The improvement system for the production

For the production the challenge is and has always been to produce goods profitably regarding the quality and time line the customer specifies. Quality and lead time can be achieved more easily with the right technology and good staff than profitability because the profit depends on the market price and this is currently under pressure by global competitors.

To cope with this task successful companies all over the world are measuring their Overall-Equipment-Effectiveness = OEE.

The "Productivity-Cockpit"
Extremely simple to use efficiency measuring systems like the "Productivity-Cockpit", are based on the OEE-Methode and provide clear key figures for top- and middle management as well as machine operators for a constant improvement of machines and processes.

Top-Management is interested in overall equipment effectiveness in %.This is a key figure giving a summary statement of the key factors of an efficient production which are machine availability in %, observance of planned cycle times and produced quality in %. These three percentages are multiplied and show the overall equipment effectiveness.

Middle-Management, department heads, team leaders, and line managers are interested in each of the three figures separately: machine availability, observance of cycle times and produced quality.

Machine operators get information on good and bad parts produced and the resulting key figure from the Productivity-Cockpit. Moreover it shows observance of the given tact time and how the tact time has affected overall production time which is shown in a Gaussian distribution.

At the same time the operator gets information on how long the machine has been in active production and how long the machine has needed for producing the order summarizing production and standstill times.

These efficiency figures are saved for each order and thus the comparison of the orders shows irregularities and need of improvement.

In order to make a long-term use of the right improvement knowledge over and over again proven workshop methods are needed for day-to-day solutions for leaders and operators. Among these are e.g. the "Macro-Process-Analysis", the "Micro-Process-Analysis", the "Fault-Analysis" and the "Improvement Cycle". Employees not only need trouble-shooting systems but methods they can use again and again once problems occur.

"The 20 Keys-System"
For sustainable and holistic improvement of companies the "20 Keys-System" has proven a worldwide success. Prof. Iwao Kobayashi created this system for a sustainable increase in efficiency in production and office 20 years ago. The know-how has been used all over the world and has a global network of consultants.

The Consulting-concept is based on training and development of 20 Keys-In-House-experts, who, together with the 20 Keys-consultants create the improvement process in the company cooperating with the management on site. Thus the 20 Keys are becoming a success factor in order to support the operation in achieving its targets.

This objective calls for a method which can be measured and enables a holistic development of the company. Prof. Kobayashi developed a graphical easy to understand benchmark- system which the company uses as a continuous measurement tool. As in a sportive competition it becomes transparent which improvement progress is made in each department of the organisation.

The main focus points of the 20 Keys-System are increasing quality, cutting costs and speeding up cycle times. The good cooperation of experts from the office and production sectors to achieve common company goals is a global success factor of the 20 Keys-Systems.