Two years of Kaizen, improvement through change

Source: Comer Industries Annual Report 2011

The Comer Production System (CPS) is an integrated manufacturing processes control model to boost company performance to world class level. 

 Two years after the start-up phase, it is firmly and permanently established in all the Group’s Operating Units.

The system has transformed the production sites thanks also to the enthusiasm and energy of the people involved, making the plants safer and more efficient, able to respond to the market requests in terms of product and service quality.
In 2011, 51 Kaizen workshops were set up and completed concerning quality, logistics, work station organization and maintenance, contributing to increase industrial productivity and reduce costs, for an overall benefits amount of 600,000 euros in the year, and with a forecast of 1.3 million euros at full stretch. Special attention was given to ergonomics and safety; in the Driveshaft Operating Unit in Pegognaga, a careful study of the physical risks caused by posture or the handling of loads, according to the NIOSH (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health) and OCRA (Occupational Repetitive Actions) guidelines, led to a targeted plan of action to bring all the work stations at risk into line.
The analysis was then extended to other plants. Outstanding figures in the agricultural division include the reduction of the number of complaints from the market by more than half - defective Parts Per Million (PPM) fell to 1,700 - and of the Cost of Poor Quality (COPQ) with a percentage confirming the excellent result already achieved in 2010. The figure was 1.44% in 2011 (-22% compared to 2009, when the figure was 1.84%).
In 2011 workshops were also opened in the offices, included “Customer Delight”, with the objective of improving customer service through to a more effective management of order flows and shipment plans. Workshops were also set up in the Mechatronics Research Center with the aim of giving to it a key role in product development process, enhancing the experience acquired in years of tests activities concerning components and optimizing test management. The first activities supported by Italian Kaizen Coaches were started in China: experts in the use of tools and methodology lending their professionalism to their colleagues encouraging the opening of new workshops.

The extension of the CPS to the supply chain

The CPS methodology has also reached the supply chain: Comer Industries has decided to support the suppliers in changing their organization to attain excellent quality and service standards.
The use of Kanban has already been introduced with around thirty suppliers. Kanban is the Japanese term that literally means “tag”, used in the just—in-time system for reintegration of stocks which havejust been consumed. Real-time supply flow management avoids warehouse stocks and relevant costs.

Total Productive Mantainance: 3rd pillar off the CPS

The increase in production volumes and the resulting growth in workloads have required more efficient and reliable machines. OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) analysis has shown that machinery stopped because of break-downs is one of the main causes of productivity falls. As a result, the maintenance department in the Gearboxes Operating Unit in Reggiolo has adopted a conceptual and organizational transformation program. The objective is the application of the principles and method introduced with the 3rd pillar of the CPS model: “Total Productive Maintenance”.
The operations were divided into two areas. Autonomous Maintenance (AM), aimed at preserving and bringing plant back to basic conditions through the removal of small anomalies and dirt by machine operators; Professional Maintenance (PM), aimed at analyzing components and preventing breakdowns. A project for the collection, analysis and management of the data of every breakdown was then set up through the introduction of the EWO (Emergency Work Order) module, to be shared on a daily basis with the PM team.
Thanks to the new procedures application, there was a drop of 50% in breakages over a period of 6 months: this is a very important result for the Gearboxes Kaizen workshop, winner of the “Excellence Award” as part of the “CPS Award 2011 the company prize assigned to the most successful Kaizen workshops in terms of results achieved.