Strengthening Your Company Beyond Lean

Manufacturing Engineering, Jul 2004 by Rossman, Edward F

Lean is a hot word right now, and grand progress in efficiency is being made. For example a Management Forum called "Making It In America: Rising Up To The Global Manufac8 turing Challenge," held june 10, 2004 alongside SME's annual meeting in Cincinnati, OH, focused on how small and medium-sized manufacturers can become more globally competitive. It called for applying the principles of lean manufacturing and continuous improvement throughout the enterprise.

In addition, speakers discussed workforce training and development programs to help companies streamline their manufacturing processes and accelerate speed-to-market of new products. The event also featured case studies by manufacturing experts who shared their firsthand insights on how they successfully reduced their company's operational costs while increasing efficiency, compressing product development cycles, improving productivity, and enhancing product qualitywithout having to resort to outsourcing production overseas, particularly to low-wage China.

All these steps may not be enough. There is another that can be taken that involves a major cultural adjustment -sharing technology with competitors.

The purpose of this brief article is to:

* Show why lean is not enough,

* Present examples of success from an eight-year experience in sharing of ideas,

* Allay fears about giving away ideas and sharing,

Eight years ago, under Boeing's leadership, a halfdozen companies formed a group or team and called this a Symposium-which implies a learning experience. Consortium was considered too strong a term, suggests other linking aspects, and implies possible legal ties that are not desirable. Boeing looks at our suppliers as an "extension" of the company.

Lean studies are absolutely necessary, and are the core of great improvements these days.

It appears that lean studies are absolutely necessary, and are the core of great improvements these days. But the companies that formed this symposium have taken progress a step further. The most effective lean improvements that I have seen have happened within this symposium-here several competing companies actually conducted a "round robin" of lean studies. Each company, in turn, hosts a study with representatives from the other companies, all participants working and sharing together. The host company may also bring in technology experts and speakers, and everyone shares ideas as they socialize and break bread together. Every three or four months a different company hosts a get-together.

The members of the symposium have not become identical. They are of different sizes, and selectively adopt or develop shared concepts that best fit their business and products. Here are some of the areas of grand progress:

* Designing, making, and resharpening your own cutters,

* Optimum use of cutter coatings for specific milling jobs,

* Use of fewer fixtures-the challenge is one fixture-or even better, universal fixtures,

* Cutter feeds and speeds that match or top the best that I have seen in the industry,

* NC programming techniques and standardizations that are setting trends in the industry,

* A sharing of ideas on reducing machine downtime,

* Group pressure on machinery builders to improve machine designs,

* Ideas on forming management teams where members are selected based on teaming characteristics.

Another area that is under consideration is to team up and share with members of the supply chain that tie to these machining houses such as: chemical houses, thermal processors, inspection services, etc.

I have seen a very healthy attitude in some companies that somewhat parallels Henry Ford's early principle that our task is to continue to be ereative and stay a jump or two ahead of the competition, so that when they steal one of our ideas we are at a new level of processing. No matter how hard we try, our competition does find out about our good ideasit's just a matter of time.

Edward F. Rossman, PhD

ASSOCIATE TECHNICAL FELLOW, MR&D

SENIOR MEMBER, SME

THE BOEING COMPANY

SEATTLE, WA