Delphi Lean Engineering Initiatives

Automotive Manufacturing & Production, May, 2000 by Dr. Andrew Brown, Jr.

In examining the implementation of lean principles, there is a tendency to think of lean in terms of manufacturing operations. At Delphi Automotive Systems, the largest global automotive systems supplier, we certainly realize the key to world-class manufacturing processes is to get lean. However, at Delphi, lean concepts are applied to all functions. What is lean? At Delphi, we define lean as:

* Balanced use of people, equipment and material that gives us the lowest lifecycle cost.

* Lowest lifecycle cost assumes all waste is eliminated.

This translates into a Lean Enterprise approach composed of three (3) pyramids: Concept to Launch, Material to Delivery, and Order to Cash. The process which drives Delphi's Material to Delivery is its Delphi Manufacturing System (DMS). It is an implementation process that recognizes the interdependencies of its elements and drive to flow manufacturing. The elements are:

* Employee Environment and Involvement (EE&I)

* Workplace organization (WO)

* Quality System (QS)

* Operational Availability (OA)

* Material Movement (MM)

* Flow Manufacturing (FM)

In an effort to support manufacturing's aggressive effort toward lean, engineering has launched the following concept to launch initiatives:

* Manufacturing System Design (MSD)

* Lean Equipment Design (LED)

The objective of MSD is to examine whether our manufacturing system designs are consistent with the Delphi Manufacturing System. That is, are they robust enough to handle demand, product, and environmental variability. This examination is conducted through a series of workshops under the supervision of a plant sensei. Manufacturing System Design (MSD) allows Delphi to achieve a balance between operators, equipment, and material resulting in maximum utilization of operator's skills and attention, people sized modules, smooth flow of materials, and minimum total life cycle cost of the products produced.

To accomplish this philosophy, the Manufacturing System Design occurs in three (3) fundamental steps:

* Start the design of every manufacturing system with a simple, low volume concept to build one of a particular product.

* Refine the concept to the best, simplest low volume system.

* Continue refining and enhancing the concept with the proper balance of automation, conveyance, and properly sized buffers.

The result will be a system that has a smooth flow of material, minimum lot sizes, while maximizing the value added content of the operator.

As mentioned, MSD is executed through a series of workshops. This is a standard process for integrating selected process technologies into a lean manufacturing system. Engineers follow this standard process to create and select lean process/system concepts. It is used for new manufacturing systems, rework of existing manufacturing systems requiring capital, relocation of a product, or localization of a product. A cross-functional team approach is used in MSD and the result is a product development based set of instructions. On average, each workshop has shown headcount savings of 30%, floor space savings of 50%, investment savings of 20%, and production improvement of 22% in units per employee.

Another concept to launch initiative is Lean Equipment Design. This is a manual intended to provide guidelines for equipment design that will enable the implementation of the Delphi Manufacturing System (DMS) and which are consistent with the principles in the Manufacturing System Design (MSD). It is accomplished by:

* Showing the relationship to the product development process.

* Identifying the relationship to the six (6) interdependent elements of DMS.

* Reviewing Manufacturing System Design concepts.

* Identifying guidelines for equipment design characteristics.

* Providing examples to reinforce the concepts.

* Providing a lean equipment checklist.

To fully appreciate the value of the approach, let us explore some examples. A washing process to clean small parts was a high investment, high maintenance, and high utility equipment that occupied significant floor space. Its function was replaced by a commercially available dishwasher. This was a household dishwasher whose investment was $350. There is no maintenance expense because it is far cheaper to simply replace it! In another example, an attachment operation employed a sophisticated laser welder with high investment, high floor space, high downtime, high spare parts costs, training costs, and maintenance. A design change was made to employ a crimp attachment process. The crimping equipment is one-tenth the investment, occupies only 5% of the previous floor space, and has a narrow effective width. This equipment could now be placed in a lean cell. Finally, an assembly machine was high investment and used 1,000 sq. ft. of floor space. It also had high downtime and spare parts costs. This operation was replaced by a new assembly fixture costing $100 and is a part of a new assembly cell eliminating the 1,000 sq. ft. In pursuit of leaner equipment design, specific Rules Based Design Guides are being developed such as guidelines for the selection of welding and material joining processes in a lean manufacturing environment.