CASE STUDY SS-AE-PI-01| Performance Improvement
Aerospace Parts Manufacturer Foundry
Dashboard-Driven Optimization: Elevating Foundry Productivity with Delta Driver
Aerospace | Performance Improvement
Challenge
Inconsistent production flow and poor coordination between work centers prevented the foundry from reaching full daily capacity and profitability potential.
Financial Status: A foundry serving the aerospace industry is breaking even, but there is potential for increased sales if production capacity is met.
Production Variability: Daily output ranges from 8 to 12 pours, each generating $10,000 in revenue, highlighting the need to consistently achieve the full capacity of 12 pours.
Optimization Goal: Delta Driver's objective is to streamline processes and consistently reach 12 pours daily according to capacity.
Cycle Time Disparity: Upstream work centers operate on a 72-minute cycle, while downstream centers range from 60 to 48 minutes, causing delays.
Workflow Coordination: Limited coordination between work centers leads to downstream bottlenecks and unfinished work-in-progress (WIP) upstream.
Solution
Implemented real-time dashboards and MDI processes to synchronize upstream and downstream operations, improving visibility and daily control.
MDI Boards: Implemented Managing for Daily Improvement (MDI) boards to monitor hourly productivity and identify downtime causes, revealing issued work orders with incomplete upstream components.
Real-Time Insights: Integrated Power BI with the ERP system to track open, complete, and closed work orders, providing real-time work order status for downstream completion.
Dashboard Coordination: Developed dashboards to align upstream schedules with downstream work centers.
Daily Meetings: Conducted daily reviews of production lags and overproduction, aligning activities with overall goals.
Resource Allocation: Achieved precise coordination of resources and work order releases, optimizing production and minimizing inefficiencies.
Results
Achieved near-full capacity, reduced variability, and boosted daily revenue to $120K through data-driven coordination and proactive management.
Reduced Variability: Weekly box and whisker plots showed a reduction in production variability, with mean pours increasing from 10 to 11.8 and variability decreasing by 2.
Proactive Success: Predictive KPIs anticipated next day's success based on inventory levels, enabling proactive adjustments.
Optimized Upstream: Minimizing upstream downtime by ensuring work orders were ready for downstream consumption eliminated excess WIP.
Consistent Revenue: Achieved daily revenue of $120,000 by streamlining production and aligning work centers.
Improved Coordination: Better coordination led to smoother workflow and improved productivity, directly addressing the foundry's challenges.
