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.

www.supplierspartnership.org