The local union was questioning the accuracy of the production standards, thinking they were too tight. Our client produces thousands of different stamped components that go into their heating and air conditioning units. They decided to bring in an impartial third party, IET Inc., to audit their standards in a few departments and give a fair assessment of their accuracy.

Our client used the MOST predetermined time system to create their standards years ago and also had developed a standard data system to create standards for thousands of part numbers in a quick fashion. Not every part number had actually been observed when a standard was created, leading to some of the accuracy problems. It was decided to audit the stamping, insulation and assembly line standards for accuracy.

Production parts being produced were observed by an IET engineer and a standard was created using MOST. The IET standard was then compared to the client’s existing standard. It was found that some standards were tight, some were loose and some were very close. Overall, in one press brake department, the client’s standards were 15% loose and in another press brake department they were 5% tight. The standards in the insulation department were 7% loose and the assembly line standards were very close.

Changeovers were also observed and compared to company standards for a variety of part numbers. A work sampling study was also performed in the press brake department to determine overall productivity and identify interferences to reaching production goals.