- Development of a key figure system
- Implementation Shopfloor Management
„The extensive experience of the GOLEAN team and the practical understanding of procedures, processes and technology lead rapidly to project success!“Project Manager