The Endress+Hauser Flowtec Division recently completed a $20 million production and calibration facility in Greenwood, Ind. To improve and formalize training efforts at the new facility, Endress+Hauser tapped Purdue and its Manufacturing Extension Partnership.
The goal: Implement Lean Manufacturing principles at Endress+Hauser as the next logical step in its continuous improvement process. Purdue experts spent a few days each week over a 10-month period coaching all Endress+Hauser employees and supervisors on ways to improve and refine production and distribution operations.
Employees received a total of 3,200 training hours through the program. The results have been immediate and significant:
- As part of a final assembly redesign project, areas of workflow, batch reduction implementation and station layout were reexamined. Result: The team experienced a 48 percent reduction in processing time.
- A 5S evaluation of a Coriolis workstation revealed significant operator travel time was required for single-unit production. By targeting the areas of point-of-use storage (POUS) and process layout, the unit saw a 70 percent drop in operator movements and a 24 percent reduction in unit cycle time. Result: 1,200 more meters are produced annually.
- Overall production output has increased 20 percent across the facility without boosting employment, while keeping quality and delivery performance at their highest levels.
- Employees have made more than 400 continuous improvement and Lean Manufacturing suggestions — known as “events.” These have directly benefited the bottom line and include improvements in workplace layout and safety, just to name a few.
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