FOCUS: Submersible Pump Production Process
OPPORTUNITY OR PROBLEM
The process to produce submersible pumps was too slow for a large manufacturer of these items. This was resulting in a large volume of lost sales and excessive costs.
APPROACH TAKEN
A process improvement team was commissioned to look at the production process and implement changes. They identified factors and non-value added steps that made the process slow. Using appropriate Lean Six Sigma tools, the team determined that various changes to the pump process should be implemented. The key changes made included:
– Process was streamlined and waste removed.
– Cycle time was reduced from 24 hours down to 19 hours.
– Physical layout and tool control was dramatically improved.
– Number of temporary storages was reduced from 24 to 6.
OUTCOME
Significant annualized ROI (Return On Investment) benefits were realized through reduced waste that yielded $436,370 and Sales increases of $4.9 million.
* Due to nondisclosure agreements, the organization referenced in this example cannot be disclosed.
