In this posting Bruce describes the current
state of the cabinet maker's business as well as a detailed description of each
of the process steps. At the end of this
posting, Bruce asks some key questions and we encourage you to post answers to
them which will be revealed in a later posting.
This is a rather long posting, but for continuity sake I felt it was
important not to break it up into separate postings.
The
Preliminary Analysis and Information Gathering
When the improvement team arrived they met
with the management team to get a clear understanding of the current issues,
which was basically a repeat of what has previously been stated with some
additional highlights.
For starters, the management team was deeply
committed to traditional cost accounting and efficiency metrics. They supported this thinking with the rationalization
that the primary key to their past success was being able to reduce the cost
per part (cabinet boxes). Most, if not all, of their decisions where focused on
how to reduce the cost per cabinet. It
was a continuation of the management method they had learned years before and
the management method they brought with them to the present. However, what had seemed to work in the past
was now seemingly their worst enemy. In
their mind, they were following the “rules” and yet the ship was sinking. It was a continuing cycle of chaos and they
literally had no idea how to break the cycle and get out of the current
situation. They only answer they had was to keep doing the same thing and
hoping it would work for them.
Management also confessed that they were
paying the late fees and having it deducted from what was owed to them. They did this in hopes of trying to generate
enough cash to have enough money to pay for the raw material on the next
project. However, the raw material
situation had escalated to the point that suppliers were starting to refuse
orders from them until previous bills were paid in full, or at least paid down
to a reasonable level. They concluded
that there was no way out except to get their cost per cabinet down to a lower
rate. The assumption (and false hope)
being that any money they could generate through savings could be applied to
other needs. They were convinced (hoped)
that if they could increase the efficiency of production and achieve the lower
cost per part, then the current problems would “magically” correct themselves. At this point, the primary goals the
management team were to focus on were improving efficiency and reducing costs. The situation was grime, at best, but not
totally beyond hope.
Having gathered the information from the
management team interviews the improvement team shifted their focus to the
production system. First, and foremost,
was the visual analysis to document the product flow and get a basic understanding
for the rhythm of the how work moved through the system from the start to the
finish.
The
Production Process and Tour
Step
1 - The Planners
When a new project was awarded and the
architectural drawings were received, the planners would convert the
architectural drawings into shop drawings, including all dimensions, cut sizes
and material requirements. This
information was used by various work stations to produce the cabinets, drawers,
doors and counter tops. The required material list for hardware for drawer
pulls, drawer guides, hinges and laminate colors were also provided. If a special cabinet was required, they used
the architectural drawing without conversion.
For the most part, the raw material was
standardized using 4X8 sheets of MDF, or sometimes plywood. When the shop drawings were completed, the
information was loaded into a software program that would optimize the panel
layout and cutting sequence. This
software was used to determine the maximum cut from a panel to reduce the
amount of scrap. This software had been
previously purchased as another “Cost Savings” idea from the management team.
Before the job was released to the production
floor it was assigned an internal project number, normally a four digit number. The project number became the formal identity
for the project while it was in production.
The planning group would print the various components of information
into a production package with the required information for each work center.
When the job was released it was also
assigned to an internal project manager.
The project manager was responsible to make sure the job was continually
moving through the production process.
This cadre of project managers was usually the more senior personnel who
had some experience in all of the work stations and could be called upon for
technical assistance when issues occurred.
Step
2 – The Lay-up
The laminate layup process was performed in
tandem with the saw operation. During
the lay-up process the raw 4X8 panels, of either MDF or plywood, were fitted
with a sheet of laminate to match the color requirement in the production
instructions. These raw 4X8 wood panels
were sprayed with glue and the laminate applied and rolled into place. The laminate raw material was also purchased
in 4X8 sheets. These matching material
sizes usually allowed the lay-up process to be completed in short order.
After the panels had been fitted with the
correct laminate color they were moved to the saw. This material transfer was usually completed
by hand and typically moved one panel at a time. The panels were placed in the saw stacking
area. If you think of a clip for bullets you get the idea of the stacking area.
Moving panels from the stacking area to the saw was an automated feeding system
that moved the panels, one at a time, onto the saw cutting deck.
Step
3 - The Saw
This wasn’t an ordinary saw, but rather a
very large and complex saw. It was
computerized and controlled by a single operator. The computer on the saw was linked to the
planner’s computer. This link allowed
for the transfer of the panel optimizing software from the planners to the saw.
As each panel was removed from the stacking
area, and prepared for cutting, the operator would program the saw with the
downloaded cutting instructions from the optimization software. The saw push arm would move the panel into
place and lock it down. The saw
mechanism was actually the opposite of what you might think. In a typical table saw, the saw blade remains
stationary while the wood is pushed through to make the cut. In this case, the wood was held in place on
the cutting deck and the saw blade moved back and forth. When panels were placed on the cutting deck
the saw would make the cuts according to the programed instructions. When the panel had been cut in one direction
the cut pieces were moved (re-aligned) by the operator to make the cuts in the
opposite direction to end up with the correctly sized and cut pieces.
After cutting, the pieces were stacked on a
pallet. Theses pallets were loaded and moved according to a semi-specific batch
size which was about 30 pieces. It was
normally the saw operator, using a floor truck, who moved the pallets to the
next work station - Edge Banding.
Step
4 - Edge Banding
As the name implies, Edge Banding was the
machine that applied the edging material to the panels. The edging material was usually made from
plastic but, could sometimes be made from wood. The panels were processed through the edge
banding machine and the edge material was glued (banded) in place. As the edging material was applied, it went
through a short series of pressure rollers to set the glue. The edging also passed over a router to
smooth both edges and square the corners. The doors and drawer fronts required
four (4) passes through the machine to edge all four sides.
At this point, the piece was considered ready
for the next process step and the panels could move in two different
directions. The drawer fronts were moved
to the drawer assembly area and were attached to the drawer boxes and moved to
final assembly. The doors and box pieces were re-loaded on separate pallets and
moved with the same transfer batch in mind to the next work station – the
Morbidelli.
Step
5 - The Morbidelli
The Morbidelli, as it was called, was
actually a machine brand name rather than a machine function. This was a unique and specialized piece of
equipment with a very specific job. The
Morbidelli was a drilling machine, with the primary function of drilling the
necessary holes into the panels. These
holes included the dowel’s hole on the end and sides of the panels, and the
series of holes drilled on the flat surface that allowed for the shelf pins to
be inserted. These drilled holes allowed
for the shelves to move up and down to various heights.
The drilling function allowed for multiple
holes to be drilled at the same time.
This Morbidelli was also computer controlled with panel dimensions
programed in for accurate placement of the holes. These programmed commands were not linked to
the optimization software, but rather manually input based on project requirements. When the holes were complete, the panels were
moved back to the transfer pallet for movement to the next work station - the
Box Press.
Step
6 - The Box Press
The box press was a low pressure hydraulic
press that would apply pressure from three sides (top, left and right
sides). The bottom was stationary on the
press deck. The pressure allowed the
glue to move and then set within the dowel holes
The box pieces, when they arrived, were laid
out on the box press deck for assembly.
The assembly included all of the pieces to make a box (both sides, top,
bottom, back and any internal supports for drawers). The process was to use small
amounts of glue in the dowel holes and insert the wooden dowels and assemble
the box.
The back was free floating to allow for
expansion and contraction of the wood.
The backs were cut in a different location (not the main saw) and were
considered a “feeding” part for box assembly.
Each piece marked with the job number and the specific box number it was
assigned to. When the box was rough
assembled, a rubber mallet was used to position the dowel pins and bring the
box together in a rough snug fit. The
box was then placed in the box press where pressure was applied to seal (press)
everything together. The box press duration
was about 3 minutes per box. This was
amount of time considered necessary for the glue to dry and allow the box to
stay together. When the boxes left the
press they moved one box at a time to the next work station - Final Assembly.
Step
7 - Final Assembly
During final assembly the boxes were fitted
with the correct doors which had already been cut and edge banded and waiting
(hopefully) in final assembly. The
correct hardware for the hinges and drawer pulls were identified from the
production package and added.
The final assembly process was helped by the
fact that the holes for door hinges and drawer guides had already been drilled
by the Morbidelli. It was simply a
matter of attaching the correct hardware and hanging the doors and inserting
the drawers onto the drawer guides.
The doors and drawers were marked with job
numbers and cabinet numbers to make sure the right doors were put on the
correct right cabinets which didn’t always work out. Final assembly had numerous repairs and
rework because sometimes the wrong doors had been installed on the wrong
cabinet. The drawers were assembled in
another location and delivered to final assembly. The drawers were marked with the job number
and cabinet number to aid the assembly process.
This process presented its own form of issues.
When the assembled boxes were complete with
doors, drawers and hardware, they moved from final assembly as single units to
the next work station - Shipping.
Step
8 - Shipping
At the shipping location each box was wrapped
with plastic wrap to protect the outside laminate from scratches and cushion
the stacking process when the boxes were loaded in the truck for transportation. The boxes were checked by project number to
make sure they were heading to the right job site. Additional materials, such as base boards, flashing
panels, and counter tops were also added to the truck, as required.
There were several instances when the
shipping inventory was stacked in several holding areas waiting for a
truck. With one truck available the
shipping folks had to wait for the truck to return before loading it
again. Often times they had to wait a
considerable time for the truck to return, especially when they were delivering
to several states!
The
Visual Cabinet Process Flow
This flow DOES NOT contain time durations at
the process, but rather just the flow of product through the system. The only real time that had been established
was the three (3) minute press time at the box press. When the improvement team arrived, the
estimated time to complete this cycle would take anywhere from four (4) to six
(6) weeks, sometimes longer, to complete the production cycle.
So, based on your experience and given this
much information, you have probably compiled a mental list of ALL the things
that need to be fixed or changed. At
this point, would you venture a guess as to where the problem area(s) might
reside? How come this system takes four
(4) to six (6) weeks to produce any results?
What, in your estimation, is slowing system down? How come?
Bob Sproull
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