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40 SMT007 MAGAZINE I AUGUST 2024 space is being used. In most factories we visit, we find that less than 50% of factory space is used effectively. Typically, more than 50% of factory space will be filled up with materials— raw materials and especially work in progress. Inventory is a function of how your business runs. Having more inventory does not add value to your customers, but it certainly con- sumes your business' working capital and uses up a lot of space. e root causes of large amounts of inventory might include making product in large batches, unbalanced processes where upstream pro- cesses run faster than downstream processes and are allowed to overproduce, and "push" pro- duction where MRP soware is used to "push" product from one process to the next based on a forecast (which is inevitably inaccurate). To free up space, you need to reverse some of these approaches. Combining processes into "one piece flow" cells can be challeng- ing, but it effectively eliminates WIP and dra- matically reduces lead time. Restricting work- in-progress downstream of "fast" processes— implementing a FIFO lane, for example—can prevent excessive build-up of WIP. When the FIFO lane is full, the big upstream machine is required to stop until downstream processes can catch up and clear the backlog. Another key space waster in factories is fork- lis. Typically, a forkli needs an aisle-way at least 3 meters wide to enable it to travel and maneuver safely through the factory. Moving things around on the forkli is not an activity that the customer will pay you for. Mixing fork- lis and people in a workplace is also a major safety challenge. erefore, try to eliminate the need for forklis by bringing processes closer together (which you will be able to do because you will have reduced your WIP) and using other methods of transport, such as trol- leys or roller conveyors, to move products through the factory. In job shops, another problem can be par- tially completed jobs waiting for parts, or even for final decisions to be made on the design. If the product is large, the factory can soon fill up with jobs you cannot finish, preventing the start of any new jobs. A simple rule here is, "Don't start what you can't finish." Put in place a "ready to build" process that ensures you have all the parts and the design fully com- pleted and signed off by the customer before you release the job to production. Non Value-added Time In processes where the rate of output is driven by the efforts of front-line employ- Figure 4: In this diagram you can see non value-added time from the wasted time in motion moving around the factory.