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Steve Fackler, asked to help oversee redesign of the 86,000-square-foot Meggitt Polymer Solutions plant in McMinnville, stops at Herminia Sarenas’ station and nods approvingly.
Three years ago, before the company began its lean manufacturing program, her station was cluttered, poorly lit and isolated from many of the other stations involved in creating the hundreds of silicone and rubber seals produced by the company.
Today, it couldn’t be tidier, brighter or more conveniently located, thanks to input from a team of experts who solicited input from the people who actually work at the stations.
Sarenas’ station was one of dozens undergoing transformation at Meggitt as part of a long-term enterprise aimed at minimizing wasted time, effort and material in every aspect of production.
It was launched three years ago. It became a means of simply staying in business when times turned tough, but holds even broader promise as conditions improve in the marketplace.
The internationally popular “lean” philosophy has its roots in Japanese manufacturing. In Oregon, the drivers are the Oregon Manufacturing Extension Partnership and its local partners, including the McMinnville Economic Development Partnership.
At first glance, operational streamlining would seem to mean cutting the workforce — something the county, state and nation can ill-afford, with unemployment so rampant. However, it actually has just the opposite effect, advocates say.
They claim companies that learn to operate more efficiency are able to accelerate productivity, cut unit costs and increase market share. Before long, they need more workers to cope with growth.
Fackler said Meggitt is a good example. It has added about 30 employees in the last 90 days, he said.
Fackler said Meggitt was able to cut its excess inventory by 70 percent, freeing up 35 percent more floor space for additional manufacturing. He said it was able to reduce its production time 25 percent while increasing its volume 20 percent.
“All of that means money,” he said. “We’re making more money. We could only do that efficiently with ‘lean.’”
How did the company go about it?
Meggitt produces about 11,000 different kinds of seals.
It began having engineers develop value stream mapping and spaghetti chart tools to track its various products from the point of order to delivery. It then began to scrutinize the production chain for opportunities to become more efficient, knowing that even tiny gains would add up in the end.
Lean philosophy extends beyond managerial and engineering ideas, however. It requires input from those who do the actual work on the factory floor, as they often have the keenest feel for workplace inefficiencies.
At Meggitt, employees on the line worked side-by-side during the process, rearranging pieces of the manufacturing puzzle on a magnetic board.
In fact, they still do. That kind of input needs to be ongoing, Fackler explained, as new equipment, new parts, new products, new customers and larger runs are constantly changing the picture.
Meggitt’s predecessor was Elastomeric Silicone Products, which came to McMinnville in 1981, following its purchase by Portland’s Huntington Rubber Company. It served as Huntington’s aircraft products division.
Meggitt, an international company with headquarters in the United Kingdom, entered the local picture through its 1998 purchase of Elastomeric. Over the years since, it has tripled the work force and substantially expanded the square footage.
Under the lean program, the company intended to eliminate nine sources of waste: over-production, unnecessary waiting, unnecessary transportation, over-processing, excess inventory, superfluous movement, quality defects, under-utilized people and environmental waste.
Although trial and error has a place in any program, pre-planning helps.
Fackler said his team placed jobs and workstations on magnetic cards that could be moved around on a board. That allowed them to discuss the pros and cons of various work-flow arrangements.
He said they began meeting monthly with other lean manufacturing participants to share ideas, and have continued to do so.
Using local products and supplies in the manufacturing process saves time, transportation and money. So does having them readily available on the shop floor when they are needed.
Fackler said Meggitt worked with Fastenal’s McMinnville operation to develop and maintain nine supply-dispensers at key locations around the plant. To retrieve a roll of tape or pair of gloves, an employee need simply swipe a card and push a button.
That reduces time spent asking a stock person to find items needed for everyday production, and allows the company to better track usage.
What’s more, until the item is retrieved from the machine, it belongs to Fastenal. That reduces over-purchasing and wasted storage space.
Fackler estimates the system itself is saving the company $5,000 a month.
Meggitt has also developed a color-coded visual aid system to signal tasks to be done, repairs that are needed and even the state of its parts inventory. This avoids costly delays and over-stocking.
A sign board at each station, for example, signals “red” if maintenance is needed and green if not.
The company has even color-coded its products to visually signal their strength. And its tool racks feature shadows of each tool’s shape, so an employee can tell at a glance where a tool goes when he’s done or when a tool is missing or in use.
Happy employees stick around, meaning less time wasted training, fewer mistakes and better participation in improvements. A range of benefits, from health insurance to company picnics and lunchroom snacks have reduced turnover from 42 percent to practically nothing.
Small savings add up, Fackler said, pointing to light bulbs that are not only brighter but more efficient. Not all lean techniques require engineered expansions and reorganized stations, he said.
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