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VENTURE
TECHNOLOGIES, INC. Adopting QUICK DIE CHANGE is inevitable, without it, companies may have trouble achieving and maintaining the high levels of quality and productivity necessary to compete in the 1990's. The decision for the metal stamper is: Where do we start to eliminate production waste and find cost savings that yield profits commensurate with the corporate objectives? The idea of QUICK DIE CHANGE became a reality for the Japanese, when plants began producing parts for today's supply of parts, which might only consume an hour of press run time, versus running a part for hours and storing the components as work in process inventory. The ability to work within an economical lot size is a prime factor in achieving production efficiency, and faster die change has become an important part of this equation. As already mentioned world wide competition is draining the market share and profitability of manufacturing. If you're operating a plant at less than capacity, and because you have many presses that have been written off and are sitting idle waiting for the next possible job, it is an unaffordable luxury, in today's market. Their are over 300 transplant stamping companies now established in North America and they are all competing for a share of the Domestic stamping market business. In this highly competitive market, the North American stampers overall operating efficiency in the pressroom is less than 20%, as determined by efficiency calculations from a study conducted with more than 50 North American Stampers over the last four years. The companies that will survive and prosper in the next decade will have a global marketing strategy and begin to compete by using advanced production technologies in their pressrooms. IMPORTANCE OF COMMITMENT QDC is a philosophy integrated into the JIT philosophy of eliminating waste in the total manufacturing process, from purchasing through production. Zero inventories are the goal. Backing of Top Management is critical to a successful implementation of the program. They must be supportive and provide both funding and manpower for the accomplishment of the task at hand. Top Management must also have a true understanding of the value of QDC and how that value will be realized. To many North American Stamping companies have failed to achieve success in the implementation of the QDC process because they held the narrow view that labor reduction was the objective and justification for implementation of the program. Communication-Consideration-Cooperation-Commitment to action Without management's commitment to the 4C's, workers resist the change and make certain the program will fail.
REASONS AND JUSTIFICATION FOR IMPLEMENTATION The core purpose of QDC is to force the stamper to become more competitive and profitable in the manufacture of product under today's market demands. The biggest problems experienced by the Metal Stamper are listed below. The elimination of these problem areas will provide the cost savings that should be used in the Justification of implementation. 1) Low utilization of presses
due to die changing - Low production output. HOW AND WHERE DO WE BEGIN Since the essence of Quick Die Change is to eliminate waste, we will maximize our profits through the reduction of production costs and our first step is to: 1) Obtain Corporate Commitment 2) Establish team to gather information and implement program from start to finish successfully. This step is critical to the success of the QDC process. Many upper level managers insist that a Project Engineer, whom they have provided the power to accumulate and implement the process, can handle the processes. Nothing could be further from the truth. While it is important to establish a leader of the Team. To have aTeam you need active empowered individuals committed to the projects success. Team should have the following
personnel responsible for 3) Identify presses for pilot project. (Ideally this should be the press/presses that use a limited family of dies on a routine basis.) Reduction of waste is one of the keys to successful implementation of the QDC process and we should gather a true picture of what the new system will have to accommodate in regards to isle space, die removal from system restrictions, material flow, raw material storage and retrieval, die storage and retrieval, etc. 4) Study the Press and Dies to be used in pilot project. The selected press must be surveyed to assure we have a solid Machine Tool to work with. This should go without saying but many presses have been modified, overworked or simply not well maintained. Select the product or family of product to be run on this advanced press cell, it is important to gather all information about these dies to determine what modifications will be required to meet our objectives. Provisions for holding dies - Threaded hole pattern? T-Slots? - Shut Height variations? 5) Evaluate current processes on a pilot press area. (Ideally this should be the press/presses that use a limited family of dies on a routine basis.) + Document the typical die change sequence downtime of press due to die changing. NOTE: External activities are those that can be performed while the press is in operation. Internal activities are those that cannot be performed while the press is in operation. After we have documented a typical die change in the Pilot press area, value engineer the data, so you can determine the areas of waste and improvement. Frequency of die change required? Die Setter - Proper tools and die setting hardware. - Properly trained in die setup - Consider all procedures performed to achieve quality part one. Reduce the variables involved in the clamping process. a) Clamping height b) Clamping locations - Ground-tooling posts on notch- and-flat. c) Shut height- upgrade to
electrically adjustable shut height control. d) Clamping forces - Start
with weight of upper shoe A) Design all dies to have
same clamp height B) Design dies with common
dimensions Planning and Procedures (Scheduling and Design) A) Eliminate die changes where
possible -DC feeders - coil cars - double arm reels - loaders and unloaders. I) Plan location of die storage
J) Study press and die for
proper QDC hardware implementation: Uptime and Quality Control 1) Once press is up and running
quality parts maintain up time through: GOALS AND OBJECTIVES: Establish goals and objectives based on the primary objective of greater Internal press uptime and enhanced utilization of press External time. As they relate to maximization of profits through the reduction of production costs. EXAMPLES: Preliminary goals of: * Quick dies change time Potential Rewards of Successful QDC Implementation + Reduced inventory - Parts are economically produced on an as needed basis. + Reduced Setup - Times are slashed to minutes vs. hours providing ability to run smaller lots feasibly. + Reduced Downtime - Provides greater press utilization which minimizes need for additional + Reduced Scrap - Since Positioning and setup are precisely performed and monitored, parts come off the machine right the first time since variables have been minimized or eliminated. + Increased Safety - Written procedures and proper setup of equipment provide a safer. We would look forward to the opportunity to work with you on your QDC projects, let us know where we can be of help. VENTURE TECHNOLOGIES, INC. |