Background: Client was occasionally missing delivery dates due to quality issues and had engaged us to help them improve both quality and delivery. Stator bars are tested for fit in a plywood mock-up that is made to the same dimensions as the generator core, but the mock-up cannot simulate all fit defects. Costly delays occur when stator bars don't physically fit in the machine because the old stator bars are destroyed in removal.
Situation: A complete set of 120 stator bars was delivered and found not to fit. Client engineers thought that an early manufacturing operation was the source of the dimensional defect. The client wanted to receive each stator bar as it was completed and electrically tested, to ensure proper fit as early as possible.
Analysis: The client request for stator bars to be shipped individually, as soon as they were available, led the client's front line management to make the stator bars one at a time instead of in large batches, moving up the planned move to single piece flow by several months.
Improvement: Single piece flow was initiated through all operations other than the oven, which is the last operation prior to final electrical test and shipping. After the first few bars were shipped and dimensional changes determined for the remainder, stator bars were packaged in a quantity that could be installed in one day, rather that as one order as before.
Result: Complete customer satisfaction with stator bar fit. 85% reduction in production Lead Time. 10,000 to 15,000 square feet of space regained. Material handling reduced 50%. Two employees retired (10% of total) and not replaced.