What is the Secret of Excellent Quality in a Machine shop?

bobdoering

Stop X-bar/R Madness!!
Trusted Information Resource
#21
Re: Whats the SECRET OF EXCELLENT QUALITY in a Machine shop?

I will give all the credit in the world for the CEO to have the motivation and wherewithal to actually search for a solution, end up here and pose the questions. A knowledgeable CEO is extremely helpful in determining the criteria necessary to improve the quality situation. Whether it is coaching ("Hey, check out this information and let's discuss how this can help our company") or making the tough decisions ("You didn't look through this information or ask for help? I need someone in this position with a hunger to learn and improve!), the points in these responses will go far to get a solid conversation and transitional process initiated.
 
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Wes Bucey

Quite Involved in Discussions
#22
Re: Whats the SECRET OF EXCELLENT QUALITY in a Machine shop?

I have chosen to be a CEO of an auto parts manufacturing company that is not performing well in several different areas and I am paid to bring the company out of the difficult situation it has landed itself in the past so many years.

Next to poor profitability the point which one can not fail to notice is the sky rocketing cost of quality.

1. High in-house rejections.
2. High customer end rejections.
3. High rework & segregation costs.
4. Poor quality SPMs made in-house; producing highly unstable dimensions, requiring frequent re-setting to fix.. leading to poor productivity.
5. Innumerable customer complaints regarding short supply and poor quality.

I have taken this up as a challenge to get the company in a good shape.. but unfortunately with too many complications..makes me wonder where to start..
Lets say makes me wonder what is the secret of excellent quality in a company?? :)
I was in your position 21 years ago. I've written about some aspects here in the Cove. Take a look at the links below:

THE BIG SECRET IS THERE IS NO SECRET. ALL THE TRIED AND TRUE TECHNIQUES OF RUNNING A SUCCESSFUL MACHINE SHOP WITH EXCELLENT QUALITY ARE EASY TO LEARN.

The hard part is having the intestinal fortitude to make a good plan and follow it.

Wes Bucey on quoting and empowerment
Wes Bucey on an efficient shop - empowerment
 

Big Jim

Super Moderator
#23
Re: Whats the SECRET OF EXCELLENT QUALITY in a Machine shop?

I was in your position 21 years ago. I've written about some aspects here in the Cove. Take a look at the links below:

THE BIG SECRET IS THERE IS NO SECRET. ALL THE TRIED AND TRUE TECHNIQUES OF RUNNING A SUCCESSFUL MACHINE SHOP WITH EXCELLENT QUALITY ARE EASY TO LEARN.

The hard part is having the intestinal fortitude to make a good plan and follow it.

Wes Bucey on quoting and empowerment
Wes Bucey on an efficient shop - empowerment
I once believed that too, and that belief served me well until I learned that smart planning trumped high planning activity.

Once you learn how effective participative management is, you will never go back to what you thought you knew before. Smart planning includes the cumulative knowledge of ALL of your employees, especially those in the trenches, not just those that think they function at the top.

The shift is dramatic.
 

Golfman25

Trusted Information Resource
#24
Re: Whats the SECRET OF EXCELLENT QUALITY in a Machine shop?

sbtaschr,

I was in your position 15+ years ago. Get ready for long days and even longer nights. Don't go in there like a bull in a china shop. Work slowly and methodically. Ask your people what they need to do better. Then, if all it is is more money for this, and more money for that, throw the list out. Don't let them use money as an excuse. Verify everything you are told and challenge the status quo.

Take a look at all of the products you run thru the shop. Find the one where you'll get the biggest bang for improvement. Make the improvements and move to the next one. If you do this methodically, you'll soon have the 20% of the parts, which cause 80% of your problems licked. I would do this personally -- shows your people you are serious. Slowly, but surely, things will improve.

If your equipment is as bad as you think, begin a replacement/upgrade plan. With all the used machines on the market, you may not need to go new and can get some real value.

Good luck.
 

Wes Bucey

Quite Involved in Discussions
#25
Re: Whats the SECRET OF EXCELLENT QUALITY in a Machine shop?

I once believed that too, and that belief served me well until I learned that smart planning trumped high planning activity.

Once you learn how effective participative management is, you will never go back to what you thought you knew before. Smart planning includes the cumulative knowledge of ALL of your employees, especially those in the trenches, not just those that think they function at the top.

The shift is dramatic.
Actually, the empowerment of the employees throughout the organization was a crucial factor in the success of our operation if you read through the link on empowerment. We listened to our employees. Note especially this excerpt from one of the links
Operators had autonomy to bring in experts from our suppliers of material, capital equipment, and expendable tooling to stay up to date on industry innovation. Sometimes, we shut the whole shop down and chartered a bus to take us to the International Machine Tool Show to spend the day.

If an operator wanted to see a customer's operation and how his product was used, we made it happen. Similarly for a supplier's operation.

Bottom line:
We treated our operators as true partners. We made sure our suppliers and customers understood the power and authority we gave them. In ten years, they never disappointed us. I hope we never disappointed them.
 

Big Jim

Super Moderator
#26
Re: Whats the SECRET OF EXCELLENT QUALITY in a Machine shop?

Actually, the empowerment of the employees throughout the organization was a crucial factor in the success of our operation if you read through the link on empowerment. We listened to our employees. Note especially this excerpt from one of the links
Excellent application. Sorry I missed that.
 

somashekar

Staff member
Super Moderator
#27
Next to poor profitability the point which one can not fail to notice is the sky rocketing cost of quality.

1. High in-house rejections.
2. High customer end rejections.
3. High rework & segregation costs.
4. Poor quality SPMs made in-house; producing highly unstable dimensions, requiring frequent re-setting to fix.. leading to poor productivity.
5. Innumerable customer complaints regarding short supply and poor quality.
As you say all these above and that from a machine shop., I am tempted to state:
Man proposes and machine disposes ~~~~
My mantra for this situation would be to first make a thorough process capability study. Find which product and what machine combination has the capability to meet the requirement. The machine operator qualification I consider is built in already.
Next areas perhaps can be the raw material stock quality and tool crib management.
PS: DO NOT TAKE UP A PRECISION JOB IF YOU PRECISELY DO NOT KNOW WHAT THE CUSTOMER PRECISION IS. THIS MAY SOMETIMES GO BEYOND THE DRAWING REQUIREMENTS.
When an order is accepted, please make sure that the process capability is established to meet the parts requirements.
If you find improvements let us know.....
 
Last edited:

Pancho

wikineer
Super Moderator
#28
I have chosen to be a CEO of an auto parts manufacturing company that is not performing well in several different areas and I am paid to bring the company out of the difficult situation it has landed itself in the past so many years.

Next to poor profitability the point which one can not fail to notice is the sky rocketing cost of quality.

1. High in-house rejections.
2. High customer end rejections.
3. High rework & segregation costs.
4. Poor quality SPMs made in-house; producing highly unstable dimensions, requiring frequent re-setting to fix.. leading to poor productivity.
5. Innumerable customer complaints regarding short supply and poor quality.

I have taken this up as a challenge to get the company in a good shape.. but unfortunately with too many complications..makes me wonder where to start..
Lets say makes me wonder what is the secret of excellent quality in a company?? :)
You say "Next to poor profitability...". Is that then currently more worrying?

As a CEO, your first responsibility is to make sure you have the resources necessary to run the business (this is a prerequisite to implementing a QMS, see iso 9001 sec 6.1). The first resource is cash. Are you in cash flow problems? Obviously, if you run out of cash the business folds. If it were a problem, then the first thing to do is conserve it, or find financing.

Conserving it may mean painful trimming. Do you have any products on which you have good cash-flow/clients/quality (in that order)? Those are the keepers, and they are probably the seed for a good quality culture.

If you dont have a cash-flow problem, then you have a great opportunity. Do you currently have a QMS? If you do, it is clearly not working. Perhaps you should scrap it and start over. Iso 9001 a great place to start (or restart). It will take some time and money, but it is methodical, and if done right, it will change your company's culture.

Good luck!
Pancho
 
H

Hodgepodge

#29
Re: Whats the SECRET OF EXCELLENT QUALITY in a Machine shop?

I once believed that too, and that belief served me well until I learned that smart planning trumped high planning activity.

Once you learn how effective participative management is, you will never go back to what you thought you knew before. Smart planning includes the cumulative knowledge of ALL of your employees, especially those in the trenches, not just those that think they function at the top.

The shift is dramatic.
This is also referred to as the process approach. When management adopts this approach, the employees are part of solutions. Buy in is (almost) a given.
 
L

Larry Lewis

#30
Look at your rejects and understand what they are. Categorize them into the basic M's (Man, Material, Machine, Method). MAN Are the operators trained correctly in machine operation and part inspection (how to use the inspection gages). MATERIAL Is the material (raw product) meeting your requirements? MACHINE Are your machines out of tolerance and no longer have the capability to hold print tolerances, without constant adjusting? METHODS Are the set ups and methods of production easily repeatable and have quality built into them? Remember you can control each of these.
 
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