- Home
- » Consultancy
- » Business Process Improvement Services
- » DMAIC Improvement Project Management
- » Arden 2009 Case Study
Arden 2009 Case Study
Arden Windows – Material Utilisation Improvement
Introduction
Arden Windows has a proven track record of Continuous Improvement. Sustained Long term improvement however requires a constant search for opportunities.. In the case of their Paint utilisation improvement project, Arden identified one such opportunity. After undertaking a short but intense Kaizen project on their Paint spraying process, the team supported by ukfirst master engineer Andy Taylor, where able to reduce paint use by 37% and realise real bottom line savings.
Background
Arden Windows is an established timber window and door manufacturer for both social and private housing. The company employs around 70 people and utilises traditional and modern joinery and manufacturing techniques. Like all companies in a competitive market place, it is continually looking to reduce its costs. Improvement is ongoing at Arden through Lean Manufacturing techniques but the company has also made significant improvement by working with its supply chain and by developing new products and utilising modern manufacturing technologies. In this case the company identified significant material cost in its own internal paint process. Upon initial review there appeared to be potential savings if the processes could be improved to reduce wasted paint.
Objectives and Setting Up the Project
The project was initially identified by the Arden management team after a top level review to identify areas of opportunity for cost reduction. Having previously tackled other direct material costs and implemented improvements, the cost of paint was now being highlighted as significant, and to a degree, uncontrolled spend. An initial review of the costs coupled with a study of the process led the team to set a 10% saving target. This would be delivered through better process control and the reduction of paint losses through the system. The other key area of improvement was to specify more accurately what paint was actually required to paint a window. It was often the case that there was too either much paint in stock or at other at times not enough to complete a production run.
A project identified with ukfirst was to:-
- Identify accurately the amount of paint required to spray a window to improve ordering and stock profile accuracy
- Identify parameters to run the process was run to improved levels of paint utilisation
-
Identify other good working practices
The project had three clear objectives:-
- To reduce direct material cost of paint applied
- Maintain quality levels of paint finish
- Maintain output
To carry out the project a team consisting of the ukfirst engineer Andy Taylor, the Operations Director, the spray technician and the finishing team leader was set up.
Methods
The approach to the project was to use the D.M.A.I.C structure of Defining, Measuring, Analysing, Improving and Controlling the process. This process enables a team to apply their knowledge of the process and approach improvements in a controlled manner. It provides a staged structure to study the process in operation, to collect real data and to understand the process inputs, outputs, variables and controls.
The other key factor was to employ ukfirst’s hands on practical approach and to learn by doing. This lead the team to employ many creative ways to collect data and study the process, including the use of cardboard windows and collecting paint in plastic bags!
The paint supplier was also on site for 2 of the project days and provided invaluable information about the requirements of applying the paint and its specification. This was gaing key to understanding the process and helped in creating some of the savings.
The Action - Defining and Measuring the process
The team spent the first part of the project measuring and studying the process. As part of this they:
- Videoed and studied the process
- Identified the key inputs controlling the process
- Measured the amount of paint being used by the system, how much was recovered and how much was lost
- Identified the main areas where paint was being wasted and calculated the losses
From this activity it was identified that as much as 60% of the paint sprayed was not applied to a window.
Analysing
The analysis phase required the team to get into the detail of the equipment and process and assess the improvement opportunities from the data previously collected. The main waste area was identified as being excessive paint being sprayed which was not applied to the window. Further analysis was carried out to establish how this could be improved:
- Analysed the spray field by spraying cardboard templates
- Calculate theoretical spray field from machine settings
- Working out optimum spray field to just paint he window
- Experimented with the inputs to adjust the spray field to bring to optimum
- Running experiments to assess impact of different variable and relationships between them
- Measurement and understanding of machine set up parameters
The result of the analysis gave the team a new set of parameters to run the process to and provide a saving.
Improve
During the improve phase the team ran the line at the new settings and then re-measured the paint use to verify improvement. After initial trials on sample parts, the team found the paint coverage was not acceptable in certain areas. Upon further investigation it was found the spray gun positions needed recalibrating. After some further adjustments and trials a full trial was run to establish that the new settings had reduced the paint usage. At this point the quality of the finish was checked and found to be acceptable.
Control
Having made improvements, the final important step is to make sure the changes are controlled and embedded into the day to day processes. To that end the team documented the project in a report and updated all the shop floor working documents and machine settings with the new parameters.
Results
The project has achieved a 37% reduction in the use of paint. This will result in significant bottom line cost saving for Arden. They now also have formula to accurately predict how much paint is needed per m3 of window that need to be painted.
Further to the hard financial benefits further actions for improvement where identified around workplace organisation, improved utilisation of the recyclable paint and further area for process optimisation have been identified.
Engineer Feedback
“When many companies look to cut costs they often look externally to suppliers to give them price reductions. Here Arden looked internally and found they could improve material utilisation by improving one of their key processes. When you think this was achieved in just 7 days activity the cost savings are dramatic. There is a lesson for all manufacturers here.” – Andy Taylor ukfirst engineer.
The next step… To find out how your company could benefit from similar results! Email: blovell@fira.co.uk or telephone 01438 777700
