Update on Excellence. Trumpf Shows How to Continuously Improve Continuous Improvement

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1 Trumpf Shows How to Continuously Improve Continuous Improvement Applying lean tools ensures sustainable organization-wide progress. Jeff Schaller, Ph.D. Many companies find it difficult to sustain continuous improvement (CI), and Trumpf Inc., which launched its lean initiative ten years ago, is no different except in one respect. To sustain and improve CI efforts, the company applies CI and waste elimination techniques to its CI efforts. Trumpf hosted an AME workshop at its Farmington, CT facilities to share its approach and In Brief to explore new ways to sustain CI efforts. The family-owned company manufactures sheet metal processing equipment, industrial lasers, electronics, and medical equipment. The workshop was actually two events in one. One group of participants attended a seminar led by Robert Castonguay, Trumpf s Synchro manager, which focused on how Synchro workshops are managed and conducted. Synchro short for Trumpf Inc. uses continuous improvement tools to improve kaizen workshops and other CI efforts. Efforts include using standard work to select process improvement projects, assemble kaizen teams, and conduct workshops. In addition, the company embeds CI into its organizational structure. Synchronous Production is the name Trumpf uses for its lean production system; Synchro workshop is its name for a kaizen workshop. The other group participated in a hands-on CI workshop on material flow in Trumpf s sheet metal fabricating area. Trumpf s Synchro, like other companies lean operating systems, focuses on improving product and service quality, increasing the speed and efficiency of production, innovating new products, and motivating employees. Launched in 1998, Synchro has progressed through four phases: 1) Synchro initial preparation, 2) employee involvement, 3) deployment of Synchro tools and methods, and 4) sustainment and continuous improvement. Examples of improved performance resulting from Synchro include reduced 48 Target Volume 25, Number 3

2 assembly hours per machine, throughput time in days, and production costs. When Synchro first started, it took 165 hours to assemble a machine. Now it takes 105 hours, a 35 percent reduction; the goal is 100 hours. Throughput time decreased from 22 days to 13 days, a 41 percent reduction. Production costs have been decreased ten percent. About Trumpf Trumpf is a high-tech organization that manufactures sheet metal processing equipment, industrial lasers, electronics, and medical equipment for delivery to markets throughout the world. A family-owned business established in 1923, Trumpf has over 7000 employees worldwide with about 700 employees at its North American facilities. Synchro Organization and Teamwork Castonguay provided an overview of Synchro and Synchro workshops. Key points were the Synchro organization, the improvement drivers, Synchro team responsibilities, pre-synchro workshop steps, and the steps for successfully conducting a workshop. Fundamental to Trumpf s CI success is that the company is organized to support Synchro. Each production plant is staffed with a Synchro core team led by a Synchro manager. The core team which includes the manager, specialists (workshop facilitators), and workshop consultants (internal or external experts) reports directly to the executive leadership at each production plant. A Synchro manager is a seasoned site champion and is responsible for plant-wide facilitation of Synchro workshops. Synchro managers ensure that workshops have measurable goals that support company goals; work with process owners and/or area managers to develop the scope, limits, and objectives of a workshop; and provide standard logistics items such as training tools. Synchro specialists are Toyota Production System and six sigmacertified internal resources who serve as workshop facilitators. They work with local management and the site champion to prepare each workshop by providing training on tools, methods, and principles; by coaching team leaders; and ensuring that the team follows Synchro methodology. Sometimes a Synchro workshop is facilitated by an external consultant. With the core Synchro team embedded in both production and administrative departments of each facility, every part of the company has the ability to make lean happen. The core team works with team leaders, or sometimes a pair of co-leaders, to lead Synchro workshops. Team leaders tend to be the supervisors of particular processes or people who have a direct vested interest in the improvement outcome. These carefully-chosen team leaders have proven leadership skills including good communication and people skills; experience in the Synchro process; and the ability to relate to direct labor as well as to senior management. Senior managers frequently participate on Synchro teams. Team leaders must also empower, coach, and facilitate the team to determine what and how things will be done, in an openminded manner. For each workshop, additional Synchro team members are drawn from a broad spectrum of positions and usually number between five and eight individuals impacted by the workshop. Trumpf also considers the following critical team roles: 1. A different set of eyes. An inquisitive, outspoken individual not from the area covered by the workshop; this member can see things that may otherwise be overlooked and is a source of fresh ideas. 2. Manufacturing or product engineers. The role of the engineer is critical because typically 80 percent of a product s cost is cast in stone during the design process. 3. Someone currently assigned to the process. This helps to create ownership for the changes and responsibility for implementation. It is also effective to have someone from upstream and downstream of the selected area. 4. Maintenance or facilities. Many workshops involve moving equipment and workstations. 5. Materials planners/buyers. This role is important in addressing material control and scheduling issues. 6. Influential informal leaders. 7. Safety coordinator. The team may need consultation on the safety implications of various improvement recommendations. 8. Suppliers. Suppliers serve as a different set of eyes and can offer insight into solutions outside of the team s influence. 9. Ad hoc members. Sometimes a temporary member may be needed to provide expert input about a product, service, or process. Using the standard work team selection process ensures that each workshop has the best balance of people and skills to create a better 49 Third Issue 2009

3 process. Kai Moellendorf, director of manufacturing, explained that an important aspect of Trumpf s Synchro initiative is that it is a matrix organization with Synchro specialists embedded in the production and administrative (office) departments. Moellendorf said: Outsiders can help to develop ideas for improvement but cannot follow through with the implementation. The specialists within each department are the resource that ensures implementation. Policy Deployment Process Effective CI workshops focus on appropriate goals. Trumpf uses a policy deployment process that enables local plants to conduct workshops that meet corporate goals. First, group strategy and annual goals are developed. Using these goals, objectives and annual targets are developed for the fiscal year for each of the local U.S. plants. Each plant blends fiscal year goals with annual improvement audit results. Local goals are used in conjunction with value stream mapping (VSM), 5S, and audits to develop departmental lean initiatives, which provide a roadmap to develop plans and goals for Synchro workshops in each area. Synchro Team Responsibilities The Synchro Team is responsible for learning about the product and documenting the process through observation and discussion with departmental personnel. The team first identifies problems and sources of waste, and then identifies their root causes. The next step is to generate ideas on how to fix the problems and/or eliminate waste. The final step is to implement solutions. Successfully Conducting a Workshop Trumpf teams follow the Pre- Synchro Workshop Steps, including: 1) Describe the opportunities, 2) form and train the team, 3) set goals, 4) assess the facility to determine availability of required equipment, and 5) assign responsibilities. The teams develop checklists to ensure that all pre-workshop issues are addressed. The starting point for a workshop is a description of the opportunities. A workshop is often selected based on a specific business need or as a result of a VSM exercise where a future-state map is compared to a current-state map. An opportunity is defined as a discrepancy between customer requirements and the current state process. A workshop list spells out each identified opportunity. Designing the pre-event kickoff agenda is an important element of workshop management. Examples of questions to consider when drafting the agenda include: What is the order of topics? How will event participants get to know each other and gain a common understanding of event objectives? Are all participants involved in every session? Will there be smaller break-out groups, and if so, how will information be provided to the entire group? How is closure achieved for the workshop? The agenda should focus on outcomes and provide a good flow and structure for the workshop. The agenda and meeting reminder should be distributed at least three to five days prior to the meeting. Meeting logistics to consider include room scheduling and setup, projectors and screens, flip charts, paper/marking pens, and refreshments. A standard meeting process ensures effective workshops. Elements to consider include starting meetings on time, assigning someone to take notes, reviewing objectives, expectations and the agenda, checking for agreements on results of the meeting, following the agenda, and summarizing each major decision. At the end of the meeting, the team should make a list of the next steps and evaluate the meeting s effectiveness. During the meeting, the team should focus on outcomes and avoid overworking details. During the workshop events, Trumpf follows a typical lean kaizen process. A Synchro newspaper, which is a running documentation of the event, is updated daily. One-point lessons are frequently included in this publication. A onepoint lesson involves pictures or diagrams that illustrate a key point such as an idea for improvement or a before and after picture of an area once an idea has been implemented. (See Figure 1.) After the workshop is over, a post-session follow-up phase addresses improvement items for later follow-up. These items are documented in the Synchro newspaper, and local management then follows up on open Synchro items, usually within 30 days. Other post-workshop steps include measuring progress, reporting progress to other departments/plants/divisions, and random review by senior and local management. Lessons Learned The AME seminar participants toured the plant to view various improvements that resulted from Synchro workshops. After the tour, the group discussed Trumpf Workshop Event Management lessons learned that emerged from the discussion, which include: The lean manager reports to the president or division general 50 Target Volume 25, Number 3

4 Before One-Point Lesson A er Final Assembly Cart No Storage Bars Only enough room for finished parts Storage Bars Added Final Assembly Cart Now the cart can be u lized for all processing steps Figure 1. Each day of a kaizen workshop, Trumpf publishes a Synchro newspaper, which documents important improvements. One-point lessons, such as this one showing how a team improved an assembly cart, are frequently published in this newspaper. manager. This gives CI high visibility and establishes its importance. Lean specialists are embedded in each department, sparking CI initiatives. VSM exercises, 5S, and other audits are the foundation for roadmaps standard operations procedures used to drive all improvements. Lean is embraced through all departments, including the office. Trumpf s approach to team selection ensures success. Lean contributions are part of annual reviews, ensuring that lean CI is part of the way the company does business as opposed to a separate program. The Hands-on CI Workshop The other group of AME attendees joined one of Trumpf s regularly-scheduled Synchro workshops. The CI workshop focused on the press brake operation in the sheet metal department, a bottleneck operation. The AME participants represented a different set of eyes that could help the Trumpf team develop ideas for improving material flow through sheet metal fabrication and reduce press brake setup and processing times. The team took a short tour of the workshop area and then listened to a presentation, given by Larry Johnson, sheet metal manager, describing the current state. Trumpf s Synchro standard work was used to conduct the event. The team started by reviewing the actual conditions before the workshop and the goals of the workshop. The team s facilitator, Ed Thumith, an AME volunteer from Thermo Fisher Scientific, reviewed the agenda for the rest of the day to ensure an effective use of time. The team was then organized to observe a job in the press brake area. After observing the operation, the team developed a fishbone cause and effect diagram. The next step was to develop possible initiatives for improvement. The team used a brainstorming exercise to accomplish this task and was able to develop 16 initiatives. The team then plotted the initiatives on a graph based on their difficulty and their expected impact. This was done to help prioritize the initiatives. Based on the prioritization, the 51 Third Issue 2009

5 workshop team suggested two key improvements. First, they suggested that a Creform cart could be designed to handle materials through all of the sheet metal steps. Since Creform carts can be created and customized onsite quickly, the team designed and built the Creform cart shown in Figure 1. Such carts are created out of Creform pipes, fittings, and components. Second, the workshop team identified the linear layout and work area obstacles that hampered setup. The existing layout caused operators to travel long distances and walk around obstacles to obtain tools. The team proposed a U-shaped layout, reasoning that tools would be closer to the operators and if one operator needed help it would be easier for another operator to lend assistance. The layout features workstations dedicated to different-sized parts (small versus large), also helping to reduce setup time. (See a beforeand-after illustration of the work area in Figure 2.) Since most of the initiatives could not be completed Before Improving Work Flow Rack Rack Trumabend 5230 Trumabend V2300S Trubend V3200 Legend Welding PC PC Laser PC PC-Station Workbench Tooling Cart Work in Process Worker After Figure 2. Before and after illustrations show how the workshop team streamlined the work area of Trumpf s press brake work area. 52 Target Volume 25, Number 3

6 during this workshop, a list of homework items was created for sheet metal department follow-up. Take-Aways from the Event The workshop participants were asked to list impressive ideas that they could take back to their organizations and use. Ideas included: use of a standard library (Synchro newspapers), one-point lessons, facilitator standards for Synchro workshops, and pre-workshop meeting agenda. Three ideas that were mentioned by the workshop participants who had also been cited by the seminar group included: the embedding of Synchro specialists in each area; the inclusion of lean contributions and 5S audits in annual performance reviews; and the use of VSM and 5S audits to drive roadmap standards for operations improvements. These ideas are particularly important in ensuring that lean CI becomes part of the systems and infrastructure for managing an organization and sustaining CI. Without these types of approaches, lean CI is a separate program that can drift into ineffectiveness. Jeff Schaller, PhD, is a professor of operations management at Eastern Connecticut State University, Willimantic, CT AME For information on reprints, contact: AME Association for Manufacturing Excellence Case Studies in Lean and Sustainability Green Manufacturing This book was released by the Association for Manufacturing Excellence (AME) and published by Productivity Press as part of the Enterprise Excellence Series. The first book in the series, Lean Administration was published in Environmental issues are growing in importance for all manufacturers, and while a variety of articles have focused on these issues, there are virtually no books that do so. Continuing with the Enterprise Excellence Series, this book brings together articles and case studies, previously published in AME s Target Magazine, on environmental, and energy issues. Highlights include practical, in-depth descriptions of environmental, and energy issues including discussions of application of lean principles to these issues. Most Productivity Press Books are available at quantity discounts when purchased in bulk. To order a copy, go to the website ( 53 Third Issue 2009