Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Becky, Wendy, Tom, Dave, and Chad all discussed the progress we are making with Lean, and some of the perceived barriers to faster progress.

One key area that was not given enough attention early on was education of the office staff and the supervisors. To address that we will be scheduling an overview of Lean discussion in mid-April (the next scheduled executive staff meeting). We will strive to error on the side of too much communication instead of too little.

CNC has started using the dry-erase magnetic sheets to document (1) the job and detail number, (2) work to be done, (3) any critical information, and (4) where does it go when you're done with it. The intention is to give the machinists better and more timely information so they can waste less time looking for information. As we see how that works, other areas are encouraged to develop an effective tool (perhaps the exact same one) to provide timely and accurate information so machinists do not need to waste valuable time hunting for a supervisor to figure out what to do next.

CNC has also begun a "status of next job for each machine" board that makes visible any missing information/product that machinists need to begin their next job. It includes an estimate of when the current job will be completed to build in deadline information for providing whatever is missing (eg, drawings, programs, stock, etc.).

Dave has agreed to work with Chad, Mark, and Brent to create similar boards in the manual/finishing and EDM areas. 4 minds are always better than 1!

As a reminder, you are all welcome to call Becky Morgan at 216-486-9570 if you get stuck or just want to bounce an idea externally.

Friday March 23 Wendy, Chad, Becky Meeting

We walked thru the plant to observe 5S progress, which includes the incoming materials area for each of the 3 major areas, and the categorized by "type" areas. Each area has made some progress, but there is much more to do to reduce/eliminate many of the frustrating fixables. It has become clear that we weren't aggressive enough on our first Sort (the 1st "S" of 5-S). That is not at all unusual. It often takes a few Sort events before everyone gains confidence to attack all areas. We still have a bunch of space-taking stuff to get rid of, as well as usable materials that should be moved to a more appropriate area of the plant.

CNC has begun the simple process of using dry-erase magnetized sheets to document the answers to 4 key questions that machinists have about any job: (1) what is the job and detail number, (2) which of the work is to be done and in what order, (3) are there any critical notes, and (4) where does it go when I'm done with it? That same simple concept would seem to apply equally well in the other departments.

Meeting with Becky

Chad -

• Updated Becky with the overall progress of LEAN
• Developed a way to organize the CNC receiving area - this area is intended to answer the questions 1. "What needs o be done?" and 2. "What is required to get it done?"

Ron, Manual & Assembly Captain -

• Updated Becky on SMED progress
• Reviewed the CNC receiving concept, this area needs to utilize a similar concept

Wendy

• Reviewed with Becky the manager' s frustrations with the job meeting
• Becky suggested asking the managers what kind of information they need from the meeting

Meeting with Chad, Wendy & Becky Morgan

1. CNC
A. Racks to be set-up for work load storage
B. Chad to try a new machining center layout in one location

2. Frustrating Fixables
A. To be reviewed with all department captains

3. 5S
A. Wendy to develop layout for evaluation sheet - it will be completed by next week and reviewed with the captains at next week's weeting
B. All departments t0 have a peer review of their 5S progress
C. Employees to complete an evaluation for their own work area and and evaluation for the department as a whole

4. Receiving
A. We are going to develop a process for receiving raw materials, stock items and molds
i. This board will visually provide all employees and managers with the information required about arrival of goods

6. SMED (set-up reduction), standardizing process and mistake proofing were also discussed very briefly

7. Becky was given the rework hours form the beginning of the year. Chad and Wendy are to review all incident sheets and decided where we should initially concentrate our efforts.

8. 5S and general principles of LEAN were discussed with Mark. It was decided that we would concentrate our initial efforts in Assembly because of the volume of work that passes through that department. We are expecting to see great strides to completing SEPARATE & SORT by the end of next week