The striking thing was that the final conclusion was completely different from what we previously thought. You can achieve a lot with a Kaizen, things that we did not achieve in other ways for years. This case is used as an example throughout the company. “It has had a very positive effect on the atmosphere. But then you reap the benefits so you get back the investments you have made.” A Kaizen is intensive, because it comes on top of normal work and that puts considerable pressure on the organization. Because if there is a distraction, it will not be a success. They are not allowed to work on other things during this period. “For a Kaizen you need to have a dedicated team. If you do it right, you can achieve beautiful things in a week All in all, Kaizen is not rocket science. And we have achieved a sense of ease in the organization. We ultimately achieved a saving of more than 750.000 euros. “The result is that we have reduced the “wide-spec” percentage from 8% to 2.5%, which is even better than the original target of 2.9%. In the end, it was all about transparency: clear communication, clear guidelines and keeping agreements.” We asked ourselves who is responsible for what? Who is the first point of contact and when is a case escalated? We then summarized that in a very simple diagram and we have been practising it ever since. We now have one clear instruction and it contains no more than five rules, made in consultation and understandable for everyone. So we improved the instructions and put them on paper. First, as a team, we created a fishbone diagram to map out the causes for “wide-spec.” It turned out that too many people used their own methods to solve the problem in the different shifts. We started with analyzing historical data after which we ran tests for a month with some ideas we gained from that. “Together with Jeroen we made thorough preparations. The aim was, therefore, to produce the right product within the specifications in one go.” In the first months of 2013, our average 11 to 12% wide-spec. But these customers have to adjust their machines to be able to process these products, which costs money. It is sold exclusively to internal customers. This means that the product has been produced outside of its specifications, but is still salable. Sometimes a product is not produced according to its specifications due to a production transition or a process failure in the installation. “We then did a second Kaizen which became the success story of the year. The number of actions required to make a change has fallen from 129-89. A bridge means that a safety or instrumental protection must be temporarily put out of use in order to be able to work on the installation itself. The safety level has increased as we have moved from 7 to 3 bridges. We went from an average of 15 hours to less than 9 hour. So if we could do that in a smarter way, we could save time and gain production time. Changing, securing and taking the installation out of operation took a lot of time. We performed a SMED (Single-Minute Exchange or Die) on a valve in our factory, which sometimes has to be changed. As an exercise, we first set up a simple Kaizen. Together with Jeroen, we analyzed which projects could be considered. Ingo continues: “After that training, we saw opportunities for Kaizen projects. He has trained multiple people here to become a Green Belt. We called on Jeroen van der Weerdt from Symbol. We immediately saw the possibilities for our own organization. To see for ourselves we went to look at another DSM factory in Meppen, where they already had extensive experience with Lean. One of those improvement processes, a Lean process, was started following a scan by McKinsey. He says: “The Engineering Plastics division had to deal with the consequences of the crisis so we looked for improvements. Ingo van de Moesdijk, production manager at the Engineering Plastics business unit, was the process owner of the Kaizen trajectory. These properties combined make Stanyl interesting as a replacement of metals in the automotive industry. In addition, it is also a very light product. The material has the ability to consolidate multiple metal parts into one. This is an extremely strong plastic that is highly resistant to extreme temperatures (maximum 180 ° C) and friction. In Geleen, South Limburg, DSM’s “Engineering Plastics” business unit produces the new, innovative material Stanyl. This goal was achieved in a very successful Kaizen process, which led to savings of no less than 750.000 euros, even exceeding the original goal! The aim was to save half a million euros by reducing the number of non-specification products from 8% to 2,9%. After giving a LEAN training, Symbol was asked for help. Based on data from 2012, this applied to 8% of products. Too many products made at DSM Geleen did not meet specifications. Kaizen at DSM Stanyl: “It’s not rocket science, but it works!”
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