feature
Table 3—IMPROVeMeNT MeTHODOlOGIeS
Top Shops
5S workplace organization
Other Shops
58.1%
34.6%
9.7%
5.1%
Cellular manufacturing
38.7%
24.6%
Continuous-improvement program
77.4%
45.4%
Just-in-time (JIT) movement of material
51.6%
25.7%
29%
16.2%
45.2%
24.1%
9.7%
8.6%
Poka yoke (error prevention)
32.3%
14.1%
Quality certifications (e.g. ISO, NADCAP, etc.)
51.6%
33.2%
9.7%
4.3%
Six sigma
19.4%
15.1%
Theory of constraints
16.1%
8.4%
Total productive maintenance
16.1%
12.4%
Total quality management
32.3%
22.4%
Value-stream mapping
35.5%
15.9%
No formal methodology
12.9%
18.6%
Agile manufacturing
Kaizen events/blitzes
Kanban and pull systems
Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE)
monitoring and analysis
Single-minute exchange of dies (SMED)
changeovers. (Magnetic chucks also enable
access to five sides of a part in one setup.)
Having such advanced workholding equipment is one reason why Top Shops have
faster setup times than other shops. The
median setup time for Top Shops and other
shops is 52.5 minutes and one hour, respectively, while the average setup times were
77 minutes and 138 minutes.
This year's machining technology Honors
Program Winner is Davan Manufacturing,
located in Washington, Pennsylvania. Davan
has become adept at machining precision
components in short to medium volumes
for the steel, oil, power, glass, mining, valve
and construction industries.
12 MMS August 2013 mmsonline.com/topshops
Mark Vanistendael, company president,
is always on the lookout for a new piece
of technology to bolster his machining
arsenal. "The way I look at it, we should
always buy the most advanced machine
we can afford, because it isn't long before
the competition catches up," he points
out. In the late 1970s, Davan was one of
the first companies in Southwest Pennsylvania to add CNC machining capabilities.
Today, the shop doesn't want plain lathes
or machining centers. "I seek out advanced
machines with live tools, shuttle pallets and
high-pressure coolant," Mr. Vanistendael
explains. "We separate ourselves from the
competition by offering a mix of machining