Longevity through Cost Awareness
The ability to manage price and cost forces on your organization may determine
your company's long-term future in the marketplace. Compounding the
pressure is the increasingly common practice in high-volume applications
that require yearly price reductions in order to secure new business.
AFT recently created a division-wide position to help every level of the
organization focus on cost reduction and interference elimination. AFT
also recognizes the strategic value in involving operators and staff in interference
elimination.
Interference at AFT consists of anything that gets in the way
of providing a higher quality product in less time. It might be a redundant
form in administration, extra walking distance in an operator's work
area, or an inefficient packaging technique. AFT has begun a program to solicit
ideas from its workforce about Interference Elimination, and has set a goal
of one idea per month per employee -- about 3,600 ideas per year – with
a 70% implementation rate.
Results have been encouraging: In the last several months 35 major
initiatives have been identified, and over 75% of the identified projects
are underway.
A recent example illustrates the potential savings. The MIM molding automation
end effectors were stored one on top of another in a large cabinet drawer. It
took set-up technicians as long as five minutes to find the end effector
and remove it from the tangled "spaghetti junction" of hoses,
connectors, and other parts.
An employee suggested a pegboard hanging system with the end effectors hanging
in alphabetical order. The system, which cost $250 to implement, saves
four minutes for every tool change – about 400 per year – resulting
in an annual time-savings of 27 hours.
Commitment to innovative ideas like this will help AFT maintain and improve
their market position. For more information visit www.pcc-aft.com. |
