Throughput issue causes delays on production line

Throughput issue causes delays on production line

A throughput issue within two kitchen appliance production lines and an excess in WIP inventory drove a major appliance maker to seek a solution for its Tennessee facility. The lines had 340 employees led by eight supervisors. The leadership’s desires included redesigning the workflow process to improve efficiency and inventory tracking, reviewing production processes, reducing waste, and updating/managing the SAP system.

Improving the value stream efficiency by 50% to 60% to improve capacity leverage, inventory accuracy, and product costs by the third quarter or within 17 weeks was the objective. IE teams focused on the following areas: operations, warehouse, inventory management, and mixed-model flow.

We hit the targets early and the project was completed in a short 10 weeks, well before the deadline, making the client very happy.

The Kaizen events increased the average assembly output by 20%; improved on-time material flow from receiving by 25%; reduced the rework of the two assembly lines by 25%; reduced scrap waste by 50%; and 80% of the finish operators achieved 100% efficiency. The time spent with this client helped them significantly improve in areas they had been struggling for quite some time. Knowledge was transferred, and the company continues to apply the teachings from this project.

Activities in this case study include:

• Kaizen
• Value Stream Efficiency
• Workflow Process
• Inventory Accuracy
• Supermarket System

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