Improve Phase

We began our Improve Phase by implementing a trial in two work pods targeting our goal output of 58.

In this trial we also kept a log of the issues that arose again preventing us hitting our target. This is useful information and should always be tracked we found from doing this trial and this project.

In this trial we have tried to free up time for the operator and we have done this by removing a step from the process

In the Analyse phase we realized that we prep our part in polish very similarly to how grind finish their part so we moved our belt and are trailing a new contact wheel with it in the grind job step. This is to try and improve the finish quality of the part so when it arrives at the polish job step there will be no need of the belt now moved to grind.

Also the parts tend to receive damage at the blast operation just before the polish job step so we brought in plastic guards for the grates in the blast cabinets and rubber mats for the tables they use at that operation.

Also we Entered 3 weeks of data into mini tab in the trial pods to generate a time series plot so we could better understand what was going on, we used this to view the variation from when we began at a stable 54 with explainable outliers, to the variation seen in the trial weeks. We see it start to get more under control near the end of the graph as the trial progressed.

Some tools we found useful in this phase were logs for the operators to fill if something prevented them hitting their target, a time series plot and trials that had been decided in the previous phase.

Analyse Phase

Analyse Phase

The next step in the DMAIC process is Analyse; I began this by finding out the scope of the machines we use in polish. We have a system which allows us to monitor the running time of our machines and also our downtime. See below



This shows that we only utilize 54% of our machines scope so achieving a higher output machine wise is possible now we need to look at how we can better manage the time for the operators so they can get achieve a higher output without increasing the ergonomic strain



The highlighted areas on this map are the areas we intend to make changes, firstly we noticed that we are repeating a step in grind and polish, in the grind jobstep we dry belt the part with a 220 belt and similarly we dry belt the parts in polish prep with a A65 belt.

In relation to the seven wastes this appears to be over processing of the part. 

Another change being brought in at NDT is also the implementation of a 8 part basket instead of a 4 part basket, this is beneficial as it will decrease the time it takes to run a batch down an automated line and free up the NDT operator to help the grind operator achieve a higher output also, this is vital as we cannot polish more units than we can grind as this will cause ‘’work in progress’’ (wip) shortages.

All this will be trialed and measured the Improve Phase.