Lean Manufacturing Processes

[BGARK]

Does anyone else work in manufacturing?

We are attempting to get somewhere near this:

https://youtu.be/z66gH20uTZQ?si=LSxkEfKUQrItFdlC

[BGARK]

Starfighter said:

What do you make?
What volumes are made?
Is there a cyclical variation in output?
What is the product mix/variety?
What is the driver for change? Lower cost? Lights out working? Cost down? All of the above?

Questions are all valid, we make thousands of parts, from individual components, to finished products, cnc machined, robot welded, assembled. Very similar to the video in a lot of ways.

[BGARK]

LooneyTunes said:

What’s the problem you’re trying to solve for, and why do you think lean is the solution?

The problem, we have limited time on this planet, why waste it?

Making things more efficient can only be a good thing, for example adding an automated welding station takes a 1 hour process down to a fraction of that. None of its easy initially to setup but the longer term gains are worth it. Hence the welding jig systems in that video were very interesting to me.

The Japanese are experts in this.

[BGARK]

Ean218 said:

What you are describing is fundamental good engineering practice. The whole point of engineering, indeed its very raison d'etre, is to make the most efficient use of resources for a given outcome, whether that's bridges, bicycles or moon rockets.

The Japs used to be the experts at production line efficiency 30 odd years ago, most of us still in business in the UK have caught up and sailed on past. Do you not have any Production Engineers?

Can I ask what you would call a production engineer, sorry if you think its a daft question but I am curious.

[BGARK]

Ean218 said:

The person who designs, and more often than not implements, the production process, usually a Chartered electro-mechanical Engineer of some sort. Not the sort of "engineer" who fixes a broken PC or does plumbing....

Look at TV progs like Inside the Factory, whilst it is an awful format don't you just look in awe at how the production processes work? The guys who design those processes and machines that can flick badly cooked biscuits off the conveyor lines in microseconds are true production engineering geniuses.

I fully agree, but qualifications alone don't always make these people, there is an innate ability in people on the spectrum to do this, mild autism helps, to see details that others miss, to suggest "flicky" mechanisms for biscuits. Myself and a couple of people in my team design products from scratch, and the processes that go along with them. We are all a bit different in our thought processes.

[BGARK]

Ean218 said:

Well, you probably have to be "on the spectrum" to want to do any sort of engineering in the first place these days..... Particularly when you are involved in the repetition of a production plant. The qualifications teach you the things you cannot just pick up on the job.

Yes of course, degrees in engineering, process control and all manor of others are part of the course we undertook, I am older now, and did a full apprenticeship long time ago. Learning how to hand cut a block of metal squarely with a hacksaw for half a day is welded into the brain.