BAE Industries Lean and Clean Workshop with
MMTC
BAE Industries is a member of the Suppliers Partnership
for the Environment (SP). EPA, a partner of SP, sponsors
a portion of the Lean and Clean Workshops facilitated by the
Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center (MMTC), a National
Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST)/Manufacturing
Extension Partnership (MEP). BAE Industries, with approximately
160 employees, is an automotive manufacturing company specializing
in seat mechanisms and is very committed to high quality products
and continuous improvement. BAE was excited at the opportunity
to have employees participate in the Lean and Clean workshop.
BAE created a cross-functional team to participate in the
workshop and, to ensure all departments were represented,
employees from quality, production, tooling, and shipping
were asked to participate. All team members committed
a full week to the workshop.
The workshop began with training that covered the philosophy
of MMTC and common practices used to maintain a Lean and Clean
facility. By the end of the overview, employees had
a clear understanding of what it means to be a Lean and Clean
manufacturer. The team explored examples of how other companies
have incorporated those ideas into their facility.
The next step of the workshop consisted of a value stream
mapping course and a waste walk. This portion of the
workshop gave the team a better understanding of how to look
at a particular process or area and identify value-added and
non-value-added time. The waste walk helped the team
identify current and potential waste generated by a given
process. At the end of the walk through, the team was
very impressed with the amount of information they had learned
through seeing a familiar process in a different way.
The walk through allowed employees to examine a process in
the same manner that management does.
The next step of the workshop involved spending a few days
brainstorming ideas for changes to improve the process.
It was very uplifting to see how the MMTC representative encouraged
all members to participate, allowing the whole team to be
equally involved. “Mapping out a process has really
taught me how to see opportunities for improvement that are
not as obvious”, stated Austin Carter, a production
leader in the stamping area, BAE.
After the brainstorming session, team members were given
specific assignments from the list of ideas to investigate
feasibility and cost information. Employees gathered
information and reported their findings back to the team.
Team members were astounded by the amount of money that could
be saved through the implementation of their suggestions.
All information was compiled and presented to the executive
management staff on the last day of the workshop. All
team members were part of the presentation. The executive
management staff was pleased to see how individuals were able
to apply what was learned from the workshop to actual areas
in the facility and recognize potential improvement projects.
Wastes such as time, material and money, were identified and
specific projects for improvement were suggested. Through
participation in the workshop, the employees now share the
Lean and Clean philosophy that has always been a part of management’s
vision.
Potential improvements and cost savings include:
- Recycle Die-Lube. After initial cost of $2400 for
equipment, would result in reuse of 50 gallons a week, generating
a weekly savings of $455. Would also reduce disposal
cost of die lube oil by $6.75 a week, resulting in total
annual cost savings of $22,164
- Reduce stamping press downtime by 50%
- Reduce changeover on assembly process from 30 minutes
to 10
- Implementation of pull system, reducing finished goods
inventory for specific products lines by 33%
- Lean opportunities identified $323,487 in cost savings
with a one-time conversion to cash at $446,880
For additional information, contact Michael Coast, MEP
contact for SP at MMTC, 734-451-4215 or SP’s offices
at 202-530-0096.
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