Page 30 - MetalForming March 2016

Transparency: A New Age in Metalforming
In addition to attacking press-line OEE and changeover times, WTW vision and sensor specialists use ShopFloorConnect to track the performance of individual tools. Toolroom personnel can use the software to track the number of hits between maintenance cycles and compare the data to a standard developed for each tool to not only ensure that it’s getting the predicted life from each tool but also to help prompt maintenance scheduling.
much downtime was being marked generically as ‘unplanned’ without the detail that we, as managers, needed to make the improvements necessary to realize our full potential.”
Reaching that potential is a focal point for Wiegel and his team, because, as he notes, “all of the brick and mortar (including modern metalforming tech- nology) we need is here. Our floor space has been ‘leaned out’ to maximize OEE.”
Done Adding Brick and Mortar; Time to Tackle Inefficiencies
WTW provides primarily stamped copper for the automotive-electrical industry—terminals, lead frames and
bus bars. It employs 130 people work- ing in two buildings totaling 93,000 sq. ft. Recent additions to the plant floor include a 180-ton Minster mechanical press acquired in 2012, says Wiegel; and a 90-ton high-speed Bruderer mechanical press added in 2014. As the new presses quickly filled with work, Wiegel turned his attention to getting the most out of the equipment he has.
“When we decided to invest in ShopFloorConnect,“ he says, “we had OEE on our mind. But, we really turned our focus to OEE once we got the soft- ware installed and up and running. That was closer to mid-2015 when we took a closer look at how operators were using the software’s downtime codes. We implemented programs to stress and reinforce to operators the importance of improving the accuracy of the data flowing through ShopFloor- Connect. This allows us, as managers, to address the critical issues impacting efficiency. Now, management and the pressroom work in unison to closely track our nonvalue-added time, and team up to eliminate it at every turn.”
ShopFloorConnect collects data from any equipment on the shop floor
Plant-wide, everyone now knows how the company is doing in regard to OEE and changeover times. Wiegel’s managers including president Aaron Wiegel, shown
here leading a meeting on OEE, send out daily, weekly and monthly updates that track metrics for every press and tool. Knowing that the data are available, reviewed and shared drives home the notion that management requires plant-floor owner- ship of process improve- ment, and personal responsi- bility for the company’s efficiency.
28 MetalForming/March 2016
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