PVC, aluminium extrusion industry
One-piece flow production cannot be implemented due to the high retooling workload involved in using extrusion tools. Products are manufactured in stock, from where customers regularly call up their quotas.
The setup and start-up times within the industry play a key role in the amortisation of extrusion tools.
The half-life of extruded product geometries is becoming shorter due to rapidly growing customer and market requirements (e.g. ecological balance, handling, raw material prices).
New tools need to be produced for new products and put into operation in ever smaller intervals.
The shorter the setup and start-up times,
- The less time systems are standing still during setup
- The less material waste is produced during start-up
and the faster the tools are amortised.
The problem:
In order to be able to fulfil the new amortisation requirements, the setup and start-up times of around 2 hours (mean) need to be reduced to around 45 min (mean). In addition, only suitably qualified employees are permitted to set up the system.
Challenges lie in:
- Localising “low-hanging fruit” and “easy to put in the bag” savings potential when setting up and starting up extrusion systems in collaboration with the setup and start-up team
- Creating a road map in coordination with the management to implement this potential in order to quickly achieve lasting results
- Implementing this road map in collaboration with the production team
- Providing evidence of the results.
Solution (Lean SMED)
In collaboration with Production, the following activities are implemented for setup in accordance with Lean SMED:
- The setup activities nozzle dismantling and upgrading, dry calibrator dismantling and upgrading, cooling tank dismantling and upgrading, auger dismantling and upgrading are recorded and evaluated
- All Lean 5S topics are localised and disconnected organisationally
- All preparatory and follow-up activities are localised to move them to the period before the stoppage or after starting up the system
- Some setup activities are shortened by using more efficient resources.
Similar to the setup, the following activities are implemented for start-up in accordance with Lean SMED:
- The start-up activities heating the extruder, recipe parameterisation, setting of equipment, parameterising of cooling tanks, drawing and start-up are recorded and evaluated
- All Lean Poka Yoke topics are localised and implemented to reduce the manual setting of equipment
- All Lean 5S topics are localised and disconnected organisationally
- All preparatory and follow-up activities are localised to move them to the period before the stoppage or after starting up the system
Result
It was possible to reduce the setup and start-up times to 45 min (mean) within the coordinated period of 6 months and alongside the parallel implementation of numerous Lean PDCA projects.
