Project Description
Goal – Benchmark Production Plant with Lean Production
The German company Festo is a global manufacturer of automation technology. The plant in Česká Lípa produces plastic tubes for air-conditioning. At the beginning of 2011, the management of the company set itself the objective to elevate the Česká Lípa plant as demonstration one according to the principles of lean production. They invited external specialists for that.
Initial state:
The aim was to prepare the plant for the planned increase in production volume in the next year. The solution was either to streamline internal processes, increase the capacity of technological equipment or move to larger production areas. The process streamlining took precedence over some of the above-mentioned larger investments.
The situation in the plant was as follows:
- Unsatisfactory organization of work
- Insufficient productivity
- Inappropriate planning system
- Non-functional model of internal communication
- Missing performance indicators (KPI`s)
The Course of the Project
The project was divided into four phases. External cooperation started in August 2011, the whole project was successfully completed in April 2013.
Techniques and tools introduced in Phase I:
- 5S and visual management in all production areas
- The introduction of OEE measurement and evaluation on all production lines
- Introduction of internal Kanban
- Intensive coaching and mentoring at all levels of the organizational structure
- Defining the internal Communications Process
Techniques and tools introduced in Phase II:
- Continuation of the activities of phase I: trainings, coaching, workshops
- Creating a production and planning strategy
- Defining business objectives and addressing tasks
- Definition and implementation of a 3-step model of meetings (shifts, production and management)
Techniques and tools introduced in Phase III:
- Continuation of the activities of phase II
- Building a team of internal lean specialists
- Implementation of Kaizen and SMED workshops
- Realization of workshops for the waste reduction
- Design and implementation of the „Duo Kanban“
Techniques and tools introduced in Phase IV:
- Defining internal processes and setting rules for communication
Project results
The plant transformation has been successfully completed. The main goal of the project was fulfilled and the plant is currently a „Benchmark site“ within the FESTO Group, notably for OEE, 5S and Visual Management as well as Production Planning.
Throughout the plant, there is a greater sense of urgency for tasks, greater commitment to achieving goals.
These changes exceeded among others:
- Achieving exceptional productivity improvements
- Improved quality and reducing material consumption
- Excellent 5S and visual management
- Well-functioning internal Kanban
- More educated, motivated workers
- Emergence of an internal Lean specialist position
- Emergence of a HR manager position and the strengthening of the technical team
- Improvements in technology and maintenance
Results in figures:
Improvement of OEE by 23%
Increased productivity by 30%
Improvement of material yield by 10%
Reducing the number of operators on the lines by 50%
Reducing the number of production team leaders by 50%
