Advanced Ceramics, a supplier of pyrolitic boron nitride powders and chemical vapor deposited (CVD) products, located in Lakewood, started its journey toward lean manufacturing in July 1998. The starting point was in the CVD vacuum furnace area where the organization was experiencing a capacity shortfall due to increased customer orders and engineering needs for research and development time.

Furnace crewmembers as well as engineering, maintenance and finishing personnel participated in a series of lean manufacturing workshops. The workshops introduced lean manufacturing principles, the 8 forms of waste, process mapping and 4 primary tools for becoming lean; 5S's of Visual Workplace, Quick Set-up/Changeover, Error Proofing and Total Productive Maintenance. They chose the mantra of "Finding the Invisible Furnace" to describe their plans for increasing furnace production hours by identifying and eliminating forms of waste.

The furnace production operates a continuous shift of rotating schedules for 24 hours per day 7 days per week. Each furnace crew accepted the responsibility for a particular task associated with becoming lean. They started by implementing the 5S's of Visual Workplace, a system for creating and maintaining an organized, clean, and safe workplace.

Sort
The first S, Sort, began with a thorough examination of their work area including looking inside of all cabinets and drawers. Team members discarded all obvious trash and unsalvageable items, which over a period of weeks amounted to emptying a 60 cubic foot trash hopper over 20 times. A second team labeled usable but unnecessary items with red tags and removed them from their furnace work area. They created a log of red-tagged items for further review by employees on different work schedules. All 65 items on the red-tag log were returned to the proper department or disposed of in the appropriate fashion.

Set in Place
The second S, Set in Place, was organized by a third team in their work area by placing essential tools and equipment in specific locations in order to reduce wasted time and motion tracking down items. They installed racks and shelves for gearboxes and labeled locations for items kept inside of supply cabinets. They painted yellow lines, foot printing, to designate proper storage areas for tow motors, handcarts and materials. The team developed a rolling shadow tool cart so all tools were ready for use in the right place. Also, they developed a number of transportation carts for easy handling of mandrel and parts.

Shine
The third S, Shine means more than just cleaning. Team members swept and cleaned their work area and checked all of their equipment to ensure it functioned properly. Equipment was restored to its original condition through the help of maintenance and engineering personnel. This step not only helps to maintain a safe workplace, it also insures predictability in the operation.

Standardize
The team developed a checklist in order to ensure that each crew made a daily habit of following the first 3 S's, Sort, Set in Place, Shine. Also, they established a system for guest housekeeping auditors from engineering and management. Engineering began simplifying the control panel displays making it easier for crewmembers to monitor furnace-operating conditions. Also, they streamlined the number of data collection points.

Sustain
The last S, Sustain means creating a system for following the 5S's. The team persuaded their managers to routinely walk through their work area, complete a 5S checklist and provide them feedback. Also, they received support for on-going red tag auctions and to expanding the 5S's into additional work areas.

Set-up Reduction
A fourth team analyzed all tasks associated with furnace production time. They videotaped a furnace run and analyzed each step from removing the last load of parts, installing a new load of parts, heat-up, power-on at high temperature, and cool down. They found that non-value added tasks such as 12 hour heat up time; leak checks and 24 hour cool down were taking an excessive amount of time from power-off to power-on.

They found that they could safely reduce heat up and leak check times by reducing moisture in the vacuum system. Now, at the end of each run, they fill the furnace with nitrogen versus air and keep furnace lids closed between furnace runs. Also, the furnace crew meets each morning with maintenance, engineering and finishing personnel. They review each furnace run and keep a visible schedule board for furnace runs. They hold invisible furnace meetings every Tuesday afternoon to examine new problems and ideas.

Summary of Results
Over a 15-month period, CVD's total furnace capacity increased 15%, or the equivalent of an invisible furnace. Their culture changed to a team environment in which problem solving and consensus decision making are routine for making jobs easier, better, and making it better for the company too. As one crewmember explained: "The more problems we solve, the more problems we see."


For more details on projects such as this, contact Dee Holody at WINOC (216) 520-0770 ext. 224.