Working as an engineer in a factory, I did money
saving projects that generated a ton of revenue for the business. Most of it
had to do with automating equipment and debugging unreliable production lines.
Some new equipment just barely worked when it arrived at the plant. So you
have to fix it or have the machine supplier come fix it (good luck). No custom
system I ever bought worked perfectly out of the box. You just had to
improve on what's delivered.
Right after you install and start up new equipment
is usually when you realize the short comings. In other situations, the
operators have been living with and working around a particular problem for a
long time.
So you have engineer some fixes. Basically you
try an adjustment or change the tooling or PLC programming. Then you watch
what happens for a day or two. While you are
monitoring the results you
need to be coming up with your next move. If the first fix does not work,
then go on to the next. Usually the second or third change works.
It's not that hard for a skilled engineer to come up with multiple ideas for
fixes.
Even though people were impressed with my upgrades,
they really did not like them as they were being implemented. You have to
learn how to deal with the complaining. Heck, they would even go to my boss
and complain. You pretty much have to ignore it or correct the problem
before you start up production. Operators and technicians will do just about anything
to stop process improvement. Any change makes them nervous. They
will certainly hear about if production goes badly.
I never understood why people put so much social
resistance into process improvement. I guess its because people are
conditioned from a very early age not to step out of line or make any mistakes.
Very often management will come down hard on a mistake with a write up.
During a process improvement, things can go wrong. You learn from it, fix it
and move on.
After a while I changed when I would start a process
improvement. I would plan them during the week, do them on the weekends
and fine tune it when production started up Sunday night.
Identify root causes Downtime, Malfunctions, or Jamming
You don't have to look very hard to find problems to
fix on your production line. The first thing you look at is downtime.
The root cause of downtime is generally a machine reliability issue. The
interruption may be caused by several factors. Overloading the machine.
Running to fast. Starting and stopping the machine to much.
PLC issue or electrical
problem.
Once you have the big issues fixed. The next
thing you do is follow the operator and watch anything they do to keep the
machinery running. Operators usually do many small things to keep running.
Automate anything that they do repetitively. Pushing certain buttons,
clearing jams, or resetting a machine when it stops. This could keep you
busy quite a long time.
Attention to detail is the only skill you
need.
You must identify the problem that leads to the interruption. You can
simply watch the process directly and then ask the operator. Document
the problem and then discuss it to others. It can be difficult to gain a
consensus about what fix to try.
This is where a
Machine Monitor
becomes very useful.
A Machine Monitor is great because it only records the malfunction. Then you can show the video clip
and get constructive input.
Just imagine everyone will know exactly what
mechanical problems the plant is facing. Then you don't even have to go around
and explain what you are doing to everyone.
With Machine Monitor you can email the video clip to
the machine developer. Send it to your maintenance manager. Send it to the
plant manager. Send it to the plant engineer. Once everybody is
aware of the problem you can "let it soak in" for a few days.
Here is were the real magic occurs. Usually
someone will come up with an idea to fix the problem. People come up with
solutions using their creative intelligence. Creative
intelligence seems to
work the best after a good night of rest. It is really amazing what the
human mind can come up with after sleep. An operator with no education at
all can generate a really simple suggestion that stops a malfunction from
recurring. That saves the company some serious
dough.
The simplest, quickest, cheapest idea to solve any malfunction
is the first thing you should try. If the fix doesn't work you will at
least gain some useful information.
