Lean Manufacturing

3 Smart Ways to Achieve Smarter Manufacturing Profitability

SmartBin

No matter the product being produced, it’s imperative to find ways to streamline production and manufacturing processes. Doing so can lead to improved speed of production, faster speed to market, increased cost savings, improved product quality, as well as higher customer satisfaction and loyalty levels. Simply put, it makes dollars and sense to seek out continuous improvement throughout your manufacturing processes. Let’s take a closer look at three smart ways to achieve smarter manufacturing. 

Make a SMART Analysis of Your Current Workflows

It’s impossible to move from A to B — unless you know where A is. This means all improvements toward achieving smarter manufacturing begins with benchmarking and analyzing your current workflows. Here are general steps you can use to get started:

  1. People. Do you have the right people with the right skills in the right place? More so, have you defined Specific, Measurable, Assignable, Realistic, and Time-Related (SMART) goals? 
  2. Process. How long has it been since you’ve mapped out and evaluated your processes? Where did you identify obstacles and bottlenecks?
  3. Technology and Tools. How well maintained is your equipment? Do you utilize the most relevant tech to meet business-critical applications? And how easy is it for you to modify these processes? 

Implement a Smart Factory Logistics System

In the age of smartphones, smart TVs, smart doorbells, and everything else, now is the perfect time to optimize your warehouse and supply chain with Smart Factory Logistics. Empowered by the Internet of Things, Smart Factory Logistics enables your computers and machines to communicate in real-time. At Bossard, we offer both software and physical systems to automate your C-parts supply chain to help you work smarter. Our Smart Factory Logistics system is comprised of the following core components.

SmartLabel

As the name suggests, SmartLabels are intelligent, connected modular labels that can be affixed to your existing storage units designed to hold stock. Once programmed, a plethora of information can be seamlessly communicated to other components via the SmartLable Cloud:

  • Name
  • ID numbers
  • Delivery date
  • Real-time order status
  • And more

 Each label uses an e-paper display and can last up to five years. In addition, an easy-to-use button on the label triggers ordering.  

SmartBin

The SmartBin is a stand-alone container that features integrated weight sensors. These sensors are responsible for continuously monitoring stock levels through the SmartBin cloud. If inventory drops to the point of reordering, it will automatically send the order through to Bossard. All order items will be consolidated into a single shipment and sent to the point of use or dock. 

SmartLocker

If you have valuable or restricted inventory, the SmartLocker restricts access to those who have the proper RFID card. With the SmartLocker, ordering is also automatic .

Use Smarter Analytics

ARIMS is a cloud-based, digital, interactive platform that links all Bossard Smart Factory Logistics systems together to improve lean management and increase supply chain transparency. It allows you to access the platform via computer or through the mobile app from your personal smartphone or tablet. And once access is gained, you’ll have the ability to perform and manage an array of functions — whether you’re on the factory floor or at your desk.

ARIMS places volumes of data and accessibility at your fingertips. You can analyze your deliveries, orders, locations, and articles in real-time by leveraging easy-to-understand: 

  • Tables,
  • Graphs
  • Reports

In addition, ARIMS allows you to customize system options, submit change requests, view previous and current changes.

Ready to learn more? Contact the assembly technology experts at Bossard. 

 

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June 03, 2022
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How Does Lean Manufacturing Eliminate Waste?

How Does Lean Manufacturing Eliminate Waste?

By cataloging all the steps in your production process and supply chain, lean manufacturing attempts to identify and eventually eliminate the inefficient steps that impede productivity, increase costs, and disrupt schedules.

One such inefficiency is overproduction, which produces more goods than you can sell. You’re stuck with holding the finished goods until they can be sold, even assuming that can happen. This increases storage costs, blocks cash flow, and ties up capital, raw materials, finished products, and resources that may be more productively used elsewhere.

How Overproduction Happens

Overproduction often happens due to five main reasons:

·      Unreliable processes that fail unpredictably or produce results that are hard to predict.

·      Batch sizes are too large to manage efficiently.

·      Unstable schedules that affect the efficiency of processes.

·      Unbalanced cells or departments that are too small in some areas or too large in others.

·      Inaccurate information that leads to incorrect product forecasts and schedules.

All these reasons tie into issues with preparation through activities that do not enhance value and increase waste. Lean manufacturing aims to solve these issues.

How Lean Manufacturing Eliminates Waste

One of the guiding principles of lean manufacturing is to identify all the steps needed to produce the final product.

·      By value stream mapping this flow on one sheet, you can better identify procedures that are inefficient and wasteful and eliminate them to smooth out the flow.

·      With the continuous improvement of your processes, you can improve productivity, change production time from months to weeks, save money for you and the customer, boost profits, and increase customer satisfaction.

Managing C-Parts with Bossard

Managing your C-parts like screws, nuts, and bolts is critical to creating a lean production system that increases efficiency. As one of the leading specialists in the production of fasteners, we are experts in this area of production. To eliminate overproduction and other costly mistakes in the manufacturing process, we deliver to you years of knowledge and experience with our Bossard Smart Factory Logistics services and systems.

To find out how our logistics improvement technology can work for your application, please contact us at ProvenProductivity@bossard.com.

January 22, 2021
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Throughput Time vs. Lead Time

Throughput Time vs. Lead Time

When your business wants to improve productivity and increase profit, one strategy that you can adopt is lean manufacturing. This process identifies the wasteful steps in your manufacturing process and eliminates them to cut costs and speed up scheduling. Two important components of lean manufacturing are throughput and lead time.

Lead Time

Lead time defines the period from when the customers place the order for your product to when they finally receive what they ordered.

·      Short lead times satisfy customers more because they don’t have to wait too long to benefit from your product. They’ll broadcast your efficiency to their colleagues and friends, which can lead to more orders being placed by others.

·      Long lead times disappoint customers who may wonder what happened to their order. They might either cancel their order or demand compensation for waiting, which increases your cost. They’ll complain about your inefficiency to anyone who’ll listen and be reluctant to order from you again.

Throughput Time

Throughput time measures the period from when the raw materials are gathered to the completion of the final product. Start to finish throughput time is generally the sum of the following time intervals:

·      Processing Time is the amount of time spent in actual manufacturing on a machine. Raw materials become the finished product during this time.

·      Inspection Time is the time to ensure that the product meets quality standards. This can involve verifying components and sub-assemblies, testing electronics, and manually checking for any issues like incorrect fits.

·      Move Time is the interval spent moving materials or sub-assemblies from one machine to another or from warehouse inventory to the factory floor.

·      Queue Time, which is also known as wait time, comprises the times before processing, inspection, and moving.

If you improve throughput time, it will ultimately lead to shorter lead times.

How Bossard Can Help

Bossard reduces production process time and optimizes the value chain through our advanced Smart Factory Logistics systems and technologies. If you want to know how we can help you develop manufacturing processes and facilities that are agile and intelligent, contact us today at ProvenProductivity@bossard.com.

January 15, 2021
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5 Lean Manufacturing Principles to Improve Efficiency

5 Lean Manufacturing Principles

Lean principles streamline manufacturing processes by getting rid of inefficiency and waste. They can improve productivity, lower material costs, improve cycle time, and lift you above your competition. To implement lean manufacturing at your facility, follow its five basic principles.

1. Identify value.

Think about how, why, and when the customers need your product or service.

How much will it cost? How will you meet that price point through manufacturing and timely delivery? What requirements and standards do you have to follow to fulfill or exceed expectations? The answers to these questions define value.

2. Map the value stream.

The value stream defines every step that goes into creating the product from gathering raw materials to final delivery to the customer. Identify all the actions involved in each stage of procurement, design, production process, human resources, delivery, and customer support. You can ideally map all the steps on one page to give you an overall picture. You can then begin to identify those that are repetitious or wasteful and need to be disposed of.

We want to help you boost productivity and lower your Total Cost of Ownership. One way we do this is by conducting a value stream analysis focused on your fasteners and fastening technology to identify any areas of optimization.

3. Create flow.

Once you eliminate the waste from your stream, you can find ways to make the remaining steps flow smoothly and without delays or interruptions. If you ensure that all the steps for creating value happen in a tight sequence, you can guarantee a smooth process that leads to the customer. This may demand teamwork across all departments. The goal is an improvement in productivity and efficiency.

4. Establish pull.

Improving the product flow reduces the time for the product to reach your customers who want to be able to “pull” products as they are needed. Delivery times then drop from months to weeks. This prevents the expensive storage of materials or products waiting to be delivered. This results in savings for you and the customer.

5. Seek perfection.

Lean manufacturing demands continuous attention to process improvement and implementing efforts to continually improve. Making it part of your corporate culture lets you strive for perfection. Every employee must be involved. It is said that a process does not truly become lean until it has gone through these principles at least six times.

For more information about how Bossard can help you achieve your lean manufacturing goals, get in touch today at ProvenProductivity@bossard.com.

January 08, 2021
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What is Lean Manufacturing and How Can I Achieve It?

What is Lean Manufacturing

Lean manufacturing is a process that is designed to reduce waste without negatively affecting productivity or quality. By focusing on those elements that add value to the manufacturing system and supply chain, and stripping away what does not, lean management achieves this goal. 

It Is Not a New Concept

As far back as Benjamin Franklin, innovative minds have been touting the idea of avoiding unnecessary costs by reducing waste. Franklin wrote about this concept as being more favorable in terms of profits compared to an increase in sales. 

Putting Lean Manufacturing into Practice

Put into practice, lean manufacturing encompasses tools designed to first identify waste then address this issue. Once that occurs, the costs of operating the system are reduced while productivity and quality are improved. 

The tools of lean manufacturing are varied and diverse. These can include the following: 

  • multi-process handling
  • visualizing workflow
  • value stream mapping
  • total productive maintenance
  • control charts that check workloads
  • error proofing
  • production flow analysis
  • single-point scheduling

It can also be achieved by removing unevenness found in the workflow. This is supported by visualizing the workflow so that areas of improvement are discovered.

Instead of being focused on eliminating waste, improving the workflow takes a system-wide perspective. Waste removal is a natural occurrence when this method is used. 

Lean Manufacturing Principles

Regardless of whether the focus of lean manufacturing practices is simply on reducing waste or it aims to address systemic unevenness in the workflow, the following principles drive the methodology: 

  • flexibility
  • automation
  • perfect quality the first time
  • visual control
  • positive vendor management
  • production flow
  • continuous improvement
  • minimizing different types of waste
  • pull processing

Lean manufacturing, as a concept, is the ideal way for businesses to achieve their goals. It reduces waste, improves productivity, increases quality, and improves lead time.

However, to be most effective, the lean production system must be tailored to the specific company and its needs. This key factor is what drives the successful adaptation of lean manufacturing while enabling the achievement of the company’s unique goals. 

To learn more about how Bossard can help you reach your lean manufacturing goals and improve processes, contact us today at ProvenProductivity@bossard.com.

January 01, 2021
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