The company had recently launched the cockpit system for a new, high-profile vehicle and was having major start-up difficulties with its new workforce and new process. Assembly conveyor and installation equipment malfunctions. Supplier quality problems. Non-standard work practices. Just two months after launch, the line was only achieving 55% of the targeted throughput. The situation had to improve immediately and significantly or the assembly plant would soon be halted for lack of cockpit assemblies.

IET’s engineering approach involves decomposing the productivity gap into three independent factors: utilization, quality and efficiency. Two IET engineers provided around-the-clock coverage on the shop floor debugging the production system. Delays were chronicled by monitoring entire shifts and measuring every single interruption along with its root cause. Pareto analyses pinpointed the problems with the biggest payoff. Component defect tracking highlighted the key issues for each supplier to tackle. After performing time studies on each station, IET’s engineer identified several over-cycle conditions that required rebalancing and methods redesign. The application of sound industrial engineering practices uncovered specific, actionable problems that could be resolved one-by-one. After three months of IET’s disciplined problem-solving efforts, the team had almost doubled the cockpit line throughput and was routinely meeting the daily target. The likelihood of shutting down the assembly plant had gone