Productivity

Productivity is often placed top amongst operational objectives with companies pulling out all the stops to gain a few extra points. Unfortunately, the traditional response often involves a far too local review of the problem. This means the changes have a limited effect, a high cost and may result in a lack of flexibility.

 

However, there are reserves of productivity that remain untapped in most companies, but the usual paradigms are limiting their perception and restricting their action capacity.
 

Non values:

Muda is a Japanese word meaning non added value.

Our approach to productivity is radically different and entails high gains, often in the region of 30%, with low investment. This expertise results from global best practices and over 15 years expertise in the understanding of the key concepts and their implementing in complex industrial environments with different sets of problems.

Our approach is part of a global system and includes improvements in quality level, actions and work postures as well as in the working environment. The conditions are then set up to start an ongoing improvement approach.

  
This type of organisation ensures lasting and maximised value for the customer with a minimum of resources committed by the company, by acting directly on the reduction in the lead-time or flow rate.
  
Eliminating waste (Muda) results in better use of the work time, in other words an increase in the added value level. Over and above any increase in the level of value creation, the working conditions are improved.

 

Some examples of the results obtained:

Large volume container,

6 levels of parts handling…

=> Parts handling difficulty and variability

The part arrives as close as possible to where it is used

=> Better posture for parts handling

The operators are isolated

The installation is not arranged as per the process order

The WIP is high

- Installation arranged according to the process order
- Part to part flow and process synchronised
- Each operator manoeuvres in several physical work spaces
  • Increase in productivity of 25%
  • Reduction in flow rate of 90%
  • Reduction in the surface area of 50%

Our approach results from the Toyota production system in which the Just In Time organisation is used to obtain optimal scheduling,  "arriving just in time", with:

- The human resources just required

- The equipment just required

- The WIP just required

- The surface area just required

Our exchanges with Toyota, our experience in car manufacturing and other industrial sectors have enabled us to characterise the Just In Time (JIT) production system. Amongst its principles are:

- the radical elimination of non value

- The concept of one part flow

- Jidoka or stopping the line in the event of a problem

- Standardised working

JIT is an organisation that aims towards the elimination of non value at all times.

This originates from a simple observation: the customer only pays for added value stages. Everything else is Muda and the JIT production organisation is used to eliminate the Muda (waste).

JIT is a system that strives for perfection (the essence of value) whenever Muda is eliminated.

Lean supply chain

The change from traditional production to lean supply chain is one of the key stages of JIT organisation. Equipment flow and part-by-part production are used to produce small runs of diverse industrial products, economically and in the quantities required by the market.

Jidoka

This is an automatic defect detection system that halts the machines in the event of an anomaly or a defective product. By extension, the operator can also halt production if a defect occurs. This is known as auto-activation.

Standard work

This is the keystone of the system. Standard work is the training tool for the operators to ensure the right action, the correct working sequence and team work. It is also a guarantee of quality and productivity.

Taiichi Ohno, The Toyota Spirit




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