In December, IEN explored industry perspectives on the course of lean manufacturing. In the second part of this report, we take a look at various applications of the lean/flexible approach, from assembly to aftermarket service.

ABB Automation -- Lean describes ABB Automation Inc's new drives production facility in New Berlin, WI. The multilevel assembly line is installed on top of ESD, conductive carpeting, and built in a continuous loop structure so that production can proceed constantly without stoppage or interruption. Drive frames are subassembled and then the assembler places specific assemblies on the line based on the drive product types needed. The plant builds whatever drives are required from a daily work schedule that is downloaded to the master control system. The drive subassemblies are placed on smart pallets, each with an electronic "escort memory" chip embedded in its base. According to Rick Jasinski, manager of manufacturing engineering for ABB's New Berlin facility, the "escort memory chip in the pallet dictates how each unit will be constructed and tested." (Click here for complete case study.)

GE Fanuc -- J & L Specialty recently designed and built the world's first stainless steel "Direct Roll Anneal and Pickle" (DRAP) line at its Midland, PA. plant. The DRAP line leverages a GE Fanuc Automation control system to help reduce total manufacturing time by as much as 75%. Typically, stainless steel processing involves several discrete operations; the new line combines all of these individual steps into one continuous finishing process. "Instead of taking several weeks to process coil or other material through a conventional system of multiple machines, now we can process an individual coil in about 20 minutes by replacing five separate processes with one," explains Mark Stewart, J & L DRAP line manager. Additionally, the PLCs are complemented by GE Fanuc's Genius I/O, which provides J & L up to a 600% increase in overall fault system protection and reduced system downtime of as much as 50%. (Click here for complete case study.)

IBM -- Sharp Microelectronics of the Americas (SMA) creates and manages the demand for discrete electronic components produced by Sharp Corp's factories in the Far East. SMA is creating a comprehensive suite of applications linked through a Web portal. This portal combines information from multiple sources, organized around business roles and tasks. The lynchpin for its technical architecture is an EAI solution for business process management. SMA relies on the capabilities of an IBM business partner Extricity/Peregrine and the technical capabilities of its business-to-business integration (B2Bi) solution to exchange critical content among disparate business applications. Suppliers and customers are beginning to integrate their own electronic business processes with those of SMA. For instance, an OEM is able to request price and availability information electronically for specific Sharp components, receive an automatic reply almost immediately, and then place an electronic order as part of a seamless business process. (Click here for complete case study.)

Bosch Rexroth -- Bosch Rexroth Linear Motion and Assembly Technologies recognized that there was significant time "wasted" in material handling in the belt-welding portion of the conveyor module manufacturing process, and took a lean direction. The company built custom racks of aluminum profile at the workcell to hold belt material, allowing easy modification; created a typical U-shaped lean workcell in which the belt material progressively moved through each stage of the belt manufacturing process, using reconfigurable aluminum profiles; and implemented a Kanban system in which parts, including completed belts, are delivered to the conveyor module assembly stations only when needed.(Click here for complete case study.)

Escort Memory -- International Truck & Engine Corp is the operating company of Navistar Corp. While constructing a $300 million engine plant, International realized its data collection and tracking capabilities were obsolete. International had been using a printed label system to track engine build information, with a build ticket generated for each engine and stored in a filing cabinet. International required an automated data capture system. It wanted to access more information and access this data through Internet, as opposed to sifting through a mass of filing cabinets. International chose Escort Memory Systems' (EMS) RFID technology, and now captures 10 times more data than before.(Click here for complete case study.)

Schunk-USA -- Schunk-USA had almost completed the construction of its new manufacturing facility in Morrisville, NC. The network designer had designed the data infrastructure for future bandwidth requirements, and the company wanted to avoid any changes to the basic topology of the DNC network in any future expansion. At first, a wireless approach solution looked cost prohibitive and incomplete. Then Schunk's IT department came up with a solution -- going wireless from the DNC server to the machine on the floor without a PC at each work area. With only one wireless device per machine, this plan was less expensive than cabling. (Click here for complete case study.)

TBM Consulting Group -- Presto Lifts, along with material handling equipment manufacturers Blue Giant and Long-Reach, were purchased by TBM Holdings, a division of TBM Consulting Group, a leading advocate and practitioner of the Kaizen continuous improvement method. Presto "went from a fabrication shop that made parts in big batches to one piece flow lines which provide better responsiveness," says Bill Schwartz, president of TBM Holdings. "Now, you have a supermarket of parts in a weld cell. The parts that are welded in the morning move to the paint booths and that afternoon they are assembled. So it flows right through the line in 36 to 48 hours." The transformation toward this more focused method of production took place in a deliberate series of steps as Kaizen events, a method of achieving lean manufacturing. The resulting noticeable customer change is in the form of the Always in Stock (AIS) Program, though which dozens of Presto Lift products are shippable within 24-48 hours.(Click here for complete case study.)

BigMachines -- Lightnin, a unit of SPX Corp, provides industrial fluid mixers and agitators to a wide range of industries with diverse applications. Aftermarket parts sales provide an important source of revenue. Lightnin relies primarily on a sales organization made up of 60 to 70 manufacturer representatives worldwide. It had depended on manual processes to select, mechanically check, configure, and create quotations, as well as to generate BOMs and assembly routings, generate quote drawings, and enter orders into their Baan ERP system. As part of its Quote-To-Cash (QTC) initiative, Lightnin implemented BigMachines eSales as a channel management application for their manufacturing representatives and application engineers. These users can access eSales from anywhere in the world to generate quotes and drawings and submit orders on behalf of their customers. "We eventually expect to reduce costs up to four percent of annual sales with BigMachines," says Richard Gray, vp of eBusiness and information services at Lightnin. The eSales' configuration, pricing, quote, and order capabilities have reduced cycle times by 50% to 80%. (Click here for complete case study.)

Framework Technologies -- Branson Ultrasonics Corp, an independent division of Emerson Electric Corp, focuses on the design, development, manufacture, and marketing of plastics joining and precision cleaning equipment. The development of a new vibration welder required input from individuals and teams across the globe, and project coordination and communication soon became issues. Branson chose Framework Technologies' ActiveProject software to connect project participants. The company installed ActiveProject at its headquarters in Danbury, CT, and went live locally in two days. Within a month, ActiveProject was live across the entire vibration welder project team, which worked from a common set of project information such as product specifications, CAD designs, and project milestones status. The result was a 20% reduction in time-to-market.(Click here for complete case study.)

Siko Products -- GM Metal Fabrication in Grand Rapids, MI uses a Siko Magline (magnetic length measuring system) to automate their milling operations. Their machine repair department outfitted an Ingersol Vertical Power Mill with flexible synthetic tape along the vertical axis of the 42 x 72 in. table. A sensor head travels without contact along the band, scanning the tape's magnetic field and generating analog signals. The signals are translated to determine direction and increments, and then output to an easy-to-read display. Says operator Marc Maitner: "This machine is used all day, 3 to 5 days a week. It's a tough environment with dirt and debris, but we haven't had any skips or misses the whole time we've had it installed."(Click here for complete case study.)

emWare -- Liquid Metronics Inc (LMI), a manufacturer of chemical metering pumps, controllers, and accessories at ISO9001 facilities, wanted a simple, rapid method for alerting water treatment technicians to crucial system alarms. LMI turned to emWare for a solution. EmWare's EMIT software adds remote management capabilities to new and legacy devices and device networks. Using emWare's technology, LMI's Liquitron DC5500 series of controllers allow technicians to remotely manage multiple cooling tower operations, access real-time system data, and remotely or locally download up to a month's worth of historical data via PC, laptop or Palm Pilot. When conditions in the system trigger an alarm, the controller can notify the technician immediately through a pager or an e-mail message.(Click here for complete case study.)

Critical Reach -- To service its appliances, Miele & Cie, GmbH & Co, a German manufacturer of high-end household appliances, leverages the talents of hundreds of company-employed technicians and thousands of independent, retailer-employed technicians around the globe. Miele initiated a pilot Internet project to deploy service content on the company's W 360 WPS washing machine, which consists of nearly 300 individual parts. Miele selected the Critical Reach Manual to deliver its next-generation solution to its services representatives. This Internet-ready solution integrates and cross-references complex and disparate product and service information stored throughout the enterprise and delivers Web-enabled, interactive 3D graphics without plug-ins. (Click here for complete case study.)

Selltis -- Mack W. Sorrells Company, Inc. (MWS) is a manufacturer's representative providing cutting tools, tooling, and abrasives to the metalworking and woodworking industries. To support sales activities, MWS uses Selltis, a sales force automation (SFA) and customer relationship management (CRM) solution for the industrial sales market. "Selltis enables us to record everything in one place, and easily link a contact to all related information, communications, and follow-up activities," explains Mack Sorrells, president and owner of MWS. Initially, MWS loaded Selltis onto its own server with representatives dialing in to synchronize data via FTP. When the software became available on a hosted basis, MWS immediately moved its server to the Selltis offices -- and effectively eliminated the costs associated with maintaining a system in-house. All administration and updates are handled directly by Selltis. "It takes less than 20 minutes to input a day's worth of work into Selltis, and no more than three minutes to synchronize the database," says Sorrells.(Click here for complete case study.)

Parker Hannifin -- Since June 2001, Parker Hannifin has started going lean corporate-wide, using the Toyota model. The company's goal is to have a dedicated lean team, with operation-specific objectives, at each Parker plant. At the Instrumentation and Connectors Div.'s Boaz, AL, facility, Kaizen teams working on the chucker cell achieved improved throughput time by 97.5%, cycle time by 96.3%, staffing level by 25%, productivity by 33.7%, changeover by 41%, inventory reduction by 56.7%, quality measurement by 300%, and quality by 37.5%. "When we started there was a five-day lead time for orders from the front office to the lead floor," adds Boaz plant operations manager Jean Savage. "We took the job start from five days to two minutes." (Click here for complete case study.)