Page 294 - How To Implement Lean Manufacturing

Using the Pr escription—Thr ee Case Studies 271

• They were now able to shut down the California plant and did so.
• One weakness in this effort was that we did not implement any kind of a jidoka
concept. We were not asked to but I was disappointed we were not able to
weave it into the project.

What Is Next for QED Motors?
As is always the case, these improvements brought about a new present state, which
will need to be fully evaluated, including applying the Four Strategies to Becoming
Lean, starting with the takt equation and ending with a spaghetti diagram, as well as a
future state value stream map with kaizen activities noted.
The company’s kaizen activities will clearly depend upon their specific goals, but we
made a starter list based on what we had learned to date. Possible measures included:
• Implement a reasonable jidoka concept.
• A new floor layout to take advantage of the space savings achieved.
• Review the replenishment time to see if cycle stocks could be further reduced.
Also review production and demand variations to see if buffer and safety stocks
can be further reduced.
• Since the major impediment to lead time reductions was the batch-operated
preheat, varnish, and bake operation, they needed to consider converting this
to a continuous flow operation. This would shorten lead time significantly, but
would require new capital equipment.
• The majority of the defects found at Hipot were due to the manual coil insertion
operation. Automatic winders should be explored, which of course would
require capital but would substantially reduce lead time and quality dropout.
We did some preliminary economic analyses and it appeared to have a rate of
return on invested capital exceeding 80 percent, based on labor, rework, and
waste savings.
• QED Motors had made significant progress in a very short period of time and
they can be proud of their accomplishments. Now they must focus on their
future improvement ideas and continue on the journey to becoming Lean. It is
a never-ending cycle of assessment, analysis and improvements through the
continuous reduction of waste on the way to making their facility a better
money-making machine with a more secure work environment.