A few months ago Tom and his business partner visited our sheet metal shop to tour the facility and discuss the ramp up of his new product line. He spent almost 4 hours sharing his vision of our partnership and how we can work together. We did a lean tour of our facility where he stopped to see our process improvements and even interviewed some of our sheet metal experts. He left our sheet metal shop leaving us thinking we were a great fit to help him with a fast, efficient ramp up. Then nothing happened. I circled back with Tom this week and learned how we could have improved the tour.
1. Clearly have your agenda in mind and let everyone know! Tom was looking for a fast ramp-up partner, but his team was looking for the lowest cost supplier. Circulating the agenda to both teams , in advance, makes sure everyone’s time is used effectively.
2. If you are looking for fast ramp-ups, ask for multiple examples. Tom wanted to see our sheet metal shop, so we showed him what was running at the time. Only afterwards did it occur to me that we could have showed him 10 examples of how we ramped up. Even without the parts, we had rapid prototyped tooling, rolling kan-ban carts, and planned vs. actual run charts.
3. If you are looking for cost improvements, look at the waste, not the work. Tom could have looked at our scrap bins to see if there was more than one set-up part in the bin. He could have observed the time between job set-ups to see how smoothly things went. Most importantly he should have asked us about information flow and how we measured efficiency.
4. Most visitors are used to quality tours, having participated in their own ISO audits – focus here only if the numbers say so. They look at our quality records and make sure we have documented our sheet metal fabrication procedures. When I visit a supplier, I first look at their quality metrics. If their quality is good (99.8% or higher), I might ask about what is considered a failure, but then I move on.
5. Fast ramps, or on-time delivery in general, is mostly about capacity and that is hard to see in a sheet metal shop. Most folks count the equipment, but they don’t realize that a sheet metal shop with 2 punches and 5 brakes, but 2 shifts has the same capacity as another shop with 4 punches and 10 press brakes running 1 shift. Tom should have asked us about how quickly we can add people.
6. Low cost is about accurate quoting and low overheads. Tom did a good job of making sure our overhead costs were in line with other Boston sheet metal shops, but he did not look at our quoting process or its accuracy. Too many shops guess low to win the job and then increase later.
We all benefit from a clear, focused agenda – fast ramp up, agility for prototypes, continuous cost improvements or impeccable quality are among the top agendas we see. Once you are aligned on your agenda, focus there to look at the differences between sheet metal suppliers. Always ask for more than three examples, because then you know it is part of their culture. Numbers don’t lie, but spend the time to uncover the stories behind the numbers. Did the quality spike with a large lot rejection or due to several issues throughout the month? Did deliveries improve because revenue declined? I had a great customer once say that the test of a true supplier is what they do when issues arise. Issues will always occur; use your audit to find out how your supplier has reacted in the past. You both will be better prepared when a sheet metal problem occurs on your product.
If you would like to learn more about how to improve your audits of sheet metal suppliers, contact me at 978-486-9050.
from ETM Manufacturing http://etmmfg.com/3484
from American Quality Management http://aqmauditing2014.tumblr.com/post/122339419025
No comments:
Post a Comment