Renosol Corporation, a member of the Suppliers Partnership for the Environment (SP), participated in a Lean and Clean Workshop June 2-6, 2003. The workshop was facilitated by the Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center (MMTC), a National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) / Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP).

MMTC’s Lean and Clean Workshop is designed to expose current practitioners as well as manufacturers unfamiliar with the Lean Manufacturing concepts, the benefit potential from the concepts through hands-on training and immediate application to a work site. While the Lean and Clean Workshop is a new initiative being offered by SP, MMTC’s Joe Reck has conducted hundreds of company assessments to identify potential improvement efforts in lean manufacturing and other processes.

Renosol Corporation custom engineers and manufactures polyurethane chemical formulations, molded automotive polyurethane seating and interior trim products, material handling systems and rotationally molded polyethylene and PVC products. Employing 400 people in Michigan, Ohio and South Carolina, Renosol was selected to participate in the workshop because Renosol is open to new technologies and methodologies that can aid in improving its product quality and competitiveness.

Renosol installed a quality system based on ISO-9001/QS-9000, to which it has been registered since 1997. Striving ‘to continuously improve its products and service to achieve total customer satisfaction and be the preferred supplier in each industry it serves,’ Renosol viewed this as an opportunity to continue providing customers with innovative solutions and high quality products and to seek more avenues for continuous improvement.

Randy Smith, Manager of Renosol’s Farwell and Bay City manufacturing plants, was excited with the opportunity to participate in the Lean and Clean Workshop. “This is a great opportunity,” said Smith, “to reinforce our current level of understanding and to provide an additional training opportunity to our management with a fresh look at our operation with new eyes.”

A cross-functional management team representing all departments was selected to participate in the weeklong workshop. The workshop began with an introduction to the MMTC philosophy and common practices used by other companies to maintain a Lean and Clean facility. This provided a framework of what it means to be a Lean and Clean manufacturer. The team reviewed case studies of companies that have incorporated Lean and Clean concepts into their operations.

The team next completed a value stream mapping course and a waste walk. This exercise provided the team hands-on experience with identifying value-added versus non-value-added time in specific areas. The waste walk helped the team identify current and potential waste generated by processes in the facility.

The team used findings derived from value stream mapping and waste evaluation to brainstorm changes that might improve key processes. Ideas generated during the brainstorming session were evaluated, then assigned to team members who investigated feasibility and cost considerations and reported their findings back to the team.

Once the group decided upon the most feasible proposals, they compiled their data and presented their recommendations to the executive management on the last day of the workshop. All team members were part of the presentation. Waste – whether time, material or money – was identified and specific projects for improvement were proposed.

Proposals:

o Eliminate stretch wrap. With customer approval, the opportunity may exist to eliminate the use of stretch wrap packaging materials, reducing landfill waste and recurring direct material cost. After an initial cost of $16,675 for material and labor to construct new packaging containers, an annual savings of up to $18,000 could be achieved, with payback of less than one year.

o Standardize fastener design. Replacing customer-specific fastener strip designs with one common fastener strip design would reduce direct labor costs. The change would require customer approval and a one-time tooling investment of $5,200. It would result in annual savings of up to $64,000.

o Relocate proximity switch. The current positioning of a proximity switch is a cause of line downtime. The estimated cost for materials and labor to move the proximity switch to a better location is $1,800. Assuming no unforeseen new issues, this proposal could generate an annual savings of up to $69,480.

o Preheat molds before introduction to the production line. An initial investment of $1,200, coupled with excellent planning could result in annual cost savings of up to $31,000.

For additional information, contact Michael Coast, MEP contact for SP at MMTC, 734-451-4215. www.supplierspartnership.org