Increasing Equipment Uptime to Process Higher Volumes

Increasing Equipment Uptime to Process Higher Volumes

A supplier of metal plates to the aerospace industry struggled with increasing demand and material logistics, including the receiving, storing, and moving of the whole steel plates, which were supplied by its customers. When the customer needed pieces cut from a plate, the turnaround had to be within a week for standard orders and one day for AOGs (aircraft-on-ground).The company had operations strategically located near major hubs of aerospace in North America, including Seattle, Los Angeles, and Wichita, Kansas.

An analysis was conducted to map out an improvement strategy to improve the uptime on the saws from 25% to 50% and double the output. A report served as a road map for the delivery of identified and quantified (down to the dollar) improvements. It detailed six specific projects that would allow the operation to go from 25% saw-cutting time to 53% saw-cutting time, allowing for a potential to more than double the volume.

Activities in this case study include:

• Analysis
• Value Stream Map

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