Page 195 - How To Implement Lean Manufacturing

Sustaining the Gains 173

• We want “transparency” to be able to
distinguish and tell us that something has
“If you see in any given
changed.
situation only what everybody
• We want “transparency” to show us the neces-
else can see, you can be said
sary information, immediately at hand, in
to be so much a representa-
order to implement Rapid Response PDCA.
tive of your culture that you
Transparency is that way of showing the informa- are a victim of it. ”
tion such that these two aspects of process diagnosis S. I. Hayakawa
and process improvements can be accomplished.

What Is Process Gain?
Most process gains are achieved by either reducing the variation in the product, the
process, or both. This variation reduction will then reduce waste and produce gains that
are manifest as higher yields, shorter cycle times, or greater uptime, to name a few of
the typical manufacturing plant gains.
So, to achieve the gains we need to reduce the variation, and there is a specific
approach that can be made to reduce variation. We can work with:

• The product
• The raw materials
• The process equipment
• Poka-yokes
• Process procedures

Simplify the Product
The greatest leverage in reducing variation is to simplify the product. In one case I can
recall, we were working on improving yield on an electronic control unit (ECU) that
had 13 functions. This ECU had over 300 components populating an 8” by 8” printed
circuit board (PCB). The next generation of ECU, although it had 42 functions, required
only 46 components and the PCB was 4” by 5”.
Technology had allowed this design simplification and, of course, the processing
equipment was both dramatically reduced and simplified as well. For example, in the
solder application process, done with a screen printer, the PCBs were initially printed
in a pair—that is, two PCBs per panel were printed. After the design simplification, six
PCBs per panel were produced. Before the redesign, there were five placement
machines in series. After the redesign, the new version required only three placement
machines.
This is just part of the impact, but it is easy to see that more units were produced in
shorter times using less machinery with less investment. In addition, space require-
ments were reduced and future maintenance was also reduced. Also, as expected, when
the new process started up, initial process yields were greatly improved over the earlier
design. This type of product simplification is the most powerful, but in the typical man-
ufacturing environment, unfortunately, it frequently is not possible. More often than
not, you have to deal with the product you now have.