The Problem
A mid-size manufacturer in East Tennessee was shorting their customers approximately $2 million per month, due to production not being able to satisfy customer demands on a particular production line. At that time the line employed 24 operators that were producing 20 units per minute.
The Solution
In response to this problem a week long KAIZEN Event was scheduled and a team of 7 key employees were assembled. The goals of the of the KAIZEN were as follows:
50% increase in productivity
25% cost reduction
The team was to develop a solution that ensured safety and quality would not be jeopardized. The following activities were conducted to accomplish the goals of the KAIZEN Event :
Defined Takt Time
Conducted A Line Balancing Assessment (Cycle & Task Time)
Repositioned Assembly Stations To Minimize Reach
Developed A Water Spider Position to Reduce Restocking
Reduced length of the line in order to position stations closer together
The ROI
This process only took one week and cost the company less than $2,000, and resulted in the following outcomes:
Operator Reduction from 24 to 10 ($800,000 savings to the company)
Increased Production from 20 units to 48 units per minute
Increased Sales by $24 million per year
Therefore, the Return On Investment was realized in less than one day. With these types of results and the simplicity of the process, one has to wonder why more companies do not take more of an aggressive and intentional approach to addressing pain points within their process.
If you are experiencing problems within your process and do not have the internal resources (time, manpower, or experience), please reach out to RCI at www.thinkrci.com. We have practitioners with over 30 years of Continuous Improvement experience that would happily conduct a free half-day assessment in order to present you potential solutions for your areas of concern.