Moldmaking Report – Tooling Tips: Process improvement begins on the shop floor

The force of global competition has driven companies to reform their process, culture and environment or disappear. Future survival will pivot around the acquisition and application of employees’ knowledge, team work and ingeunity.

Already, there is a concerted effort from many of the stakeholders in the precision metalcutting industries. Governments have committed millions of dollars to the promotion of apprenticeship. All across the province there are activities related to skilled trades. In the next few articles I will be bringing forward suggestions for improvements in the moldmaking and diemaking industries.

Ask the operators

It has been my experience that the operator, tradesperson, or apprentice doing a particular job will usually have good ideas about how best to improve their jobs, training and other aspects of their profession.

Employees are somewhat reluctant to write down their ideas but are more willing to offer them up verbally.

Appoint a point person in the organization to be responsible for these suggestions.

A written response from the company acknowledging that someone receives and catalogues the idea from the employee is a great first step.

Rewards such as recognition, gifts, or cash for ideas which are implemented can be a postive motivator.

Building that culture of idea-sharing is easier said than done and will take time.

Correct problems as they appear

My exerpience has shown that all too often we are quick to jump to solutions without getting all the facts. This can lead to wrong assumptions and resources wasted on a fix that is not effective. This is the problem-solving procedure I suggest: Identifly the root causes of the problems. Document the cause and brainstorm alternate solutions. Choose the best solution. Implement the changes or correction to prevent re-occurence. Fix the immediate problem. Track performance to ensure the problem doesn’t recur. Communicate the problem and solution to the rest of the staff.

Follow through with customers

Are your customers satisfied? Did you make the delivery date? Was the tool dimensionally correct and to print? Did the tool produce quality parts?

The tracking of these items is fundamental to the customer’s continued business. A report card from each customer can be developed and can prove to be valuable in creating a database to be used as a resource for the future.

Develop basic procedures

The development of basic procedures can provide a mechanism to reduce mistakes made by apprentices, tradespersons and operators. I suggest you publish best practices developed by a group of operators, apprentices and tradespeople at each opertaion. Set-up procedures should note whether special jigs and fixtures are required. Check sheets for each job should document the basic procedure. Inspection sheets should be available for the operator to use while the job is on the machine and as a first line of inspection to avoid costly re-setup of the job. Blueprints, printouts, and maybe a CAD database for visual orientation of the job should be available.

I once developed a chart of all the cutting tools that my company used. Operators, programmers, apprentices and tradespeople found this very helpful. This list helped with finding special cutters, assisted when reprogramming the job for a different cutter, and reduced down time. The chart was adopted across the company and proved to be a valuable resource.

Work smarter

Think about how you apply technololgy to achieve its full benefit. For example, reduce the amount of bench work and hand finishing required by using small cutter step-overs to finish surfaces. Examine the process in an attempt to cut direct where ever possible. If using the EDM process, make one-piece electrodes complete with raduis to reduce bench work. Prepare the next job offline by setting up cutting tools, programs, holders, and set up sheets. Program using standard tooling where possible to reduce job set up time.

Encourage questions

Tradespersons, apprentices, owners, supervisors and lead hands must develop a question culture to examine their process from a critical perspective. Establishing a culture of discovery for staff is much easier said than done. I will leave you with this quote: “The future of tomorrow lies in the brilliance of today.”