Go In-Depth on Two Manufacturing Efficiency Solutions: Lean and IIoT
Two of the greatest challenges that manufacturers face is using every minute of the day and capturing all available capacity. How can you increase employee and machine productivity, streamline processes and grow revenue? Wipfli — a top accounting and consulting firm that specializes in technology solutions for manufacturers — will be speaking in-depth at FABTECH 2019 this November on two different solutions: Lean process improvement and industrial internet of things (IIoT) technology.The Science of Lean Culture
You’ve heard a lot about Lean. Maybe you’ve even tried to implement Lean principles. Wipfli’s Brett Polglaze and Joseph Girard will talk about why many Lean implementations fail to deliver sustainable results. Then they’ll move into actionable steps you can take, like developing a road-map for priming your organization for the significant change that Lean requires, and how to get your team back on track when Lean efforts look like they might start to stagnate. Before FABTECH 2019 arrives, you can take advantage of three Lean tips for your organization:- When making changes, start small so you can get into a cycle of continuous learning and improvement. Making too many changes at once will overwhelm your organization and actually prime your efforts for failure.
- Don’t limit Lean to the shop floor. Back-office operations can also benefit. Because breaking down departmental barriers is essential to ensuring Lean success, adopt a holistic approach to problem-solving, rather than taking on projects within departments.
- Recognize that Lean can work together with your ERP system to eliminate waste in production, improve quality control, and even improve customer service. After all, lean dictates manufacturing strategies, and an ERP system provides the analytical depth and real-time data to support strategic decisions.
Smart manufacturing using IIoT
Becoming more efficient can also mean gaining reliable insights into your operations, as well as the knowledge on how to turn those insights into additional capacity. The technology behind IIoT makes it affordable to monitor your shop floor for profit leakage, hidden capacity and potential productivity gains. Wipfli’s Mark Stevens and Jake Rohrer will demonstrate how to use IIoT technology to achieve these results. IIoT technology provides insights into where profit leakage is occurring and enables you to capture more minutes in the day by eliminating unplanned downtime. Mark and Jake will be using Shop Floor Optics to demonstrate IIoT’s abilities. You can get a sneak peek of how it solves profit leakage and minimizes downtime in these two videos: We’ll leave you with three tips for combating unplanned downtime:- If your setups and changeovers run longer than estimated, review your training program for outdated information. Supervisors can help update procedures to reflect how the best operators are maximizing productivity. It’s not uncommon for a seasoned operator to have figured out a better way of doing things that isn’t reflected in your best practices. Capture the knowledge they’ve gained through the years and share it with newer employees.
- Input management and output transfer can take up an operator’s valuable time, especially if they have to travel the plant to retrieve materials or transport products to the next workstation. If you don’t have a dedicated material handler, consider using a seasoned employee to “float” between workstations and move materials through the plant. This person should know your company’s production trends, where items are located and which materials are priorities.
- If you’re experiencing sluggish startups or long shift changeovers, analyze production trends at the beginning and end of each shift. It’s not uncommon for the first 15 minutes and last 15 minutes of a shift to be unaccounted for. That half hour of lost capacity adds up.
