13 Feb 2014 Reduce Scrap – and Lower TCO – with Datamiser’s Quality Control Software
In today’s still-uncertain economy, maximizing efficiencies remains an important and effective way for companies to keep expenses to a minimum. However, with increasing global competition, U.S. companies are frequently at an immediate disadvantage compared to their counterparts from abroad, where total cost of ownership (TCO) can typically be much lower. In an effort to stay competitive, many U.S. companies invest significant amounts of time and money implementing lean manufacturing practices such as Six Sigma. One area that presents a major opportunity to gain an important advantage – and which many companies overlook – is cutting wasteful scrap material.
INCREASE EFFICIENCIES – WITHOUT SCRAPPING YOUR EXISTING PROCESSES
Realistically, scrap can be difficult if not impossible to eliminate. But reducing scrap need not mean scrapping your existing processes or cutting your labor force. By implementing a powerful quality control software solution, your company can improve shop floor data collection, enhance plant-floor visibility enterprise-wide, and significantly reduce scrap – with little or no disruption to your day-to-day business activities. A real-time quality management system can enable engineers, plant-floor managers, and C-level executives alike to obtain a clear view of any potentially wasteful practices. Implementing a customizable software solution that integrates seamlessly with your existing processes can help your company pinpoint the source of your scrap-related inefficiencies – and help you realize the following:
- Reduced waste and lower TCO
- Enhanced statistical process control (SPC) and increased efficiency
- Improved overall equipment effectiveness
Not only can the implementation of such data collection software be carried out without interrupting operations, but the right solution can also help you eliminate disruptions to your business processes due to disposal of waste. Have a look at the following story of how global automotive supplier Magna-Intier Automotive implemented Savance Datamiser for its scrap reduction needs – and realized a host of business benefits.
INTIER AUTOMOTIVE SAVES MILLIONS PER YEAR IN SCRAP – WITH SAVANCE DATAMISER
Intier Automotive group was using a legacy ERP system that had no way of detailing real-time production statistics, downtime, or scrap reporting. The company turned to Savance to help them improve efficiency and reduce scrap across the entire product lifecycle (PLC). Experts from Savance first implemented a data collection software system out of each existing process. The data collection system collected cycle times, good/bad part data, downtime, as well as machine parameters. Using this data – which Savance made available via easy-to-use touch-screen terminals – Intier’s engineers, plant-floor managers, and C-level executives could all review statistics in a few simple steps. Within mere months of implementation, Intier was able to cut its scrap by 23% from the prior months’ averages. Moreover, production uptime increased 6%, and overall good parts to bad parts increased from 87 to 91%. All total, the changes implemented had an estimated savings of $1.2 million per year in scrap alone. Read the complete success story here.