The Fabricator - Sample Issue

CEven though the Verson presses at Kasle Metal Processing are more than 20 years old, software programmers still are able to use the presses’ controls to extract production information and create a fault-monitoring system that minimizes downtime.

software’s measurement capabilities to be ignored, according to Robert Hamilton, KMP’s operations manager.

“Certainly, you have to have the right culture. You have to have the attitude that you want to work and you want to look at these tools,” he said.

Hamilton, who has been with KMP slightly less than two years, embraced the software upon his arrival.

“We raised the awareness of the system and what it was going to do for us and what our expectations were. And we held people accountable to that,” Hamilton said.

The software—first installed at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indiana in Princeton, Ind.—has become a real-time window into operations and a prime motivator for continual improvement. Here are some examples:

Visibility into the shop floor. What you see on the screen—whether on the shop floor monitor or on a front-office latptop—is what is happening on the shop floor. A graphic reproduction of the lines, accessible through browsers such as Internet Explorer and Netscape, shows the viewer what part is running and how the line is running. Any number of operating specifications—such as uptime, gross strokes per hour, and total efficiency—can be programmed to be part of the main view

screen.

The software is patched into the controls operating the two lines. Although the equipment is not new, the software still is able to extract 90 percent of the information it needs from the controls to prepare the real-time view and in-depth reports.

Woods said this real-time view gives KMP management a true sense of what is happening on the shop floor. Automated data collection ensures accurate reporting of production details and removes mistakes that can occur from manual reporting.

For those who like to take their

coil processing equipment, which is more than 20 years old. Before the slowdown in late 2006, KMP used its equipment to produce 250,000 to 400,000 blanks per month, or 10,000 to 12,000 tons per month.

In addition to the inspecting techniques that ensure quality steel blanks are being shipped to its automaking customers, KMP also considers its ability to maintain a clean line, even with washing and lubricant application, and keep the line constantly running as keys to its success. Woods said it’s one of the main reasons Steel Technologies Inc., Louisville, Ky., decided to jump into automotive blanking with the 2006 acquisition of the 50 percent Kasle interest in KMP.

Even before the change in ownership, however, KMP management realized it needed to diversify its customer base. Having its future tied so closely to one manufacturer did not make too much sense in light of the company’s strategic growth initiatives.

That has led to work with GM, Springhill, Tenn., where the Saturn vehicles are manufactured. KMP supplies the blanks for exposed and unexposed portions of the VUE^®hood and two versions of the right and left body sides for the ION^®. KMP also has gotten its foot in the door with Toyota’s Georgetown, Ky., facility.

become more efficient toward the end of 2005. It found an underutilized tool in the company’s AIM Analytical manufacturing software, and that discovery helped pave the way for a not-so-disastrous 2006.

Actually, the software had been installed since the KMP plant first opened, but it was not fully utilized because the first year the plant basically was dedicated to getting the equipment running and doing what was necessary to ship blanks to customers. KMP’s early managers may not have completely bought into the belief that the company could continually improve its performance, leading the

CThe dry-erase board on the shop floor is used to keep employees aware of production goals and targeted efficiency improvements. Often competition arises between the two shifts to see which one can register the biggest improvements, with the winners rewarded for their efforts.