Last week, we talked about a local manufacturing company Big Ass fan. One of the biggest contributions to their success is the fact that they are a profitable company due to their high tech manufacturing process, it is a very "LEAN" process. In Wednesday's edition of the Lexington Herald leader, there was an article about another local company, J. M.Smuckers Co,a food processing manufacturer. The headlines read Smuckers closes 4 plants, cuts 15% of its work force. This is another unfortunate plant closure for our country. The company is planning on cutting 700 jobs in the process of closing these plants.
Fortunately for the Bluegrass,the Lexington plant is not one of the four that will be affected in the closures. The article stated that the company had invested money into the Lexington plant for renovations. This is a positive sign for the Lexington plant, often the plants that management plans on remaining open do receive funds for technological upgrades and renovations. An example of this management strategy is another Bluegrass plant, AGC glass, in Richmond Ky, during the economic crisis, they were forced to place that plant on "hot hold". AGC choose to spend millions in technical upgrades and renovations to improve their processes and cut costs. The other AGC plants that were placed on "hot Hold" did not receive any funds, and now have been permanently closed.
The article references that management at the Smuckers Co is planning on spending $220 million over the next 3 years to build a new plant in Orville Ohio, and improve process at their other locations. This new improvements will allow the company to have a smaller workforce, therefore cutting costs. Smuckers is following other industrial manufactures in an effort to remain profitable. The J. M. Smuckers Company expects to save 60 million dollars annually with the proposed changes.
Friday, March 26, 2010
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Manufacturing Process at Big Ass fans
On Tuesday March 9, 2010, a local manufacturing facility hosted an ASQ meeting, where we were privileged to tour their facility. Big Ass fans, which is a local company, has grown and expanded exponentially within the last decade, despite the economy. It was list in the top 5 places to work in Lexington last year.
It is always interesting to view how different companies incorporate the newest technology within their process. Big Ass Fans process is very similar to other manufacturing facilities in Kentucky, they design, assembly, and tests in the Ky facilities, but outsource allot of the work to other suppliers. The actual fan blades are outsourced to a supplier that are experts in extrusions, they have the knowledge and technology to perform this process at a much lower cost than Big Ass Fans. The Lexington based manufacturer has three areas of concentration for their facility. The first is the design of new models, (to grow their business), this is one of the reasons for their continued success over the past decade. They assembly all the purchased parts as well as internally made components,an effort to keep the design confidential. The last area of focus is their testing, this is to confirm that their design has meet the design intent, and to assure all safety requirements have been obtained as well.
It is always interesting to view how different companies incorporate the newest technology within their process. Big Ass Fans process is very similar to other manufacturing facilities in Kentucky, they design, assembly, and tests in the Ky facilities, but outsource allot of the work to other suppliers. The actual fan blades are outsourced to a supplier that are experts in extrusions, they have the knowledge and technology to perform this process at a much lower cost than Big Ass Fans. The Lexington based manufacturer has three areas of concentration for their facility. The first is the design of new models, (to grow their business), this is one of the reasons for their continued success over the past decade. They assembly all the purchased parts as well as internally made components,an effort to keep the design confidential. The last area of focus is their testing, this is to confirm that their design has meet the design intent, and to assure all safety requirements have been obtained as well.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Automated and Robotic manufacturing Processes
The actual process of manufacturing has evolved over time. In years past, the assembling, or manufacturing process was physically preformed by humans. In an effort to remain competitive, many companies have incorporated robotics and automation in their manufacturing processes, thus reducing or eliminating manpower.
One of the benefits of as a member of ASQ, (American Society of Quality) often we are privileged to touring manufacturing plants. It is very interesting to view the different techniques of automation, which includes assembly, inspection, and packaging of the various products. Once the automated process have been "debugged", the process is very stable and repetitive. The productivity is maintain throughout the day, or even work week. These systems eliminate the human factor.
These tours are very educational to all in attendance; they often give ideas to other manufacturing companies for their own facilities or processes, whether the process is manufacturing a safety helmet or electronics board these processes can be implemented in other manufacturing facilities
When the process is robotics, the programs are a computer program that is saved, and in the event of a crash or failure, they can be easily retrieved and obtain within minutes of the failure. Their is some upfront cost for these high tech programs, but low cost maintenance. Often, when changes or modifications need to be implemented, they are simple program changes, which can be achieved with a minimum cost and time.
One of the largest benefits of automation is the 100% inspection capabilities. When people sort or inspect it is a statically fact that the process is only 80% effective. This is not an acceptable standard when most customer expect a zero percent defects. On the other hand, automated or robotic inspection is 100% effective, this is often referred to a error proof or poka-yoke. Most customers require a system correction when a failure has escaped their suppliers facility. Automation is away to obtain this system correction or improvement, and pacifing the customers at the same time.
One of the benefits of as a member of ASQ, (American Society of Quality) often we are privileged to touring manufacturing plants. It is very interesting to view the different techniques of automation, which includes assembly, inspection, and packaging of the various products. Once the automated process have been "debugged", the process is very stable and repetitive. The productivity is maintain throughout the day, or even work week. These systems eliminate the human factor.
These tours are very educational to all in attendance; they often give ideas to other manufacturing companies for their own facilities or processes, whether the process is manufacturing a safety helmet or electronics board these processes can be implemented in other manufacturing facilities
When the process is robotics, the programs are a computer program that is saved, and in the event of a crash or failure, they can be easily retrieved and obtain within minutes of the failure. Their is some upfront cost for these high tech programs, but low cost maintenance. Often, when changes or modifications need to be implemented, they are simple program changes, which can be achieved with a minimum cost and time.
One of the largest benefits of automation is the 100% inspection capabilities. When people sort or inspect it is a statically fact that the process is only 80% effective. This is not an acceptable standard when most customer expect a zero percent defects. On the other hand, automated or robotic inspection is 100% effective, this is often referred to a error proof or poka-yoke. Most customers require a system correction when a failure has escaped their suppliers facility. Automation is away to obtain this system correction or improvement, and pacifing the customers at the same time.
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