Rokky Bang’s Post

Another Monday, another week to start turning and burning one some orders. Material just got delivered which means our VF2SSYT with 4 automated pallets is ready to put in some overtime. Why do I love our pallet machine? 1 machine will be running 3 different sets of parts at the same time, especially helpful when you’re making parts that get assembled together - every full pallet cycle you get completed assemblies, and that helps us be efficient. No more having parts sit while waiting for others to be machined - everything being done at the same time means we turn out fully completed assemblies at a constant rate. See something that fits your needs or are you looking for a new supplier for your injection molding or CNC machining needs? Give me a shout - MParker@ParkerPrecisionMolding.com

Automated coil winding with hot glue adhesion: This was a challenging project as the machine had to be redesigned to allow for the hot glue to be applied from the side as the coil is wound. In order to control the amount of glue being applied (there is less glue needed at the corners of the coil), the speed of the mandrel is changed on the fly based on the reading of the encoder count that comes from the servo motor. A Nordson hot melt machine was added and connected to the system so that any errors in the glue machine will result in a stop of the process. The system is based on a now obsolete ABB motion controller that was programmed using Mint BASIC. There were several improvements achieved as follows: 1) Production time down from 3-5 minutes to 30 seconds 2) Reduction in worker overtime 3) Vast improvement in the final shape and consistency of the final coils using this hot glue method vs. the original method that used masking tape.

THE LASER HAS BEEN WORKING OVERTIME LATELY! More and more of our customers are utilizing our laser engraving ability for part identification, but we are currently working with a customer to embed work instructions for PM's into a QR code! It's gonna be a game changer for them. #machining #machineshop #engineering #toolmaker #quality #jobshop #manufacturing #leanmanufacturing #sixsigma #cnc #milling #cncmachinist #metalwork #machinistlife #5axis #cncmill #metal #machine #engineer #innovation #laserengraving #laser #continuousimprovement #efficient #CAD #Bobcad #Solidworks

A client came to us suffering frequent complaints from clients to due to production losses and delayed product due to carbon deposits being evident on their Natural Zytel PA66, 80 Tonnes Engel. Their normal results were: Purge up to 30kg of PP 100% Scrap on start-up for 2 hours for black specs 15% Intermittent throughout production 100% inspection After an inspection and utilising BBU, they now have results: 2.5kg of BBU 0 black specs on Start-Up 2% Scraps overrun One Year On? CAPEX for vision equipment not required Even better news? When asked about their experience they said: “Since using the BBU the company has not had any complaints from customers; meaning no more charges, overtime, extraordinary maintenance or production losses.” Smart changes, better results.

Below are some common examples of world-class performance from a much larger unofficial list that seems to have been developed by consensus over the years: 1. Maintenance schedule compliance is greater than 90 percent. 2. Maintenance overtime is less than 5 percent. 3. Maintenance direct work is greater than 75 percent. 4. Planned maintenance work is greater than 90 percent. 5. PM schedule compliance is 100 percent. 6. The percentage of work covered by a work order is 100 percent. 7. Work order actual hours / work order hours planned is 90 to 110 percent. 8. Equipment availability is at least 90 percent. 9. Equipment productivity is at least 95 percent. 10. Overall equipment effectiveness is at least 77 percent.

Should the fleet department be allowed to make a profit? If so, how? I know in my past we did in house warranty and collected dollars back that way. But what other methods are there. Marking up parts, road service fees, shop fees such as haz waste, tire disposal, administrative fees when processing work sent to vendors. Should you be able to charge an overtime rate if the customer insists they need that vehicle or equipment back by the end of the day and there are repairs that must be made for the safe operation of that asset. Share your thoughts on this topic and let me know what you do in your fleet.

So I got a flurry of emails yesterday regarding a compliance alert that NADA sent out. Yay for sending it out to make dealers aware. Half a yay for also letting people know more than half way down that all of the usual overtime exemptions for auto are still in place. (Sales, Part Counter, Service Advisor, technicians--(not LUBE TECHS), & employees who qualify for the 7i exemption) Wage & Hour can be tricky....and this is about OT exempt or not exempt. My first advice is to take a deep breath. Then pull a report of any employees who are paid on a "salary" basis. Then you want to make sure that these employees fit into one of the "white collar" exemptions for overtime. One of the most common misconceptions is that if you pay someone a salary you don't have to pay them OT. Their actual job ALSO needs to fit into one of the exemptions. This isn't likely to effect dealerships MUCH....by that I do NOT mean that you shouldn't do a wage & hour audit and see what you might need to prepare for or where you might not be exactly compliant. My last advice is to call me or Courtney Leyes for help.

Production Hour by Hour Board-entry into Heijunka Have you got to the end of the production day and haven’t met your quota, with the only option to try and ask the staff to work overtime to complete production? In a manufacturing environment, a great visual tool for hourly tracking the actual against the expected quota is an “Hour-by-Hour board”. To attempt to indicate & target areas of wastage. Toyota created a system called Heijunka to “level-out” production to avoid wastage. I believe an Hour-by-Hour Board could be an entry into the benefits of Heijunka. This is a board indicating the capacity target by team member against the hourly time slots and the actuals are filled in at the end of the hour slot. The labour is set up to achieve the daily quota. If below target then the cause is recorded & a potential solution. This is powerful by breaking the daily quota into hourly lots and allows visibility well before the end of the shift. The supervisor sets up the board at the start of the shift, communicating the objective to the whole team during the Daily Start Up meeting. It’s the team members who fill in the actual and the issue/action column. How are you tracking your team’s performance hourly? Or trying to play catch up at the end? See comments for a link to a video demonstration.

Production Hour by Hour Board-entry into Heijunka Have you got to the end of the production day and haven’t met your quota, with the only option to try and ask the staff to work overtime to complete production? In a manufacturing environment, a great visual tool for hourly tracking the actual against the expected quota is an “Hour-by-Hour board”. To attempt to indicate & target areas of wastage. Toyota created a system called Heijunka to “level-out” production to avoid wastage. I believe an Hour-by-Hour Board could be an entry into the benefits of Heijunka. This is a board indicating the capacity target by team member against the hourly time slots and the actuals are filled in at the end of the hour slot. The labour is set up to achieve the daily quota. If below target then the cause is recorded & a potential solution. This is powerful by breaking the daily quota into hourly lots and allows visibility well before the end of the shift. The supervisor sets up the board at the start of the shift, communicating the objective to the whole team during the Daily Start Up meeting. It’s the team members who fill in the actual and the issue/action column. How are you tracking your team’s performance hourly? Or trying to play catch up at the end? See comments for a link to a video demonstration.

ARTFM!! A mantra that has dwelled and haunted the engineering field for decades. Manuals are the best way to learn about a new product or solve/debug a problem you are facing. Going back to the basics, builds upon the foundation of the knowledge and skills that you have built overtime. We can all argue that it's a load of effort to go through a 10 pager to fix a fraction of the problem and yet one could get a solution from a quick search or calls. I agree. However, just because it worked for them doesn't mean it would for you! Try embracing going through manuals. Make the experience a bit hard to make it easier.