Lean Into It (Part 3)

Practical applications for modern manufacturing solutions that fix real-world problems.

Age-old challenges. Exciting new technologies. The intersection between those two opposing forces is a space rich with potential innovation, but comparatively short on explanation. Because explaining how the ongoing explosion of inspired manufacturing tools can address key production challenges is something relatively few tech providers do effectively—resulting in a knowledge gap for many manufacturers.

Manufacturers are intrigued by the possibilities of connected process control and the increasingly sophisticated tools and tech now available to them. But they also have an understandable desire to ground that optimism in practical detail while appreciating how it applies to the very real challenges they face every day. There is a need to present the new generation of connected manufacturing tech not as an abstract idea, but as a usable, affordable set of tools that can make a measurable and often dramatic difference in performance and profitability.

This is precisely what this four-part series is designed to do: to promote a better understanding of how leading manufacturing technologies can mitigate or even eliminate the eight wastes of lean manufacturing. The first two installments in this series explored the first four letters in the well-known DOWNTIME acronym of wastes: Defects, Overproduction, Waiting, and Not Utilizing Talent. This piece covers the next two wastes: Transportation and Inventory Excess.

Transportation

Inefficient movement of materials is a wasteful problem for many manufacturers. That applies not only to movement across the supply chain, but on a more granular level within individual facilities. Leading connected process control solutions address both categories of wasteful transportation. Enterprise- and facility-wide visibility reveals comprehensive production data for precise planning and logistics—as well as ordering and inventory needs. Detailed data provides important insights into demand fluctuations and build times, helping ensure that inventory needs are calculated for maximum efficiency in volume and scheduling for timely, efficient, cost-effective orders and shipments.

Full transparency down to the operator/station level allows precise monitoring of production progress and assembly times. Businesses can leverage this information for planning and logistics purposes, finding ways to efficiently deliver what operators need, exactly when they need it.

A lean manufacturing study at an automotive assembly facility focused on one sub-assembly area, a space where a dozen material handlers were tasked with delivering product to operators. The analysis found that the inefficient and essentially random nature of inventory checks could be replaced by one-way routes strategically designed to reflect consumption patterns, process timing, and other specific data. The result was a reduction from twelve down to just three product handlers per shift. That kind of dramatic reduction in transportation waste is only possible with the help of technology solutions—businesses using these tools benefit from real-time, station- and product-specific visibility into the entire production process.

Inventory Excess

Excess inventory is a classic waste with multiple origins. Manufacturers may find themselves wasting time and money managing excess inventory from overproduction, unbalanced production, or from over-ordering materials. The best of the new generation of connected process control platforms provide the kind of seamless enterprise-wide ERP synching that facilitates efficient inventory ordering and storage optimization, helping ensure that there is never a wasteful surplus of materials in the production environment itself. Precisely calibrated inventory on the production floor and at individual stations saves space while limiting overproduction, overprocessing, and transportation.

Whether it’s an assembly line or a bench, every square inch matters in a production environment. The space around the operator is the most valuable real estate on the shop floor, and manufacturers cannot afford to waste that space on excess inventory. One well-known global manufacturer of large industrial vehicles was using a gigantic freestanding bin containing thousands of specialized bolts. The catch was that those bolts were for a rare assembly—only a tiny number were needed each month.

Reclaiming that space from excess inventory freed up additional room in a busy area, reducing the storage costs associated with an oversupply of rarely used parts. Connected process control solutions provide the granular data to highlight glaring inventory excesses that may be right in front of us. CPC can also reveal less obvious inefficiencies that likely would have remained undetected—thereby avoiding ongoing and potentially wasteful expenses.

In the fourth and final installment of this series, we will conclude with a look at how connected process control technologies can efficiently and effectively be used to address the final two DOWNTIME wastes, Motion Waste and Excess Processing.

Learn how Epicor Connected Process Control can help your business eliminate waste and achieve operational efficiency.