Quick CHANGEOVER Technology

CONTACT: Leonard B. Antosiak - Pharmaceutical Production TechSource® - P.O. Box 1145 -
Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1145 - (Telephone: 734.528.0444) - (eMail: ppt@2020comm.net) - (WEB PAGE: http://PharmaceuticalProductionTechSource.com)

Quick CHANGEOVER Technology

Quick CHANGEOVER Technology and Much More...
(Engineered solution(s) resulting in a minimum of 50%+ time-reduction improvement for your changeovers and startups! Maximize the potential of your maintenance program, personnel, and equipment's performance by implementing effective "Total Productive Maintenance" and "Operational Equipment Effectiveness" programs and protocols!)

Topics addressed on this page: - 8-Step Process - Do You need to Improve or Implement a Quick Changeover Program? - What "Seperates Us" From Other Quick Changeover Specialists - Program Management Assistance for Companies That Wish to do Their Own Installation - Minimize Downtime With Common Sense and Some Simple Tips - Time Reduction with Adjustable Machine Movement Monitoring Technology (LDT/Shut-Height Technology) - Quick Changeover Technology Training Course Outline - Total Productive Maintenanace (TPM) Achieving Zero Breakdowns and Zero Defects - Total Productive Maintenanace (TPM) Training Course Outline - Condition Monitoring to Predictive Equipment Maintenance 3 Common Mistakes - Operational Equipment Effectiveness (OEE)Maximizing Equipment Potential - Operational Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) Packaging Machinery Performance

TechSource® experts have more than 40+ years of experience with quick/rapid changeover time reduction. We guarantee a 50%+ reduction in your changeover and startup times, and ensure that your changeover's will be "repeatable, reliable, and quick/rapid changeovers!" Our proven 3-Phase Program guarantees results! We'll improve your equipment's uptime and flexibility, and increase your production rates to meet the schedules that satisfy your customer's needs. Our proven 3-Phase Program is developed from more than 40+ years of practical installation experiences and includes the following 8-step process:

1.) An assessment is conducted of your operation to determine the minimum amount of improvement required for your changeover and startup program to achieve a desirable time reduction rate.

2.) Your current changeover and startup are documented to help establish a baseline for your operation.

3.) We analyze your current changeover including startup, and develop our recommended improvements.

4.) We review our recommended improvements, and the cost(s) to implement our recommendations with your management.

5.) We review our recommended improvements with your facility experts (i.e., program champion, changeover experts, operators, engineers, supervision, etc.), or, anyone else that may be involved with changeovers and startups.

6.) Once the go ahead is given, we implement the recommended improvements, and verify the results.

7.) We determine the most productive sequence of quick changeover steps, and provide you with a new set of quick changeover procedure(s). In order to maintain the reliability of the changeover, we also provide you with a baseline settings manual and CDs of trained personnel doing their changeovers.

8.) All changeover employee(s) are trained, tested, and videotaped in the new changeover and startup procedure(s). This helps to ensure the integrity of your changeovers and startups.

Do You Need to Improve or Implement a Quick Changeover Program?
Ask Yourself the Following Questions:

1.) What are the number of changeovers you do per day or per week?

2.) How many people are involved in changing over a single-piece of equipment?

3.) How many people are involved in a line changeover?

4.) How many pieces of equipment are involved in your line changeover?

5.) Identify the equipment type(s) and model number(s) - if available - involved in your changeover(s)?

6.) What is the average changeover time involved from one product changeover to another product?

7.) Establish which employees and departments (and are they willing participants) are involved in the changeover, i.e., engineering, maintenance, operator(s), etc.?

8.) Is parts cleaning/washing a part of the changeover process, and is it a manual or an automated process?

9.) What is the average startup time for your piece of equipment or line?

10.) Do you have a good database/computer program for your tooling, extra parts, tool crib, etc.? Can and do you track this information, and is it up to date?

11.) Is there a changeover expert or champion on your staff?

12.) Do you have a changeover improvement plan or process plan, and is it written down and available to all pertinent employees and departments?

13.) Today, are you where you want to be with your changeover technology or program?

14.) Is your equipment or line automated with linear displacement technology, servo-motors, quick-disconnects or other technology to assist with changeover and startup?

15.) Do you have a good maintenance program in place?

16.) Are you impacted by regulatory issues concerning your changeover?

17.) Do you have any dedicated lines, or, are all of your lines changed over?

18.) Are you able to consolidate lines?

19.) How old is your piece of equipment or line(s)? Is it viable to retrofit for changeover?

20.) Is your equipment or line amortized out?

21.) Where do you want to be in the future with your quick changeover? What are your goals?

22.) Are you able to financially justify staying the course vs. implementing a quick changeover technology program?

23.) Are there any other questions or concerns that you can think of?

24.) Finally, what is the cost per minute, or, per hour to your company when your line, or, piece of equipment isn't running because of changeover(s) and startup(s)?

Your answers to the above questions will provide you with a quick self-assessment as to whether you need to start a new quick changeover program, or, improve on your existing program? Either way, if your equipment isn't running due to inefficiency or a poorly implemented program, you are losing money!

Our 1st priority is repeatability. Most companies have their own way of doing their changeovers. Our goal is to determine the most efficient sequence, identify the most accurate settings, and train all shift changeover experts. All principals will be provided with written documentation to be followed during changeover.

Our 2nd priority is a reliable changeover; and quick changeover time then becomes our priority while maintaining the repeatability and reliability. Companies acknowledge that startup after a changeover can be more time-consuming than the changeover. We consider startup after changeover as a continuation of changeover time. We'll troubleshoot to determine what caused the startup to require so many adjustments and delays. Typically, when we are finished, startup after changeover requires no adjustments or dealys. We always strive to achieve a vertical startup.

Our 3rd priority is a quick changeover time. Quick changeover then becomes our priority while maintaining changeover repeatability and reliability. We understand the machinery, its functions, and then determine what equipment and procedural improvements are necessary to maximize your quick changeover.

Our guarantee is based on the changeover we document at your facility; if we cannot identify improvements that will result in at least a 50% reduction in your combined changeover and startup times, you pay nothing for our services (we always strive to exceed a 50%+ reduction).

Finally, our field-crew will come into your facility and fabricate and retrofit the necessary changes to your line or machinery. We actually work on the line and equipment to ensure your time-reduction goal(s); aside from an OEM that will work on their own equipment, we know of NO other organization that will come into your facility and do this for you? That's what sets us apart from other quick changeover time reduction experts!

What "Seperates Us"
From Other Quick Changeover Specialists:

We go out of our way to work with your employees, and we'll gain buy-in from, and work well with all your people! We listen to people and value their input, they know your lines, machines and processes better than anyone, and we understand their value. After a short period of time your employees will enjoy working with us because we respect their abilities and knowledge. We'll make a sincere effort to work well with all of your employees!

Details: we get into the details! No changeover step or startup issue is too small to be overlooked. We'll do things the correct way, not the easy way.

Engineered Solutions: we specialize in line and equipment improvements that result in quick changeover time reduction(s). We identify the required improvement, design the corrective action for the improvement(s), and then fabricate, or retrofit the change(s) for your line or machine. Then we provide you with the CAD drawings for all the improvements.

Guarantee: we guarantee all our work and always try to exceed our 50%+ time reduction guarantee.

Implementation: we'll implement the improvements we identify, and those that are recommended by working with your employees. By doing this, your employees understand the improvements, and realize they are a large part of the project's success. Their input is imperative to the successful execution of your project.

Our Recommendations: they work and are based on 40+ years of experience in improving changeovers. Not only do we evaluate your process in detail, we actually work on your lines and your machinery to help you ensure and attain your time reduction goals. That's what sets us apart from other quick changeover specialists.

Project Management: we'll provide the management for all phases of implementing repeatable, reliable and quick/rapid changeovers. There is no need to add to your payroll to achieve quick changeover status. We can service your needs from conception, to implementation and well beyond if desired. If you'd wish, we can do a periodic review of your project on an agreed-too basis.

Proprietary Software: our special software was specifically developed for quick changeover time reduction. It accelerates our development work and simplifies the generation of documents to save both time and money.

Repeatability and Standardization: your changeovers become repeatable because we standardize your changeover procedures for all your shifts, and train all the necessary employees.

Research and Development: we invest regularly in researching and developing improvements that reduce changeover times; we continually receive information from manufacturers of quick changeover products that will result in faster quick changeover time reductions.

Training: we provide training for all your changeover personnel so that there will be no surprises on any shift.

We Hold the Gains: not only do your people work with us on the project, we provide changeover manuals, CDs, and baseline settings manuals for future recall. This information helps to ensure that you keep your quick changeover and startup gains after we leave.

Credentials: Dr. Jerry Claunch is our expert for all of our quick changeover, OEE and TPM projects. His industry experience includes repetitive, discrete and batch manufacturing. We've worked with pharmaceutical, supplement, nutraceuticals, vitamin, beverage, bottling, canning and packaging operations as well as food manufacturing, frozen foods, juice processing and an array of other industries. He has more than 40+ years of experience. Dr. Claunch is the author of four books: "Set-up Time Reduction", "Just-In-Time Purchasing", "Set-Up Reduction," and "Supplier Certification". He also wrote the chapter on "Set-Up Time Reduction" in the Cellular Manufacturing Handbook published by John Wiley & Sons in 1999. We'll provide turnkey improvements that result in repeatable, reliable and quick changeovers that require no delay in startup.

Program Management
Assistance for Comapnies That Wish to do Their Own Installation:

If you wish to do your own line installation/fabrication based upon our recommendations, we'll be happy to work with your personnel and manage the installation process. Our program manager will work with your personnel during the entire installation process to ensure that everything is done properly to achieve the goals of our recommendations for quick changeover, and a vertical startup on a regular basis.

Minimizing Downtime
With Common Sense and Some Simple Tips:

Minimizing downtime saves money for the company! Understanding how to communicate with and evaluate employees, providing regular equipment maintenance, incentives to produce, and establishing production goals are effective ways to minimize downtime.

Update and service your equipment and lines: to prevent machinery and line malfunctions, regular maintenance is important. Your managers and employees should stay abreast of the latest technologies, and suggest updates to improve productivity. Always have your personnel looking for opportunities to increase capabilities to your equipment and lines.

Be clear in explaining downtime to employees: good managers are clear and honest with employees so they feel appreicated and understood. Good communication between your managers and employees is imperative in boosting efficiencies. When a manager explains the relationship between downtime and business profit, the employee is included in the success of the operation. Take employee suggestions into consideration about how to limit downtime, increase morale, better service machinery, and produce more goods. Educate your employees about each part of the process, and that will help them better understand their specific role and job.

Regularly evaluate your employees: the key to an evaluation's success, is how its administered. Evaluations need to be honest and straightforward. Evaluations should focus on what management views as areas of excellence, and areas needing improvement. Unless you're measuring the employee against a numerical production quota, many evaluations are based on a preponderance of subjectivity, keep pettiness out of the process!

Monitor your efficiencies and processes: sometimes departments are affected by what happens elsewhere. One department may be delayed if another department is experiencing issues due to red tape, or paperwork. Smart supervisors regularly evaluate the process to ensure that all of the operation is working properly.

Establish incentives and goals: penalizing an employee, or, department for excessive dowtime is a natural response when performance is subpar. Establishing appropriate incentives and realistic goals helps to motivate employees. Keeping departments and employees updated on productivity numbers helps to motivate, and minimizes downtime. Smart managers post status reports each day, or, even provide updates via real-time displays (i.e., dashboards). Everyone feels valued if they are part of achieving specific company goals. Managers must follow through on incentives, and promises to build a trust. This helps limit the amount of downtime. Motivated staff do a better job than employees who clock in hours to only earn a paycheck. Employees need to understand the role they play in the process, and understand that their manager cares about them as well as the company goals. Proper communication means talking to staff about business goals, and providing regular evaluations. Smart managers make sure that all employees have incentives to excel, and their suggestions are seriously considered. By motivating and inspiring your staff, providing them with the tools to succeed, your downtime will be minimized.

Time Reduction
With Adjustable Machine Movement Monitoring Technolog(LDT/Shut-Height Technology):

Adjustable machine vertical/horizontal movement monitors are based on Allen Bradley (AB) PLC controllers to accurately monitor and control adjustable motor driven machine movements. Precision linear transducers are mounted to the machine to measure adjustable movements to within .005" accuracy. The movement(s) value is displayed with the ability to store and recall targeted settings for approximately 100 different jobs. Control output relays interface to the machine's movement adjustment motors. This initiates automatic and correct adjustments for the desired job run. Stand-Alone (SA) Allen-Bradley PLC integrated versions are available in both 4 and 8 channel packages. These units are simple to install and operate. They provide great savings over manual methods when job changeover for different products is required. This technology can provide both vertical and horizontal adjustments, and is a very robust application. Applications can include fillers, labelers, case packers, side rails, or, any piece of equipment where a precision vertical or horizontal adjustment(s) is needed to assist with a changeover.

"Stand Alone" Adjustable Machine Movement Monitoring Technology for Individual Equipment and Line Changeovers: this unit contains proven and reliable Allen Bradley PLC based electronics. It can have either 4 or 8 channels of machine height monitoring and related circuitry, with the ability to accept 0 to 10 VDC analog input signals from 1 to 4, or, 1 to 8 linear displacement transducers (LDT's). It displays the actual machine adjustment set-points, and can store them for multiple jobs. When a new job is entered, it provides the proper vertical, or, horizontal machine adjustment output signals. The system's measurement accuracy and display resolution is within .005" (note: actual machine adjustment accuracy is dependent upon the condition of the machine's adjust drive and machine condition). An integral compact color touch screen display (4" diagonal) contains the following functions:

Entering setup and calibration values for the LDTs

Show the actual "machine adjustments" for all connected transducers

Enter and display the proper LDT machine adjustment values for particular jobs based upon the assigned "job numbers"

Contains "pushbotton" function on display to manually adjust machine set-points

Store, recall and activate up to 100 different "job based" machine adjustments for the connected transducers (note: each LDT will have its own unique job machine set-points)

120 VAC control voltage outputs to provide the proper control signals to the machine's motorized actuators (note: when a new job is entered and activated, the actuators will atuomatically adjust the machine set-points as needed)

Ability to disable the unused channels

Password protection to limit machine adjustments only to authorized personnel

Unit configured for 120 VAC external power

All items factory wired and housed in gasketed sealed NEMA 4x stainless steel enclosure for "washdown" protection and corrosion resistance

Machine motorized actuators are not furnished

Unit options include a "remote job activation" freature to remotely activate a new job with the proper settings from a "panel view" operator interface at the main machine control

"PLC Integrated" Adjustable Machine Movement Monitoring Technology for Individual Equipment and Line Changeovers: this unit can interface to existing Allen Bradley PLC and panel view displays in the main machine's control AB Micrologix/Compactlogix, SLC-500 and ControlLogix platforms. It can be utilized with 4 or 8 channels of machine adjustment monitoring and related hardware, with the ability to accept 0 to 10 VDC analog input signals from 1 to 4, or, 1 to 8 linear displacement transducers (LDT's). The actual machine adjustments are displayed from the connected LDT's, and it stores the proper machine heights for multiple jobs. When a new job is entered, the proper horizontal/vertical machine adjustment output signal is provided. The system's measurement accuracy and display resolution is within .005" (note: actual machine adjustment accuracy is dependent upon the condition of the machine's adjust drive and machine condition). Hardware consists of AB PLC analog input module for installation in the open slots of the existing PLC control rack. Engineering/programming for the existing machine's AB PLC control and panel view display is needed to attain the following functions:

Entering setup and calibration values for the linear displacement transducers

Shows the actual "machine adjustments" for all connected transducers

Enters and displays the proper LDT machine adjustment values for particular jobs based upon the assigned "job numbers"

Stores, recalls and activates up to 100 different "job based" machine adjustmentss for the connected transducers (note: each LDT will have its own unique job machine set-point)

Ability to provide the proper control signals to the existing machine adjustment motorized actuators with existing contactors (note: when a new job is entered and activated, the actuators will automatically adjust the machine as needed)

Ability to disable the unused channels

Password protection to limit machine adjustments only to authorized personnel

Machine height motorized actuators are not furnished. The customer will need to provide the existing PLC control program, and the panel view display program so the interface programming work can be completed. Confidential nondisclosure agreements can be signed as needed.

"Linear Displacement Transducer (LDT)" Machine Movement Monitoring Technology for Individual Equipment and Line Changeovers: the "standard duty" transducer Model H-LDT-SD-XXXX ("XXXX" designates active sensing length in inches, .0120" to 12.0' in length), with sensing lengths from 12.0" to 60.0' in .1" increments. Standard transducer features include the following:

Mounting on motorized adjustable machine support legs to provide a calibrated output signal for the machine's monitored movement

Can be mounted for vertical (height) or horizontal machine adjustment

Provides a 0 to 10 VDC analog output signal

Rugged construction for industrial applications

Stainless steel sensing tube

Electronics enclosed in aluminum housing with O-ring seals, with IP67 rating for dust and water protection

Hard wired 30' cable with cordgrip fitting at cable exit (note: longer cable lenghts are available upon request)

Sensor magnet ring

Adjustable steel mounting brackets for sensor unit (stationary machine section) and for magnet ring (moving adjustable machine section)

Transducer options include "heavy duty" stainless steel transducer (Model H-LDT-HD-XXXX), with stainless steel sensing tube and stainless steel electronics enclosure with O-ring seals for washdown protection from caustic cleaning agents; included are stainless steel mounting brackets for sensor unit and magnet ring with a long-length cable of over 30'

TechSource® will identify your "changeover problems", provide you with solutions, and do the necessary line or equipment retrofits to correct the problem(s). We'll provide you with the expertise you need to be successful with your changeovers and startups, while making your plant more effective and efficient. In turn, helping you to guarantee your plant's future!

Quick Changeover Technology
Training Course Outline:

Changeover and Startup Technology is one of the most important challenges facing manufacturers today! Proper implementation provides an endless return-on-investment for your company. In this course you'll learn the principles and methods that enable you to drastically reduce your changeover and startup times. You will learn how to free-up machine capacity, reduce inventories, increase throughput and better meet your customer's demands for product and lower costs!

How Changeover Time Reduction Fits Into Your Company Improvement Plan: The 3 keys and HOW to focus your employees on these fundamentals - Recognizing the 4 areas of improvement - Why yearly improvement goals are not enough, and how creating a definition of changeover time is what gets results - The relationship of SUTR to job security - How to create an understanding that changeover time is wasted time, and help employees to recognize value-added time

Understanding Costs and How to Reduce Them: Why the need to focus on inventory costs and the reduction possibilities due to changeover time and lot size reduction - Understanding quality costs and why they are important - How to ensure your efforts get the desired results in cost reduction - Developing the relationship between demand and lot size and how to establish a strategy that gets results - A complete cost/benefit that clearly identifies the "return-on-investment" for any quick changeover time reduction investment

Cycle Time Reduction and Its Impact on Your Business: How to conduct an analysis of your cycle-time and plan for improvement - How to find and eliminate bottlenecks - Understanding "demand-based manufacturing" and getting started with the effort through "changeover time reduction" - Eliminating the queue time and the impact of change - Understanding the benefits of total cycle time reduction

Organizing for Changeover Time Reduction with a Results Orientation: Defining the reduction task and creating the charter - Identifying the functions that contribute to reduced changeover time - Focusing efforts and how to proceed in changeover time reduction - Developing "champions" and training employees to reduce changeover time - How to establish the basis of "Changeover Time Reduction" and getting employees comfortable with the effort - Eliminating flow contraints and the 7-Steps to completion - Understanding the importance of safety during changeover and meeting all contractual obligations

Implementing the Proven Method of Changeover Time Reduction: How to get a complete videotaping of your changeover - Understanding the documentation format and how to use it - Developing categories and creating a "Pareto Chart" of your changeover(s) - Moving to the external, eliminating and reducing the time it takes to do a current changeover

Case Study in Changeover Time Reduction: This is a thorough step-by-step example of changeover time reduction providing employees with an understanding as to how to slash your changeover time(s) - Students go through all the steps of documentation: time netting, activity classification and brainstorming to develop the results - Each group presents their results and determines the amount of reduction possible - How to get reults-focused problem solving applied to your changeovers

Identified Areas for Improvement: How to externally locate, organize and maintain all change parts - Applying a checklist that will result in a 50% reduction in changeover time - The effect of maintenance and changeover time reduction - Organizing and implementing improvements that reduce clamping and adjustment problems encountered in changeovers - How to make automated improvements and determine their cost effectiveness

Establishing Measurement Control for Changeover Time Reduction: Implementing performance measurements that energize to success - Establishing an average non-value changeover time measurment - Achieving stretch goals - Measures of improvement necessary that provide return-on-investment - Possible department and cell measurements - How to close the results and apply developed results

Review of Existing Equipment Changeovers and Recommendations: A class tour of your facility with the instructor to find changeover opportunities for improvement(s) - The instructor will utilize a video camera to capture the opportunities and use that/those video(s) in the review session as an analysis tool - After an extensive "evaluation tour", the class will reconvene to review the recommendations and conduct a final question and answer session

A brief history of Quick Changeover, a.k.a., the "Single Minute Excahange of Dies" (SMED): this methodology dates back to the 1950s. A Japanesse engineer by the name of Shigeo Shingo was employed as a consultant to the Toyota Motor Car Company. Mr. Shingo realized that pieces of equipment requiring die changes, were ineffecient, not cost-effectvie, and taking way too much time. After observing this operation, Mr. Shingo developed a changeover methodology entitled the Single Minute Exchange of Dies (SMED) to help facilitate the quicker changeover of these dies. After perfecting his methodology, Mr. Shingo wrote a book entitled "A Revolution in Manufacturing" which describes the step-by-step process for the SMED methodology for changeovers. The application of the "SMED/quick changeover" methodology is endless, and its possibilities are infinite. "SMED/quick changeover" can be applied to almost any process improvement where a changeover is required and time reduction is needed.

Total Productive Maintenance (TPM)
Achieving Zero Breakdowns and Zero Defects:

TPM is a process carried out by all employees through small group activities on a company wide basis to help improve your maintenance. The goals of TPM are zero breakdowns, zero defects and increased profits. It is the integration of the concept of Lean Manufacturing into your overall manufacturing process. There are 5 key elements to a successful TPM program:

the maximization of equipment effectiveness, a teamwork approach to inrease Operational Equipment Efficiency (OEE);

involving the total maintenance system to help eliminate waste from the process of maintaining the equipment;

the involvement of all necessary departments; empower your operators to perform autonomous maintenance;

involving all levels of employees to help improve maintenance ownership and morale; make sure that senior leadership is engaged, and owns the process of productivity, not just its results;

establishment of common work groups, create a culture of continuous improvement;

Understanding the above 5 elements are the keys to a successful TPM program. Begin by identifying which of these elements are currently in place in your company. To ensure success, evaluate each of the following components of your maintenance program:

Analyze and Document: conduct a complete analysis of your maintenance downtime records for each machine and line, including planned and unplanned downtime, and micro-stops. Prioritize and know the number of occurances, causes and the severity of your downtime and determine WHY its happening?

Analyze Production: know your quality, your amount of scrap, amount of rework and your customer returns. Then figure out WHY this is happening?

Autonomous Maintenance: provide your equipment operators with the knowledge to be able to do the bulk of the maintenance on their machine(s).

Common Work Groups: cell teams, natural work areas, departments, and ownership of some maintenance activities; many companies already have cells established which can become common work groups.

Cost Initiatives: TPM provides cost reductions in staffing, reduced maintenance costs, energy conservation and it can increase your equipment's life span.

Equipment Effectiveness: an analysis should always include the equipment and its efficiency, profitablility and equipment diagnostic techniques. Determine if any of your mainenance can be eliminated with improvements to your machines.

Involve Departments: develop cross-functional work teams, i.e., operators, maintenance, electricians, supervisors, etc., and identify possible shared responsibilities. Review all needed maintenance with all appropriate staff.

Material Delivery: delivery of material from one operation to the next is imperative; J.I.T., MRO stock is reduced, increase inventory turns, zero stock-out (availability) and total cost reductions.

Morale: while hard to measure in financial terms, morale is an important improvement as a result of TPM and pride is another aspect.

Planning: try to plan all of your maintenance activities, if possible?

Practice of 5s: sort, set-in-order, shine, standardize and sustain.

Productivity: how does your company measure labor utilization, value added, uptime and downtime? Always try and improve on time-reduction for planned maintenance functions.

Reacting to Breakdowns: still commonplace, recognize the importance of TPM and begin its implementation to eliminate breakdowns.

Review OEM Programs: examine all OEM recommended maintenance plans and programs and compare that with your current planned maintenance initiatives.

Safety and Environment: every company should make efforts to identify unsafe conditions and practices, establish positive goals for no accidents, and establish positive work attitudes and plant cleanliness.

Training: evaluate your operator training and make sure that you have training manuals for each machine. Be sure that your personnel have the following degrees of knowledge: a sound understanding of the machine's operation; an established/defined degree of preparedness to operate their machine; an assurance that they can analyze and solve their machine's problems; and an instilled sense of urgency for corrective action(s) when their machine is not running properly.

TPM's Impact: increases process control, reduces variation, reduces field complaints, better monitors processes, i.e., people, materials and equipment; its greatest impact is on product quality.

What is a Total Quality System (TQS): TQS is a conformance to requirements, a laser-focused commitment to reduction in variation, a system of prevention, and an obligation to a standard of zero defects! The measurement of quality is the price of non-conformance, and proper maintenance impacts all of these functions.

Finally: don't undercut your achieved successes by doing the following: eliminating or suspending training for your maintenance personnel, properly trained people are invaluable; reduce your staffing, this should be a last resort; postpone or cancel your PMs, 50% to 70% of your maintenance time is spent on PMs and inspections; don't create an attitude or philosophy of only fixing what you have to fix; or, develop a practice of reactive maintenance, don't sit around until something fails before its fixed. All these actions can cost you dearly financially. Especially when these decisions are made by someone other than your maintenace professional(s). At the very least get their input!

Right up front, you should plan for all employees to be involved in the maintenance of their equipment. Implementing your maintenance program into your focus on quality is key to making it a success. When you examine product quality, it would be impossible to achieve 100% quality without considering your equipment and its maintenance. Kunio Shirose, the author of "TPM Culture in Japan" defines TPM: a set of activities for restoring equipment to its optimal condition and changing the work environment to maintain those conditions". The key to Shirose's message is the changing of the work environment from focusing on maintenance as a repair activity, to a culture focusing on sustaining the most desirable conditions for equipment effectiveness. This is achieved by establishing company-wide partnerships with various departments while continually refining the teamwork principles amongst labor and management work groups. Your product quality depends upon the quality of your equipment, and a good TPM program is invaluable! TPM has many quantifiable advantages, but it is only a benefit if it moves your organization forward.

Total Productive Maintenance (TPM)
Training Course Outline:

Maintenance should be a continuous ongoing process, because well maintained equipment will always make you a good quality product. Provide your personnel with the vital tools and knowledge they need to improve and implement the necessary changes to your equipment to always produce a high-quality product. Your market place is demanding high-quality from its suppliers and it is crucial to your organization to make 100% quality a reality. Maintenance is a vital component in reaching and maintaining your high standard for quality. This course will provide your personnel with the tools and knowledge they need to be successful!

Understanding Total Productive Mainenance: Historical development of TPM - Focusing on TPM - Why TPM? - Goals of TPM - 5 elements of TPM

Equipment Effectiveness: The total maintenance system - Departmental involvement - Employee involvement - Common work groups

Increasing Profits Through Equipment Effectivenss: Productivity - Quality - Cost - Material delivery - Morale

Problem Solving and TPM: 14 Step problem solving - Symptom development - Root cause analysis - Developing solutions - Implementation

Equipment Investment: Maintenance free design - Design to life cycle costs - Equipment flexibility - Technical support and training

Equipment Life Cycle: Life cycle cost - Life span - Startup failure - Operational failure - Deterioration

6 Obstacles to Equipment Effectiveness: Breakdowns - Startup - Minor stoppages - Reduced speed - Process defects - Low yields

Eliminating Equipment Failures: Cleaning - Procedures - Part replacement - Improve design - Operator skill level

Equipment Measurements: Operating rate - Performance efficiency - World-class performance - Uptime vs. downtime - Minor stoppages - Major stoppages

Breakdown Counter-Measures: Daily maintenance practices - OEM recommendations - Machine overhaul - Mean Time Between Failure Analysis (MTBFA)

Getting TPM Started in Your Company: Management commitment - Communications - Education and training classes - Organize to promote TPM - Maintenance charts at the machines

Company Involvement: Top management - Middle management - Cell teams - Operators - Support areas

TPM Development Team: Team makeup - Up-front steps - Providing leadership - Goals and objectives - Implementation

7 Elements of a Maintenance Program: Cleaning - Eliminate causes- Standards of lubricating - Inspection standards and procedures - Cross departments - Organization of responsibility - Ownership and improvement

The Roles Involved in TPM: TPM team - Maintenance - Maintenance personnel - Flow down - Natural work areas - Cell teams - Local TPM teams

Elements of a Maintenance Program(s): Motivation - Ability - Working conditions - Team information

Steps to Implement TPM: Machine identification - Power source identification - Lock-out procedure - Daily maintenance system - OEM maintenance system - MTBFA system - Development format - Critical machine listing - Next steps - Implementation of program planning

Condition Monitoring to Predictive Equipment Maintenance
3 Common Mistakes:

Its in the DNA of every maintenance person to try and get the most service life possible from their equipment. From a statistical standpoint, condition-monitoring is a reasonable way to determine the condition of equipment with a minimum of work or interruption to the operation. Key parameters like lubrication, temperature, and vibration are usually collected and maintained in an historical data base. The progressive degradation of equipment performance due to wear and age can be plotted, trended, and quantified. When well done, condition-monitoring and predictive maintenance maximizes the run-time of your equipment, minimizes unexpected downtime, overtime labor costs, increases the bottom line, and improves the quality of work life for your personnel.The transition from condition-monitoring to predictive maintenance is usually the point where most mistakes in a predictive maintenance program are made, and the 3 most common mistakes are:

1.) Linear Extrapolation: fundamentally, extrapolation using linear functions is inaccurate for predicting failure. The period when a piece of equipment is operating well, it often appears that the degredation trend is lienar. That's because changes in the key performance parameters being measured may not change much over a relatively long period, especially when the equipment is operating in the flat part of its bathtub curve. This is the portion of the curve where failures are primarily due to random causes, and not wear or end-of-service effects. When equipment is operating in this zone, performance parameter changes can be approximated by a line. During this operating period the dominant degradation mechanism may be a linear physical function?

2.) Rigid Data Sampling Periods: many condition-monitoring programs check performance parameters of equipment at regular, unvarying intervals. If the monitoring interval in which performance parameters are checked is too long, the realtively short period when degradation rapidly accelerates to failure may be missed. In turn, the condition-monitoring system may provide no warning of an impending failure. Its useful to have a flexible monitoring interval program. Monitoring intervals during the random failure period may be longer than those closer to the wear-out or end-of-service-life period. For this reason, some companies begin to shorten monitoring intervals as a piece of equipment begins to approach it statistical end-of-service-life service point.

3.) Incomplete Inspection Feedback: the main point of a predictive-maintenance program is to reduce the cost of operating a plant by getting the most value out of its equipment while minimizing downtime and overtime. Most companies establish regular periods for replacing or repairing equipment; however, in many cases they do not inspect the old part to determine if the replacement or repair period is appropriate. To simply repalce the old part with a new one and toss the old part out with only a cursory check is a common practice. This is a wasted opportunity to save money and optimize your maintenance program. If the part being replaced or repaired is in good condition, especially in a critical area, and its performance parameters are steady and have ample margin before approaching the established acceptable standard limits, consider increasing its time in service. If the part shows unexpected wear in critical areas, consider shortening its service period. Inspections save money by allowing the longer use of a part, or, allowing users to replace a part sooner and avoid an unexpected failure.

Operational Equipment Effectiveness (OEE)
Maximizing Equipment Potential:

OEE is a measurement process used to indicate how effectively your machinery is running. OEE helps you to drive improvement and profitablility! Experience shows that the combined time-loss, i.e., routine stoppages and recordable unexpected stoppages can represent about 50% of the total time in any reporting period, and about 75% of the actual running time for a piece of equipment. OEE% values are commonly below 30% as a result. Improvements to OEE% must come from significant reductions in the durations of these equipment stoppages. It is a fundamental continuous improvement tool that provides you, with a vision of what went wrong. When trying to improve or implement OEE, address the following performance target areas:

Cellular Manufacturing Systems: configure your shop floor so machinery is sequenced in production order to produce the product in a one-piece flow; group similar parts that can be produced in the same cell and/or indentifying parts that have enough volume to have a dedicated cell.

Changeover Time Reduction: this includes making process and procedure improvements in addition to upgrading the equipment to support repeatable, reliable and rapid changeovers.

Changeover Impact Reduction(s): implement parallel working during changeovers; if possible, utilize duplicate parts to allow off-line cleaning ready for changeovers; carts should be ready with tools and change parts; avoid running small batches on high throughput lines and sequence similar products to minimize parts change and equipment resetting.

Equipment Availability: reduce your equipment failures, setup and adjustment times. Make sure you have an effective maintenance program in place!

Equipment Efficiencies: reduce idiling times and minor stoppages.

Flexibility: a goal of OEE, however, you can't be more flexible without first being more reliable. OEE provides you with the tools to help you execute both predictable and unpredictable order-fulfillments.

Improve Machine Design: reduce the number of fasteners and quick release fasteners on the machine(s); use LDT's or servos to assist with removals, replacements and adjustments; use tool-less changeovers when possible; use automated systems to provide changeover guidance to operators to execute their tasks.

Increase Operator Utilization: utilize split and phase breaks, rest periods, and utilize multi-skilled staff to perform parallel functions.

Level Scheduling: consistency of production is a goal of OEE improvement; therefore, scheduling activities should minimize any fluctuations; right-sizing your requirements throughout the entire material pipeline to equal the demand of your customer is a key component in level scheduling.

Mistake Proofing: its based on the premise that whenever possible, implement improvements that prevent mistakes; the goal is to eliminate the need for statistical data collection and inspections.

Process Flow Improvement: a technique used to identify all steps in a process, including the time and distance involved; each value-added step is identified, and all other steps in the process are then examined for elimination.

Pull System: often referred to as Kanban (easy to read card); the objective is to control the manufacturing of material based upon consumption at each step in the process; this only applies to reoccurring product.

Quality Rate: reduce defective product (scrapped and reworked) and eliminate all types of waste because they are "non-value added" activities; waste reduction is a driving force in the pursuit of OEE and yield improvement(s).

Rationalize and Simplify Product Design: reduce the number of physical product variants, particularly where the machine resetting is complex; simplify or remove non-essential tasks and process steps.

Standardized Work Methods: organize tasks in the best-known sequence, and then use the most effective combination of resources including people, materials, methods and machines; this will help improve your product's quality.

Supply Chain Management: bring all tiered levels of the supply chain together to identify and eliminate waste in the entire pipeline resulting in decreased costs and improved throughput.

Takt Time: is a German word meaning pace or rhythm. Takt time helps to measure the pace, or rhythm of your customer's demand(s). The ability to match your production with your Takt Time requires your ability to make the right part, at the right time, in the right quantity. This is a key aspect of Lean manufacturing. The formula for Takt Time is: Total Planned Production Time During a Period (hours or seconds) divided by the Total Customer Demand During that Period (units). With Takt time you can figure the production rate of a unit to the second(s), in turn, determing production pace and amount of time to fulfill your customer's needs. This is an OEE goal easily understood by all involved. Using the concept of Takt Time is one way to maintain the alignment with the business goals. The goal(s) which are aligned with satisfying the customer.

Theory of Constraints: identifies the most restricting operation in the process, it's based on the premise that unless you resolve and speed-up the constrained part of the process, you cannot increase output.

Total Productive Maintenance: the goal here is to optimize the effectiveness of your plant's equipment, focusing on machine operator repsonsibilities, and the mechanics that perform the preventive maintenance tasks; implement "Predicitive Maintenance" (PM) or "Reliability Centered Maintenance" (RCM) to improve machine and services reliability; try to eliminate or reduce live line clearances; reduce line speeds if needed, the elimination of unexpected stoppages is as important as line speed in optimizing OEE% and capacity.

Value Stream Mapping: visually depicts a process flow, and this should be updated as improvements are made.

Visual Factory: create an environment where all employees can understand what is to be done at each machine by way of information provided at that machine: pictures, written word, color coding, computer touch screen, etc..

Work Place Organization: the phrase "a place for everything and everything in its place" applies here.

Planned OEE% is the expected value of OEE% to be achieved in predicting the future performance of a plant. It is a representation of the operations performance which is composed of 3 key performance indicators: availability rate (breakdowns + changeovers); production rate (minor stoppages + cycle time losses); and quality rate (rework + scrap). Predicting OEE% is necessary when assessing the true value of proposed improvements, new capital investments and identifying the capacity of existing facilities to produce new products. Most companies use machines to add value to the their products. It's just good business practice to utilize your machinery in an efficient and effective manner, and know your plant capabilities!

Operational Equipment Effectiveness (OEE)
Packaging Machinery Performance:

The use of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) is growing, and OEE is growing faster than most because its easy to use. You only have to measure three key factors: availability, performance (throughput), and quality against their optimal or ideal levels. If a machine is capable of filling 100 bottles, but you only fill 50, then that machine's performance OEE number is 50%. Perform the same analysis for availability (time of operation) and quality (acceptable bottles filled), then multiply the three percentages, and you arrive at your overall OEE number. It shows a machine's actual performance, and managers can relate to performance!

OEE can be applied to accurately compare any machine or any line. It helps a plant to determine if it can extract more production out of its equipment without the need to invest in new machines and personnel. Margin pressures like energy, raw materials, packaging materials among other factors are all increasing. OEE is a good, realtively simple, and (can be) an inexpensive way to help you determine the profitability of your existing assets.

OEE is a relatively simple and robust process, and the data required can be collected with a piece of paper and a pen. However, manually collected data can be untimely and somewhat questionable? Most companies want to know how they are doing NOW, instead of how they did last week. A viable alternative to manual data collection is a good software package that gathers data directly from your equipment and provides you with actionable real-time information/data. To ensure the successful implementation of a software system, look for some of the following options in a package: is the software easy to use; are reports and information "dashboards" canned, to help speed and simplify its installation and operation, and does it minimize any subjective factors; finally, are you able to collect event, state, and machine level details to provide to your decision makers?

Automated data gathering and OEE monitoring may leave some equipment data isolated. Especially, where the customer gets the data from an OEM application that's included with their equipment. They might not be able to change a calculation? Or, where the data might be self-contained and not available across different pieces of equipment. This elmininates the key benefit of OEE, the ability to relate performance metrics across equipment, work centers, and plants.

Some software solutions can require many changes at the control or automation layer. Others may require that a large "etched-in-stone" infrastructure be in place, while others may require a rip-and-replace strategy be initiated. The implementation of an automated OEE system must be flexible, and the collection and analysis of OEE and KPI data should evolve in response to the technological and internal cultural (maybe your greatest hurdle) changes. Also, you may have equipment that is not automated, and it won't allow you to implement an automated OEE data collection program.

However, the industry is requiring that there be a greater integration of OEE functionality within the machinery. This is being referred to as the OEE onboard approach. Operational teams want OEE or its equivalent, from their machinery so that factories can be more productive and they can achieve their team/company objectives. The easier it is to understand a factory performance, the easier it is to make the necessary adjustments where needed. Expect to see more integration of OEE features into machines as a value-added feature. Information-enabled equipment is becoming an issue for end-users who are trying to join together solutions from a vareity of OEMs equipment. More end-users are expecting information integration!

OEE numbers by themselves do not provide specifics about what might be wrong with a machine, or, how to fix it. Instead, it only shines light on the issue(s), revealing the area that needs to be evaluated for improvement. These software packages only augment OEE's ability to identify a problem(s), and provides tools to readily analyze those problems and develop a solution. Companies want the ability to highly-scrutinize their information to get very detailed reasons as to why they're seeing certain values for specific KPIs.

Wheter you implement OEE by itself or as part of a larger software solution, certain fundamental factors need to be kept in mind. Always involve the relevant parties, from your shop floor personnel, to the plant management early on in the process. You don't want machine performance management to be viewed as an imposition, or, a flavor-of-the-month that won't be fully utilized. Keep it simple, too much data is just that, a pain, its confusing, and you will not use the system that has been implemented because its just too dificult! Don't use your data as a punishment or a reward. If you do, people will begin to fudge your data. Use your data to make process improvements. By itself, the data can't improve your operation, that's up to you. Finally, measure the result(s) of your actions, and take further action where appropriate. After implementing changes, it's important to measure the outcomes of your improvements and determine the greatest areas of impact and where further improvements are necessary?

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