is effectively what made the hot job “hot.”
Cells have made it so the first manufacturing
step is what used to be multiple processes: say,
the “punching-bending-hardware” step. Instead of
negotiating time with multiple departments, the
scheduler now makes that hot job the next order
in queue. Hot jobs are no longer “hot.” They’re just,
well, the next job.
Finishing Efficiency
This significantly increased available capacity in
those primary operations, so much so that managers soon realized they had another bottleneck to
contend with, this time at the powder coat line.
So the company added a second finishing line (see
Figure 4), installed by Conyers, Ga.-based Automotive Industrial Solutions (AIS). The powder coat
line itself came from Somerville, Ala.-based Reliant
Finishing Systems.
But the decision wasn’t that simple. In cellular
manufacturing, parts move through multiple processes quickly, spending little if any time as WIP. But
a powder coat line is at its core a batch-style process. Because of all the plumbing, not to mention
the drying furnaces required, it just doesn’t make
sense to have one painting or coating operation for
each cell.
Still, changing over a paint line isn’t too arduous,
especially if you aren’t reclaiming powder, some-
thing most fabricators don’t bother with anyway,
because the time and effort that it takes to reclaim
the powder costs more than what fabricators save
on it. This sometimes applies even for product-
line manufacturing. Ward described how one of
Metcam’s largest customers invested in a powder
reclamation system and ended up not using it. “It
just takes too much time,” he said, “and time is so
important.”
Technicians ensure parts for the next job are
hung and staged at the ready, to minimize down-
time between runs (see Figure 5). Then, during
the paint changeover, they simply leave a gap in the
line, during which they have about five minutes to
change out their equipment. “Generally, we have
one or two people helping to prep the changeover,”
Ward said. “We have backup guns, so that the paint
technician can just roll right in and start with an-
other color.”
Although the company changes out colors as
needed, it does hold a little WIP before the paint
line. That work mostly involves special colors. “One
of our customers has products that come in 20 dif-
ferent colors,” Ward said.
A few colors dominate, while the remaining “
specials” involve extremely short runs. If the company
actually processed those parts as soon as they arrived in the paint staging area, the paint line would
need to change over more than a dozen times a day,
“Each module operates independently,” said Ted
Schreyer, vice president of PEM. “So say you start
Figure 3
An assembly technician shows a finished product, initially fabricated in one of Metcam’s eight manufacturing
cells. These steps, installed in airport restrooms across the
country, help small children reach the sink to wash their
hands.
Figure 4
Metcam now has two powder coating lines, which can
handle the increased capacity made possible in part by
upstream cellular operations.
Figure 5
These small parts are hung and staged for the paint line,
minimizing time between jobs.
Figure 6
The company’s new pretreatment line is modular. Assembled and disassembled a bit like LEGO® building blocks, the
entire system was installed over one weekend. Each blue handle shows a modular component.
