This past Saturday Premier held another class titled “Implementing Quick Change Over”. This is another course as part of a NJ State Grant that was awarded to Premier earlier this year.
The instructor, Frank Abatangelo, was provided for this class by the local NJMEP firm that manages the Grant for Premier. Frank’s company is FJA associates and specializes in lean & global supply education for manufacturing firms around the country. FJA is a Veteran owned enterprise and Frank has taught many businesses the art of Quick Die Changes.
Bettering Set Up Processes
During the class we reviewed problems and issues related to quick die change specifically for the CNC machining department. We analyzed what our current practice is and then worked as a team to come up with solutions to problems that are reoccurring and to streamlining. It was decided to begin setting staging areas, necessary tools for the job, and process documents to make the set up with fewer problems and reduce timing.
Set up issues were talked about such as an operator calling the set up man away to fix something else while he was in the middle of a set up. This distraction inhibits the set up and production time for the new set up and since a CNC machine is worth $175,000 or more it is costly for the CNC machines not to be producing good product at any time during shift hours.
Recording Downtime for Set Ups
Another topic that came up in class was how to better record the downtime for the set ups. One of the topics is to incorporate digital forms that people will be able to access between departments instantly. This should save on paper trails getting moved or lost. The time that is recorded will be more readily available to all departments to improve communication.
All these actions will improve productivity at Premier Engineered Products and help maintain costs to better compete in today’s global marketplace.
If you have any aluminum die cast products you would like a quote on please contact Premier Engineered Products for a free review and quotation.
By Leonard Cordaro, President of Premier Engineered Products
