Control Phase

Control Phase

Now that we have Improved the process and achieved our goals we must now put our changes under Control and make them part of our process going forward.


The following changes have now been verified and implemented by the relevant departments

• The IT Department have approved a SWAT update to allow the Spray and Wet Weigh work steps accommodate more than one Batch at a time.                                                                         (Time Saving of 7 minutes)                                                                      

• The Engineering Department has approved the changes to replace tubing only when a formulation change occurs and allowing for a more standardised method to be used among Technicians.(See Fig 1 and 2 below)                                                                                              (Time Saving of 7 minutes)

• The Training Department along with the help of Operators and Quality Personnel have agreed on changes to the Operating Procedures to allow for a more smooth transition between batches. (Time Saving of 13 minutes)

Fig 1 below shows work instructions BEFORE changes made

FIG 1

Fig 2 below shows work instructions AFTER changes made

FIG 2

Financial Savings

This Project has exceeded its goals regarding a Financial Saving.

The Original Target time of a 17 minute reduction in changeover time has been exceeded by 3 minutes and now stands at 20 minutes.

The Financial implications of this are detailed below..

20 minutes saving                             1200 seconds

5 changeovers per week                   6000 seconds

48 weeks in year                          288,000 seconds

Tact time per unit    divide by               75 seconds

Total units per year                           3840 Units

3840 units x 20 Euro*            =    76,800 Euro

* Estimated cost of unit at stage of production

( Figure provided by Finance Department) 

Conclusion

Being involved in this project has been challenging but ultimately rewarding as it has been a new experience, one that I have not experienced before.

At first I was concerned whether i could handle the level of expectation needed for the project, but on reflection I  found that breaking the project into the 5 different stages using the DMAIC method made the whole experience much more structured and organised and ultimately helped the project achieve its goals.

Improve Phase

Improve Phase

Moving onto from the Analyse phase we now focus our attention on implementing the Improvements needed to complete the project.


The key improvements to be rolled out are detailed below..

1. Update to CPU system from the IT Department to allow Pre-Weigh work-step
    start Batch B despite units from batch A being in process at Wet Weigh work-step,
    thus removing previous CPU restrictions in relation to the two work-step rule which
    insisted that two different batches must be at least two work-steps apart.

                                                   Flow chart for reference below

2. Balancing of Set up process between operators with the help of the CTL (Cell Team Lead)
    will greatly reduce the set up/changeover time by an estimate saving of 13 mins.
 
 NB.  As work-step instructions had to be done in sequence, this is no longer the case.
         This has now been amended and updated by the training department to allow for more                           flexibility between operators and CTL.
   

3. Engineering will now have a standardised system for cleaning nozzles and will only change the           tubing when there is a change in formulation with an estimated saving of 7 mins.

Following these improvements initial indications show that the changeover time has been reduced.
We are now ready to progress to the Control Phase and begin the process of closing out this project.

Analyse Phase

Analyse Phase


When we started this phase we focused on the problem statement, then widened our focus with the brainstorming and the fish-bone diagram.
We returned to our fishbone diagram to remind ourselves what exactly is causing the delay in changeover time

At this point we had all the inputs in our process step and all the possibilities of what was causing our main delays with changeover times, which could be seen on the Gantt chart at the Measure phase.
To give us a better understanding of the potential time savings we have displayed a breakdown of the key Xs as well as the potential countermeasures and benefits.See below.

Having identified the potential counter measures and benefits we projected them on to another Gantt chart, this time including all the potential changes to be included in the process to give us a clearer picture of the potential time saving.

                                                                                           

We now believe we have completed the Analyse phase and are now moving forward to the Improve phase.

Measure Phase

As we now start the Measure Phase we must have a clear understanding of the current process.

To help us understand the process we needed to measure and document each stage of the changeover.
It was decided that firstly we should document every aspect of the changeover procedure no matter how small it appeared to be.
After collecting changeover data from several changeovers the detail involved in the process became surprisingly clear.

The team decided the best way to display the data was to input our data into a Gantt chart.
(see Fig 1 below).
We found this chart to be excellent in giving us a clear and accurate understanding of the time currently taken to complete each aspect of the changeovers.

Fig 1

Conclusions from Measure phase

• Currently takes 37 minutes from last spray cycle on Batch A to start of spray cycle on Batch B
• Cannot start PreWeigh on batch B until last unit on Batch A passes through Wet Weigh/Inspect due to CPU system constraint.
• Paperwork,Material Replenishment and clean down are done completely sequentially.
• Time taken for Tubing change and Nozzle clean by Engineering is 12 mins.
• 20 mins Drying time rule greatly restricts changeover time. 

Fig 2

                                                   Basic Flowchart for reference (Fig 2)

Fig 3

Fig 4

Fig 3 shows Re-circulation tubing which needs to be replaced during changeover.

Fig 5

Fig 4 shows shows spray machine internal unit.

                                                                                  Fig 5 shows spray machine external unit

Going forward to the Analysis phase

Going forward the key areas of focus will likely be on..

• Nozzle cleaning and Tubing change,
• Balancing of set up activities
• Constraints around CPU system and 20 min drying time

Define Phase

Define Phase

The purpose of this project is to reduce downtime on the production line during the changeover period between product batches. This is mainly due to the consecutive performance of multiple activities that are required to be carried out during the changeover period.

Problem Statement
The amount of downtime at the Spray work-step between changeover batches is too long, This impacts on production line efficiency which in turn causes downtime on subsequent operations thus affecting outputs.

What is the Scope?
All changeover activities required between batches at Spray work-step.

What is the Metric?
The Metric is the Spray Machine downtime, expressed as the lead time between end of spray of previous batch and the start of spray of new batch.

What are the benefits?
Reduction in Spray machine downtime.
Increase available production time/increase outputs.
Improve efficiency of manufacturing processes.

Tools used to Define problem

A brainstorming session was arranged between team members which highlighted many potential ideas during the creative phase.

Fig.2

Upon completion of the evaluation phase we had some very positive areas to focus on which will be analysed in detail going forward.
Some of these are pictured to the right.(Fig.2)

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     
Below is a basic flow chart of the relevant work steps.(Fig.1)

Fig.1

   

Along with our brainstorming session we displayed possible obstacles with the aid of a fishbone diagram as seen below in Fig.3.

Using the Fishbone diagram tool really helped us to highlight key obstacles we have to overcome as well as separating them into specific categories for focus. We found this method to be very productive.

Fig.3

On completion of the Define phase we believe the we are now more focused and have a clear understanding of the direction we need to take in order to complete this project.