Page 233 - How To Implement Lean Manufacturing

CHAPTER 14

The Story of the Alpha Line

any lessons can be learned from the story of the Alpha Line, but the best one,
by far, is how management stepped up to the challenge, recognized their
Mresponsibilities, and provided the leadership to guide the company through
the needed cultural changes. In so doing, they managed the Three Fundamental Issues
of Cultural Change extremely well. The Three Fundamental Issues of Cultural Change
are covered in detail in Chap. 6.

How I Got Involved
The Alpha Line was the first of many production lines at this Mexican maquiladora,
Bueno Electronics. It was the first plant in Mexico for this European-based manufac-
turer, who moved to Mexico to take advantage of low-cost labor and the proximity to
the U.S. auto industry. Since this was their initial interaction with the U.S. auto industry,
and didn’t know how to deal with their customer, nor had the required skills to meet
their customer’s demands, they retained us to assist them.
At Bueno Electronics they started up the Alpha Line, and after their initial customer
audit, in which they achieved a failing score of 41 (75 was the minimum acceptable), we
were contacted to assist them. Their primary weakness was in statistical techniques,
where they scored 0 out of a possible 10 in four different areas of statistical applications.
Of particular concern to them was the need to implement statistical process control
(SPC) for all critical product and process characteristics—a skill they were completely
lacking. Here is where the story of leadership and management commitment unfolds.
For several years, as Bueno Electronics grew, we helped them implement a number
of lean systems, including pull production systems, cellular manufacturing, and an
OEE initiative, to name but a few. In addition, they made great strides in improving
both their flexibility and responsiveness through lead-time reductions. However, the
best part of the Bueno Electronics story occurred when we were initially asked to assist
them on the Alpha Line. Of particular importance was how their management responded
when they first started up this production line. That set the stage for all the success that
followed, including their journey to becoming a lean facility. This is that story.

Initial Efforts to Implement Cultural Change
We were retained by the plant manager and reported directly to him. Our first assign-
ment was to teach the required skills of statistical process controls (SPC), measurement
system analysis (MSA), correlation and regression (C&R), and designs of experiments
(DOE).

211