Reproduction of the cell

For Bob Goessel, a 10-year veteran assembler for the Mastergear division’s M series gearboxes, work has never been better. His cell was redesigned in January of 2005 and shifted away from a batch system to just in time production.

The redesign has reduced setup, changeover and production time, reduced floor space, increased productivity, and, according to Bob, saved miles of legwork.  

“Everything was all spread out,” Goessel says. “The time factor was much longer; machined parts sat in tubs in one holding area; parts my partner made sat in another and the assembly area was way back in another bay. There was a lot of mileage in between steps that we’ve been able to cut out of the process.”

In his new cell, everything Bob needs to do his assembly work, from the milling machine to his parts inventory and fasteners are almost literally within arm’s reach. The cell’s central assembly bench is positioned between stationary boring, milling and broaching machines. As Bob mills worm shafts to size from raw stock, he prepares subassemblies to receive them. Meanwhile, coworker Eric Meligan bores and broaches other parts, all of which come together at the same time on the bench for Bob’s final assembly.

Hand tools on visually designated hanging racks are always visible and easily reached. Bob’s screw guns are spring mounted from a rack overhead so he can quickly pull down whichever tool he needs, use it anywhere along the bench he happens to be and let it retract when he is done with the operation.

Small parts and fasteners reside in color-coded bins on a shelf on the bench. Bob pulls forward those bins coded for the unit he is building, puts them back up when he’s done, and pulls down the correct bins for the next run.

Larger subassembly parts are kept on rolling racks that move easily to wherever they are most needed. Each different part on the rolling rack is clearly identified by number and the unit it fits into. When he is working, Bob can mill a worm shaft, grab parts and assemble a complete unit without walking more than 20 steps in the whole process.

The switch from batch to just in time production has also provided gains.

“We used to assemble in bulk,” Goessel explains. “Now we build our gear boxes at the same time we make our raw parts. Our changeover times are shorter, and this allows us more flexibility in terms of the jobs we can do. If our supervisor tells us we need to break off work on one model and produce five units of another model to ship today, our programs are already in the machines and we’re able to switch over very quickly, get those five pieces done and then switch right back.”

This article appeared in the October/November 2005 issue of MRO Today magazine.  Copyright 2005.

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