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Industrial Metal Cutting Blog

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Reducing Operator Error in Your Machine Shop

August 15, 2017 / , , , , , , , , , ,

A top goal of every operations manager is to reduce error on the shop floor, whether it be mechanical error or human error. While 0% error rates are pretty hard to achieve, the reality is that even a small percentage of error can quickly add up.

An article from Competitive Production puts this into perspective:

“If things are done correctly 99 percent of the time, that equates to two unsafe landings at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport each day; 16,000 pieces of lost mail each hour; 20,000 incorrect drug prescriptions each year; or 500 incorrect surgical procedures completed each week. In manufacturing, the slightest of errors, for example one-tenth of a percent, can have a significant impact on a company’s financial performance and profitability.”

When it comes to band sawing, error remains a top concern for managers. As Matthew Lacroix of LENOX explains here, fabricators and other metal-cutting shops have three main areas of concern regarding their band saw processes. “The top frustrations that we repeatedly hear from fabricators are machine downtime, blade failure, and operator error,” he tells Canadian Metalworking. “In each case, there are steps they can take within their own organizations to manage the problems.”

The white paper, Accounting for Operator Inefficiencies in the Metals 2.0 Environment, provides a few steps managers can take to reduce error in their band saw department:

Safety

Strategies to Help Metal Service Centers Keep Safety First

August 5, 2017 / , , , , , , , , , ,

Safety is one of those issues that every manufacturer knows is important, yet as evidenced by the unending list of OSHA fines, it is pretty clear that it often slips through the cracks. Even big name companies like Exxon can fall short.

Put simply, your manufacturing operation can never be too safe. Like any other process or initiative, safety should be approached with continuous improvement in mind. This means that service centers, as well as any other manufacturing operation, need to continually reevaluate their safety procedures and processes to look for areas for improvement.

The manufacturing industry as a whole is promoting this type of mentality, knowing that “safety first” needs to be more than just an underlying principle. It needs to be an ongoing, active practice. The Metals Service Center Institute (MSCI), for example, recently teamed up with the National Safety Council to offer ongoing, relevant safety tools and resources to its members. “Advocating for an industry-wide safety culture is a critical part of all that we do at MSCI,” said M. Robert Weidner, III, MSCI president & CEO. (You can access MSCI’s resources here.)

To help service centers keep safety at the forefront, the LENOX Institute of Technology (LIT) has researched some best practices being used by industry leaders. Read below to discover some safety strategies and the additional benefits they can bring to your service center:

Safety

The Importance of Ergonomics in Your Metal Forging Operation

March 25, 2017 / , , , , , , , , , , ,

For years, manufacturers have relied on lean processes to improve productivity and to reduce waste. This is certainly a good thing from an operations standpoint. However, from a safety and health perspective, lean manufacturing can have a few drawbacks.

For example, lean practices make jobs highly repetitive. As pointed out in this article from Industrial Engineer, repetitive jobs often eliminate critical rest time for employees. “The repetitive jobs take their toll on employees as stressful postures and high forces are repeated over and over throughout the day,” the article says. “In the long run, the financial savings from the productivity gains and quality improvements are used to pay for the higher cost of workers’ compensation claims.”

This is why many forges and other industrial metal-cutting organizations have incorporated ergonomics into their production processes. According to the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Association (OSHA), ergonomics is defined as fitting a person to a job to help lessen muscle fatigue, increase productivity, and reduce the number and severity of work-related injuries. Strategic equipment placement and improved ergonomics not only keep employees safe and healthy, but they are key aspects of high productivity and optimized workflow. The fewer times an operator touches a material, the fewer chances for injury and human error, both of which contribute to productivity.

Not sure where to start? An article from IAC Industries describes possible workplace risk factors and suggested solutions. For example, there are at least six different types of musculoskeletal risk factors operators may face:

  1. Forceful exertions and motions.
  2. Extreme or repetitive exertions, postures and motions.
  3. Duration of exertions, postures, motions, vibration and cold.
  4. Insufficient rest or pauses.
  5. Work factors (for instance, close performance monitoring, wage incentives, machine-paced work).
  6. Environmental factors.

The article then goes on to describe an example of an ergonomic workstation design. According to IAC, incorrect working height is often responsible for extreme postures and motions at the workstation. Recommendations for the appropriate working height are as follows:

Of course, this is just one of the many ways a manufacturer can improve ergonomics within their operation. Another article from Ergonomics Plus, an Indianapolis, IN-based company, offers a 10-point checklist to help managers create a framework for building a successful ergonomics process. According to the company, a solid ergonomics process doesn’t have to be complicated to be successful, but it can be challenging to get all the right pieces in place and achieve sustainable results. You can review the entire checklist here.

If these suggestions feel overwhelming or you don’t quite know where to start, you may want to consider bringing in some professional help. Earle M. Jorgensen Company (EMJ), a metal service center featured here in a white paper from the LENOX Institute of Technology, decided to perform an in-depth ergonomic study at one of its metalworking facilities. With the help of a third-party resource and input from its shop floor employees, the company made several changes to the shop floor to eliminate unnecessary handling and transportation of material. Ergonomic improvements ranged from repositioning band irons to adjusting the height of staging tables. By optimizing the workflow, EMJ has seen a reduction in employee injuries, improvements in operator efficiency, and increased output. The service center has also seen an increase in shop floor morale, as operators feel they are playing a critical role in helping the facility succeed.

In what ways could you incorporate ergonomics into your forging operations?

Safety

Create a Culture of Safety to Improve Your Metal Service Center

December 5, 2016 / , , , , , , , ,

Workplace safety is a priority for nearly every manufacturer. However, when industrial metal-cutting organizations need to do more with less to stay competitive, safety priorities can sometimes fall to the wayside—creating severe and costly consequences for workers and businesses alike.

Here’s the good news: According to OSHA’s “Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses,” private industry employers reported 48,000 fewer nonfatal injury and illness cases in 2015 compared to the prior year. Unfortunately, the bad news is that the manufacturing industry had the highest proportion of accidents. As reported by OSHA’s Severe Injury Reporting Program, manufacturing accounted for 57% of all amputations and 26% of all hospitalizations, closely followed by construction, transportation, and warehousing. In addition, of the Top 25 industry groups reporting severe injuries, architectural and structural metal and fabricated metal product manufacturing came in at 17 and 20, respectively.

Of course, workplace injuries come with a cost—not only to  employees’ health but to businesses as well. According to the 2016 Liberty Mutual Workplace Safety Index, the most disabling, nonfatal workplace injuries amounted to nearly $62 billion in direct U.S. workers compensation costs. That’s more than a billion dollars a week.

Workplace injuries also create production inefficiencies. As reported in the white paper, Accounting for Operator Inefficiencies in the Metals 2.0 Environment, a cleaner, safer work environment is a more productive, profitable environment. Often times, safety incidents may be rooted in issues such as lack of training, an unorganized shop floor, or poor workflow layout and ergonomics. Neglecting safety issues can lead to reduced output and, ultimately, a lower profit.

One way manufacturers can reduce workplace injuries is to not only make safety a priority, but to create a culture of safety throughout the organization. Tire manufacturer Goodyear, for example, reduced worldwide incident rates by 94% by creating an engaged safety culture in 49 facilities across 22 countries for its 66,000 workers.

In an interview with New Equipment Digest, Michael Porter, Global Environmental Health & Safety Director at Goodyear, said the key to building this type of culture is integration from the top down. “Starting from the highest levels of the company, we tie our EHS strategy down into our company’s overall strategy roadmap,” Porter explained. “Then that cascades down into how we operate on a manufacturing level.” This, he adds, includes everything from workforce organization and equipment care to continuous skills development.

To help create a culture of safety, there are a few strategies metal service centers can consider. Dave Stauffer, director of SBM Management, recently told attendees at the 2016 Safety Leadership Conference the eight building blocks his company has used to create a culture of safety in its 500 operating locations. The following are SBM’s top four strategies (You can read all eight here, as reported by EHS Today.):

  1. Employee observations. Coach and mentor employees to validate that they are doing their jobs safely. Ensure employees are wearing their personal protective equipment (PPE). Observe employees to make sure they are working effectively.
  2. Safety engagement. Establish rapport with employees to help reduce unsafe conditions and at-risk behavior in the workplace. Actively involve all employees in the health and safety of the workplace. Verify employees are engaging in the correct safety behavior.
  3. Employee recognition programs. Reward employees for safe job performance. Reinforce and recognize positive work culture. Celebrate employee successes.
  4. Interactive audits. Supervisors and managers should complete the observations daily and document them. Engage in conversation about safety and assure each employee has the skills, knowledge and training to perform their job safely.

The Metal Service Center Institute also recognizes the importance of safety and recently partnered with the National Safety Council (NSC) to release new safety resources optimized for the metal industry. The new tools include:

While there is no magic formula for creating a “zero-incident” service center, industry leaders are taking steps to ensure their operations are safe. Creating a culture of safety can help identify and eliminate process bottlenecks, improve production, avoid costly injury implications, and most importantly, keep operators and workers safe.

What safety programs do you have in place at your metal service center? Do you consider your center to have a culture of safety?

Safety

How to Optimize Metal Service Center Operations with Operator Accountability

October 5, 2016 / , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Industrial metal-cutting companies know running an efficient and productive operation is imperative to keeping up with and, more importantly, staying ahead of the changing industry and customer demands. However, in industrial metal cutting—as well as any manufacturing process—an operation is only as good as its operators.

This is why operator accountability is so important. As reported in the white paper, The Top Five Operating Challenges for Metal Service Centers, as more metal service centers rely on automated technology, managers need to work closely with machine operators to ensure their knowledge and skill sets align with the company’s technology assets and productivity goals. The objective is to encourage employees to take ownership of their impact on the operation so they not only care about the quality of their work, but also understand the role they play in the company’s overall success. Working closely with employees to create a culture of accountability can help metal service centers achieve the operational excellence they desire.

According to an article from IndustryWeek, accountability can be a powerful manufacturing tool because it is a broad-based effort to define and track an organization’s standards. “Accountability systems serve to prompt and encourage people to keep their promises to each other,” Jon Thorne, senior consultant, Daniel Penn Associations, says in the IW article. “Accountability monitors whether promises are being kept and reminds us to hold up our end of the bargain. When we all keep our promises to each other the result is human reliability. And with human reliability, your organization can accomplish anything.”

While using accountability to improve your metal service center operations is not an exact science, it is systematic. In fact, accountability is a set of systems that overlap and reinforce each other, according to the IW article. The following three systems are just a few ways manufacturers can boost accountability (You can read the full list here):

  1. Customer satisfaction. Measuring your service to internal customers puts interdepartmental cooperation on an objective basis: You confront issues rather than people. The plant manager’s role is to insist that the organization seek out and satisfy its customer’s needs, but it is the customers and suppliers who decide how to do it.
  2. Weekly staff meetings. The idea sounds simple, but having a regular and consistent forum where information can flow both ways enables employees to hold management accountable by asking questions and discussing any issues. Two meetings per week are recommended.
  3. Action item lists. Many times, regular staff meetings result in new policies and processes, or changes to those that are existing. Keeping an action list or planner helps prioritize activities, highlights important information, and enables employees to hold each other accountable for keeping the agreements they’ve made.

Another simple strategy is to regularly share performance reports with employees by either posting them or discussing them in staff meetings. As stated in the white paper, Accounting for Operator Inefficiencies in the Metals 2.0 Environment, sharing report results encourages accountability, provides motivation, and reminds operators that they are a critical aspect of the company’s success. This approach falls in line with the culture of lean production environments, and research has shown it positively affects employee morale.

How does this help optimize operations? Although employee investments are often hard to quantify, the following two manufacturers have seen measurable results after implementing accountability practices:

Running an efficient operation is essential to every metal service center, but far too many managers fail to understand the role their operators play in their optimization efforts. By implementing a few processes that hold operators accountable for their actions, managers can create a culture in which employees care about their jobs and, even more so, the long-term success of the company.

What accountability practices have you implemented at your metal service center?

Safety

Is Your Industrial Metal-Cutting Organization Too Lean?

August 1, 2016 / , , , , , , , ,

Over the last decade, the term “lean” has become synonymous with “success” in manufacturing. In today’s market, only the “leanest” survive.

This trend has hit almost every segment of manufacturing, although some have jumped on the bandwagon faster than others. At this point, most leading industrial metal-cutting organizations have incorporated some form of lean principle into their operation, and those that haven’t are starting to consider it. In fact, our eBook, Five Performance-Boosting Best Practices for Your Industrial Metal-Cutting Company, recommends that  lean manufacturing should be at least part of your operational strategy.

However, is it possible for your metal-cutting operation to be too lean? According to a recent article from EHS Today, the answer to that question is yes. “The more you reduce costs – the more you do with less – the more you believe is accomplished and the closer you approach maximum efficiency,” the article states. “The drawback of this popular leadership strategy is that the line of acceptance is a moving target with the point of failure centered about the moment of imbalance.”

The article goes on to say that over time, “the reduce-reduce strategy” can stretch an organization beyond the elastic limit, usually without anyone noticing. “Like our bodies, organizations need minimal resources to function properly,” the article explains. “Year-over-year reductions compounded with additional performance requirements will cause the organization to rely on calories they do not have to burn.”

How do you know if your organization has reduced beyond its limits? Below are a few warning signs, according to EHS:

Another dangerous outcome of being “too lean” is being unable to adjust to changing market conditions. An article from Lean Manufacturing Tools explains: “Too many people in the past have used a lean definition that concentrates purely on waste reduction and have created anorexic processes that fail as soon as customer demand changes.”

This is not to say that lean manufacturing tools are short-term and cannot be used over a long period of time. Instead, experts suggest that lean manufacturing tactics should evolve as a company evolves and improves. In addition, this article from IndustryWeek says that management needs to be sure they treat lean manufacturing as “a way of life,” not just a project.

Like anything, the key is finding a balance. Efficiency and waste reduction should be a priority, but they can’t come at the cost of safety, quality, or the overall financial health of the company. As the article from EHS explains, “Success comes in realizing how much ‘efficiency’ is the right amount to preclude organizational excellence from reaching the point of inevitable failure.”

Are there any areas of your industrial metal-cutting organization that have become too lean?

Safety

Using Visuals to Improve the Safety of Your Industrial Metal-Cutting Organization

July 1, 2016 / , , , , , , ,

Safety is one of those issues that every manufacturer knows is important, yet as evidenced by the unending list of OSHA fines, it is pretty clear that it often slips through the cracks. Even big name companies like Anheuser-Busch have been known to fall short.

If it has been a while since you have evaluated or updated the safety policies and procedures used in your metal-cutting organization, it may be time to re-focus your efforts. One simple safety tool that is often overlooked is the use of visual devices. According to visual management expert and author Gwendolyn Galsworth, the “visual workplace” is a huge opportunity for managers to create a safer, more efficient, and reliable manufacturing operation.

“Visual devices translate the thousands of informational transactions that occur every day at work into visible meaning and imbeds that into the living landscape of work,” Galsworth writes on her website. “This visible meaning doesn’t just impact performance—it creates performance.”

This means it may also help save on costs. According to the 2016 Liberty Mutual Workplace Safety Index, the most disabling, nonfatal workplace injuries amounted to nearly $62 billion in direct U.S. workers compensation costs. This translates into more than a billion dollars a week spent by businesses on these injuries. In addition, as stated in the white paper, Accounting for Operator Inefficiencies in the Metals 2.0 Environment, neglecting to identify and address safety issues can negatively affect operator efficiency, which can reduce output and impact the bottom line.

Put simply: It pays to keep your employees safe, and visual cues are an easy way to accomplish that.

How can you utilize visual devices to improve safety in your facility? The following are just a few ideas:

What visual strategies are you using to improve safety in your industrial metal-cutting operation?

Safety

Using Visual Devices to Improve Your Forging Operation

February 25, 2016 / , , , , , , , , ,

Workplace organization is one of those management principles that everyone knows is a good idea, yet it often falls by the wayside as managers focus on more pressing priorities like meeting deadlines and customer expectations. However, manufacturing experts continue to stress the importance of having a clean and organized manufacturing floor—not as a slap on the wrist, but because organizational tools are simple to implement and can offer a big return.

One tool that is often overlooked but can offer huge improvements is the use of visual devices. In fact, according to visual management expert and author Gwendolyn Galsworth, the visual workplace is one of the most misunderstood opportunities for a safer, more efficient, and reliable manufacturing operation.

“The entire world of work now strives to make work safer, simpler, more logical, reliable and linked, and less costly,” Galsworth writes in an article appearing in Fabricating & Metalworking. “Central to this is the visual workplace – not a brigade of buckets and brooms or posters and signs, but a compelling operational imperative, central to your shop’s war on waste and crucial to meeting daily performance goals, vastly reduced lead times, and dramatically improved quality.”

Specifically, Galsworth says in the article that managers should use visual cues to create a work environment that is self-ordering, self-explaining, self-regulating, and self-improving where what is supposed to happen actually does happen.

What does this look like? According to Galsworth, an effective visual workplace should follow some basic guidelines:

As an article from Modern Machine Shop explains, visual tools can include everything from different-color walkways marked for pedestrians and motorized vehicles, to foam cut-outs used as tool drawer organizers. One industrial metal-cutting company, featured here in a white paper, color-coded its blade stocking process. Each blade is marked with a colored tag, which corresponds to a chart that helps operators easily determine the right blade for the job. Stocking shelves are also color-coded, allowing operators to quickly locate and restock blades. This has improved operator efficiency, reduced the occurrence of operator blade selection errors, and prolonged overall blade life.

Visual tactics can also be used to improve safety. LENOX Tools, for example, has implemented a Safety Sticker program, which visually displays whether or not its operation has had any safety incidents. Sticker dispensing stations and a safety calendar are located at every entrance to the facility, and every employee is required to put on a green sticker with the number of days “accident free” written on it. When a recordable accident occurs, everyone in the facility changes from a green sticker to a red sticker for a seven-day period. After seven days, everyone reverts back to the green sticker. According to Matt Howell, senior manager, the program has been “a good rallying point for the facility and builds energy around safety.”

No matter what visual strategies you decide to institute in your forging operation, the goal is to use them to enhance communication and foster learning. The concept may seem a bit simplistic, but research shows it is effective. Studies by educational researchers suggest that approximately 83% of human learning occurs visually, with the remaining 17% occurring through the other senses. To put it another way: Your operators learn to work with their eyes first and their hands second.

What visual devices could you use to improve efficiency and safety at your forging operation?

Safety

Adopting Mobile Technology Within Your Industrial Metal-Cutting Operation

February 1, 2016 / , , , , , , ,

There is no question that mobile technology has transformed the consumer and corporate worlds. Having instant access to people and information has enabled conveniences and efficiencies we have all come to expect. However, the constant barrage of information typically brings some distraction along with it—a fact that has some manufacturers questioning whether or not mobile technology belongs on the shop floor.

Of course, some of this concern is founded. While distraction can certainly cause delays in productivity, it also presents some serious safety concerns, especially for machine operators. In fact, one machine shop, featured here in Modern Machine Shop magazine, banned cell phone use in their facility to avoid a hike in their insurance premiums. The machine shop said the ban has also increased productivity and even helped it win a new customer.

However, that’s not to say that there isn’t room for any mobile technology on the floor. Quite the opposite is true. A growing number of manufacturers are finding that  technology has plenty of applications, especially when it comes to streamlining work processes and eliminating paperwork. For example, a customer survey conducted by software provider Canvas found that companies are using mobile apps for the following tasks, most of which used to be paper-based:

An article from Forbes states that mobile technology is not only becoming more prevalent in manufacturing, it is revolutionizing the industry. “CEOs prioritizing the strategic importance of mobile technologies are driving a revolution in manufacturing today,” the Forbes article says. “Designing mobility into new production strategies, processes and procedures is bringing greater accuracy and speed to production centers. Augmenting existing processes with mobility is delivering solid efficiency gains. The net result is greater communication, collaboration and responsiveness to customer-driven deadlines and delivery dates than has been possible before.”

From quality audits and checklists to electronic work instructions (EWI) and real-time alerts, leading companies are finding a host of ways to use mobile technologies in their manufacturing environments. But before you go investing in a boxful of tablets and software apps, there are some considerations. An article from American Machinist offers seven tips for managers who want to bring mobility into their operation. Below are five of the tips (you can read the full seven here):

  1. Evaluate readily available solutions. Instead of assuming you have to start from scratch, inquire about the mobile offerings from manufacturing operations’ management, quality management, maintenance management, environment, health, and safety, and other solutions providers with hosted or on-premise solutions already deployed in your manufacturing environment.
  2. Avoid extra hardware investment. For a reasonable ROI, it’s important to prioritize investments that do not require specialized hardware beyond the mobile device, where possible. This could include work-issued mobile devices like tablets or smart phones, or you may want to consider instituting a bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policy.
  3. Prioritize user-interface (UI) simplicity. During the selection process, focus on strength of the user interface, user experience, and general intuitiveness of the solution. Generally, people demand the usability of products like the iPhone, where they can start making use of it with little time or direction.
  4. Remember that success leads to success. Mobile solutions for all aspects of manufacturing are emerging fairly quickly, which increases the pressure to choosing the right solution. Actual case studies and ROI analyses (when possible) should be required during the solution selection process.
  5. Take advantage of native functionality. With advances in smartphone functionality happening every year, solutions should be evaluated with the understanding of what the host device is capable of doing. For example, if a corrective action app cannot incorporate pictures as attachments to support root-cause analyses, there probably is another, similarly priced solution that can do it.

In the end, there is a lot to consider before choosing the right mobile technologies for your shop, but most manufacturers are finding it is worth “going mobile” on some level. In fact, according to PwC’s 18th Annual Global CEO Survey, mobility is the top technology priority among industrial manufacturing CEOs.

If mobility isn’t on your radar yet, you may want to seriously reconsider. Slowly but surely, industrial manufacturers are finding that there is indeed “an app for that,” which means your metal-cutting operation may be missing out on some prime opportunities for efficiency gains and cost savings.

Safety

Bringing Mobility into Your Machine Shop

January 20, 2016 / , , , , , , , , , , ,

As smart phones and other mobile devices become ubiquitous among consumers, it’s not surprising that mobile technologies are also finding their way onto the shop floor. In fact, according to PwC’s 18th Annual Global CEO Survey, mobility is the top technology priority among industrial manufacturing CEOs.

For many companies, the choice to make their manufacturing operation “mobile” is strategic. As a recent article from Forbes explains, companies are designing mobility into new production strategies, processes, and procedures to gain greater accuracy and speed. “Augmenting existing processes with mobility is delivering solid efficiency gains,” the Forbes article states. “The net result is greater communication, collaboration and responsiveness to customer-driven deadlines and delivery dates than has been possible before.”

Of course, how you choose to use mobility in your operation will truly dictate its impact—both positive and negative. There are still a lot of managers who are hesitant to allow mobile devices on the shop floor, fearing that workers will be distracted and less productive. In some cases, those fears are warranted. One machine shop, featured here in Modern Machine Shop magazine, found that it was beneficial to completely ban cell phone use on the shop floor. While some employees resisted the change at first, the ban allowed the shop to avoid a hike in their insurance premiums, increased productivity, and eventually helped improve employee morale.

There are plenty of other ways, however, that manufacturers are using mobility for their benefit. Kawasaki Motors Manufacturing Corp., featured here in a case study, recently replaced its card-based Kanban system with a more efficient electronic method that could better manage its just-in-time parts system. Using tablets and a custom mobile software application, Kawasaki eliminated the waste of 4,500 Kanban cards per day, which ultimately led to $3,500 in operational savings per day and a quick ROI, the article states.

How can your shop incorporate mobility into your operation? LNS Research, a consultancy based in Cambridge, MA, lists nine key ways companies are using mobile devices in manufacturing environments. Below are the top-five uses (you can read the full list of nine here):

 

 

 

If mobility is something you want to bring into your shop, but you aren’t sure where to start, check out the feature, “7 Tips for Taking Your Operation Mobile,” published by American Machinist.

If mobility isn’t on your radar, you may want to reconsider. Slowly but surely, industrial manufacturers are finding that there is indeed “an app for that,” which means your shop may be missing out on some prime opportunities for cost savings or efficiency gains. In fact, according to Mike Roberts of LNS Research: “If you’re not on the path to using mobile apps to better manage your production operations, you’re seriously at risk of being stuck in the past.”

How could mobility help your machine shop function better?

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