2P + 2 Products + 2 Crew Members =
2 Percentage Points to Run Time Goal
(March 2006) The new 1304 line began making Bright Wood history long before the first blueprint. The Madras Plant 13 line was conceptualized to manufacture just two products at a rate equal to customer demand and with only a two-person crew (rather than the typical staff of five).
“We used a 2P process to design the line,” Dave Ulum, Corporate Continuous Improvement project manager, said. “2P stands for Production Preparation. A 10-person team spent a full week deciding how the wood ought to be processed to make these products.” The two LVL window components alone make up roughly 35 percent of Plant 13’s total monthly footage.
“This line is different than most in that it is designed to hit a takt time, not to maximize throughput,” Dave said. “Takt is a German word and it means producing to the rate of demand. We figured that if we run 32 parts per minute at 80 percent run time, we could produce what the customer needs, plus a safety margin for growth and demand variation.”
Already the two-person line is within two percentage points of meeting their run time goal. “The line is set up to mould, tenon, mould,” Travis Hale, Plant 13 manager, said. “It is different than our other lines in that the first moulder profiles the sides and finishes the width of the product. The tenoner adds the end work. The second moulder finishes the top and bottom profiles to thickness.”
This arrangement meets Bright Wood’s goals and comes with the bonus of solving a quality problem for the customer. The issue first appeared when the customer added cross bands to the LVL component for engineering reasons. The change created a splintering effect on one end of the part, resulting in assembly problems and rejects at the customer’s plant. Components manufactured on the 1304 do not splinter.
Like any new system, there have been modifications since the initial start up and a steep learning curve for the crew. Despite the challenges, however, day shift operator Gustavo Rico and stacker Pedro Carrillo said they like this machine center better than the moulding plant’s other lines because of its automation.
“This machine center is different than the others in Plant 13,” Gustavo said. “It has a lot of automatic features.” Some tasks remain manual – such as changing moulder heads during changeovers – but the 1304 operator can trigger some steps using a touch screen located at the heart of the machine center. For example, he can position the tenoner’s setworks simply by selecting a couple options on the screen and waiting for the machine to automatically adjust to the predefined settings for that product.
Gustavo also prefers the 1304’s troubleshooting features. The line automatically shuts down once a photo eye detects a problem. When this happens, Gustavo can pull up a troubleshooting panel on his touch screen. A red dot beside an equipment setting or area points him to the reason for the shutdown. Conversely, a green dot lets him know that everything is A-Okay with that part of the machine.
“For me as an operator, the greatest challenge is keeping up with the machine,” Gustavo said. “The machine is not faster, but it is consistent. If Pedro and I are on the same page, we can probably produce more than the other Plant 13 work centers because our run time is so consistent and we don’t have to shut down as often for changeovers.”
Other Newsletter Articles:
Consolidation Idea Rejuvenates Skid Row (March 2006)
In-Plant Mill Supplies Keep Drivers Home (March 2006)
Bright People Donate $11,742 to Central Oregon Charities in December (March 2006)
Bright Wood to Close Bend Facility (Company announcement released February 17, 2006)
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It may not be faster than Madras Plant 13’s other in-line moulding centers, but the new 1304’s consistent run time and few changeovers keep its two-person crew moving all shift long. The line is also a winner with day shift’s (left) Gustavo Rico, operator, and Pedro Carrillo, stacker, along with swing’s Emil Johnson, stacker, and Terry Steademan, operator, for its automatic troubleshooting features.
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