What is Lean Manufacturing and Why Does it Matter?

The concept of lean manufacturing is, arguably, centuries old. Some say it dates back to Shigeo Shingo and Taiichi Ohno and the Toyota Production System. In the late 1980s and 1990s, TPS became lean manufacturing. The term was first coined by quality engineer John Krafcik in 1988.

In a world that is increasingly considered with excess waste and waste management, lean manufacturing remains an important concept today. So what exactly is it?

Lean manufacturing involves streamlining processes and procedures with the goal of eliminating waste. Below is a list of the 8 wastes of lean manufacturing, including their advantages and disadvantages.

Unnecessary transportation:

This includes excess transport within a facility. Benefits of eliminating unnecessary transit include: reduced pollution & faster processes.

Excess inventory:

In a global economy increasingly under supply chain stresses & disruption, this aspect of lean manufacturing may be least relevant. It is important that companies think about their specific industry, lead times, and potential disruptions when regulating inventory.

Unnecessary movement of people, equipment or machinery:

This is a subset of unnecessary transportation and provides the benefit of less wasted time, money, and energy.

Waiting on people or idle equipment:

Time is money, so it makes sense that waiting on idle equipment isn’t good. That being said, some things take time and it is important not to rush processes simply to go faster.

Over-production of a product:

As with excess inventory, this waste-reduction tactic has fallen somewhat out of favor due to supply chain concerns.

Over processing or adding unnecessary features to a product:

Here, the benefit would be cost effectiveness. However, when a company is constantly trying to only produce the bare minimum on a product, this can dampen the drive to innovate and create.

Defects that require costly correction:

There is probably no benefit to a defect in a product. Some amount of scrap and cost of poor quality in products is inevitable, but it is essential that companies mitigate this with strong quality processes and well-trained team members.

Unused talent & ingenuity:

Sometimes, we talk about this as “having the right people in the right seats.” Another way to think of it is that every team member is an expert at what they do. Companies should value their experts and rely on them for innovation.

 

Other methods, such Six Sigma, also focus on the elimination of waste in manufacturing processes. Waste reduction is a key pillar of continuous innovation. It is something all companies should strive toward.

Favorite Fasteners Roundup

 

It’s time for a Favorite Fasteners Roundup!

This week, we are rounding up some of our favorite fastener spotlights. Here’s our top five fasteners to make and why. Click on the links to learn more about each of these types of fasteners.

Concrete Anchor Bolts:

These big boys are Fastco’s bread and butter. Used to fasten components to concrete, concrete anchor bolts come in a variety of lengths. Our large cold formers are ideal for forming up to 3/4 inch diameter bolts.

 

Weld Bolts:

We love weld bolts for their simplicity. They are an ideal part to cold form and we make a wide variety of them.

 

Rivets:

Among the oldest and simplest fasteners in existence, rivets can be as basic as just a body and head. At Fastco, we form solid rivets and semi-tubular rivets.

 

SEMS fasteners:

A combination of a screw/bolt and a permanently attached washer (or set of washers), SEMS fasteners have many benefits. Fastco has a dedicated SEMS unit for SEMS fastener assembly and can run a range of sizes, depending on specific part geometry.

 

Knurl and fetter pins:

On solid pins, knurls and fetters both act as locking features, cutting into the host material and creating the friction required to hold the pin in place. We roll and form knurls and fetters, depending on material, design, location, and tolerances.

Continuous Innovation: What is it?

At Fastco, we believe in continuous innovation. But how does innovation happen? It happens through small actions, through thoughts that spark ideas that turn into discussions, which turn into trying something new. It all starts with our team members.

Ergonomic Improvements are Essential

Over the last several years, Fastco has been making strides in improving the ergonomic impact of the working in manufacturing. These jobs are hard on a body and it is imperative that we continue to explore innovative ways to lessen the physical burden of the labor to keep our team members physically healthy, happy, and productive.

Sometimes, it takes someone outside of the job to come up with a clever and effective solution. Brandon Schell has been with Fastco for over 9 years. He started in preventive maintenance, moving up to machine repair, and now serves as our 3^rd shift lead. He has been an integral part of the maintenance team during his tenure, and helped us make a range of improvements. This includes improving the dump pans in our cold heading bay 2 so that the bottom pulls out to dump parts instead of the operator having to lift and dump the pan.

While pulling is a better ergonomic solution than lifting and dumping, our Facility Manager, Steve Kowalczyk, and safety team were still hoping to find a better solution. In addition, most of our cold heading machines were still set up with dumps that require lifting and dumping, a motion that also requires the operators to twist their bodies.

Continuous Innovation: New and Improved Dump Pans

To eliminate this, Brandon thought that if you designed a pan that rotated, it would be an improvement. First, he developed a model, a miniature version of the concept. It was a semi-circular pan, rather than rectangular, that would be mounted under the conveyer. Parts would go from the machine into the pan and then, when it was filled and checked, the operator could simply turn a wheel on it, rotating the entire pan and dumping the parts with minimal effort.

After receiving approval for the idea, Brandon and our other 3^rd shift machine repair tech, Luke Vawter, worked to set up the pan. They mounted the brackets and added the stoppers to lock it when it rotates and prevent the pan from tipping. They started by mounting it on machines with higher conveyer belts. As of now, the device will not work for machines with a lower conveyer. Luke is working on an idea for an arm on which to mount the dump pan. This will allow it to be moved and adjusted for lower conveyers.

We are currently testing out a couple of these dump pans to gage effectiveness. We will be checking in with operators that use the equipment to determine how well the pans work. The goal will be widespread adoption in all the bays. Eventually, we’d like to replace the turning wheel with a button to automate the process further, removing all physical strain from the operator.

 

Visual Sorting:

Human vs. Robot

At Fastco, we use have a few different options for visual sorting parts. There’s EZ sort (shown in the video) in which parts feed down a track and a person inspects them as they pass. There is also table sorting, in which a person picks up and inspects parts by hand. And finally, there’s our 6-axis robot, Ellie.

So which is better: the human eye or a robot?

Here’s a quick breakdown.

 

Team Robot

Robots don’t need breaks or vacation.

Robots don’t lapse in attention. They are 100% binary and will always find the defect they’ve been programmed to find.

 

Team Human

Humans can find other potential flaws, not just what they are “programmed” to find.

Humans can visually sort very quickly. EZ sort is fast, though not as thorough as table sorting.

Visual Sorting Winner

Sorry to disappoint, but this one is a draw. There is no definitive “better” method of visual sorting. There are benefits to each sorting method and different parts call for different methods of inspection. In addition to Ellie, Fastco has many other state-of-the-art machines capable of sorting for everything from length under head to presence of patch or threads to hardness and cracks.