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A place for everything
Common-sense storage boost uptime where convoluted
storage systems fail.
by Paul Markgraff
Remember the last time you tried to find a scissors
around your house? You looked through the junk drawer, right where
they were supposed to be. But the scissors weren’t there.
How frustrating is that? Especially when, after a
bit more cursing and shuffling, you find them.
By storing tools properly, many manufacturers are
learning how to increase their productivity and boost their uptime.
“We’re working on several things for visual
tool control: How tools are laid out on Toolboard and in drawers is
very important,” said Dave Thompson, president of Van Wert,
Ohio-based storage solution manufacturer Kennedy Manufacturing.
Assembly line of sight
Thompson should know. In the spring of 2005,
Kennedy emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy by learning to become lean.
During its reorganization, Kennedy’s workers
learned extra movement is waste. The more movement required by workers
and products, the less productive a manufacturer can be.
So, Kennedy began using its own storage products to
eliminate some of the waste from its manufacturing processes. For
example, Kennedy uses its own tool chests to store tools by the
assembly sites on the plant floor instead of sending workers back and
forth to a centralized tool crib.
The company is also working on foam tool liners to
position tools best in the drawer.
“We use our solutions all over the place. We use
our visual tool control products on the plant floor. Visual tool
control means putting the tools out where people can see them,” says
Thompson. “There is always a place for them to be found and put
back.”
The right box rocks
The right box for the right tool at the right
location is the right idea.
When proper storage solutions aren’t put into
place, production and maintenance workers spend a lot of time hunting
for tools.
Manufacturers need to work with some kind of
organization system at the point of use, especially if there are
multiple people using the same tools.
Simple visual controls like labels and die-cut tool
organizers can save time
and boost productivity.
“The
right-sized storage container is certainly going to make it easier to
put the tools closer to where you need them,” says Beth Sulentic,
marketing manager for the Waterloo, Iowa-based manufacturer Waterloo
Industries. “It helps boost productivity by increasing organization.
Tools need to be easily accessible.”
Everything in its space
Manufacturing facilities are generally big boxes
with more volume occupied by air than by machinery or product.
Lista International of Holliston, Mass., and
Stanley-Vidmar of Allentown, Pa., are two companies looking to fill
that empty space with value-adding product and processes.
Lista International regional sales manager Mike
Rockwell says by using the proper storage solutions, manufacturers can
increase the amount of usable floor space by 50 percent. The same
storage solutions keep operators at their machines.
“He can keep producing product instead of
producing downtime because he can’t find the tool he is looking
for,” says Rockwell.
Stanley-Vidmar’s product line manager Chris
Helmstetter says density of storage plays a major role in keeping
tools where they are needed. With right-sized storage solutions,
useless air space is eliminated.
“Space is a big issue,” he says. “Companies
feel like they don’t have enough space to store the items they need
to store. When you utilize drawers, you can store items at a much
higher density.”
This
article appeared in the December 2005/January 2006 issue of
MRO Today
magazine. Copyright 2005.
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