IET, Inc - Asset utilization driven to a new level.

IET, Inc.
3539 Glendale Ave
Toledo, Ohio 43614

www.ieteng.com

Case Study 3-08749

Asset utilization driven to a new level.

IET created an adjusted manufacturing plan and process that drove the OEE of capital intensive production up by nearly 40% to reduce costs and ensure on-time delivery of critical automotive components.

The Customer

A international supplier of custom welded components to the automotive industry

"IET proved the critical data collection and process simplification redesign to ensure significant performance was improved in short order."

Vice President of Operations

The Challenge

The customer required flexible automated welding and assembly equipment to meet the varied production demands of their customers. Frequent change-overs reduced overall OEE on a 24-7 basis to less than 50% on a weekly average.

The IET team members needed to clearly measure, redesign and improve performance to drive daily performance to a consistent and reliable level. Improvements needed to be made in the short-term to ensure a cost competitive process and customer demands were met.

The Solution

IET provided critical shop-floor observation and measurement on all three shifts of production to clearly identify the non-capital improvements that could be achieved by the team. A combination of traditional time study and effective fixed-interval work sampling provided reliable data to the team explaining this critical gap. The redesigned process included standardized change-over procedures, simplified material delivery and kanban systems, and a two-ten schedule to allow flexible maintenance and improved employee morale. The improved system met customer demands within an adjustable five-day work week with the increased performance.