High-Performance Materials
SITUATION
High-performance materials leader needed help to improve productivity on commodity product lines while maximizing production of leading edge products with high demand and profit.
DRIVER GOAL
- Improve productivity by 15% in 12 months.
RESULT
- Achieved an estimated annual savings of $20.252 million.
- Increased labor efficiencies to 111%.
- Demonstrated that best-practices are possible in highly skilled manufacturing processes.
Case Study
Achieve Process Excellence & Asset Utilization
Issue
A world leader in high performance materials used in a broad range of markets, including Automotive, Construction, Defense, Electronics, Aerospace, Marine, and Recreation, engaged The Highland Group to improve productivity in its aging plants on commodity product lines while maximizing production of leading edge products with high demand and profit.
Highland Approach
The team began with an analysis of the operation to determine key opportunities for improvement. Cross-functional teams were trained on 5S, cell manufacturing and general Lean concepts then deployed to target inefficiencies, capacity constraints and maintenance issues.
Actions Taken
- Successfully realized labor savings through attrition versus layoffs with minimal impact on project benefits.
- Introduced maintenance performance measurement indicators, reviewed maintenance critical asset spare parts inventory levels and adjusted as needed, and installed a disciplined plant maintenance planning and resource scheduling process, which provided more robust coverage of all shifts.
- Developed, with the Executive Team, a dashboard measuring key monthly performance indicators for both plants.
- Improved processes and quick-change parts availability, which contributed to cost savings with the reduction of 20 forming positions.
- Developed and implemented improved processes in material handling.
Redesigned, in a pilot environment, the setup and service of twist frames to accomplish loading, unloading, inspecting and packing at the frame vs. moving the product between various departments. - Reduced material and handling costs by improving utilization of critical parts (forming tubes), reducing number (and costs) in circulation, replacement, and disposal of damaged tubes.