feature
technologies with value-adding engineering and design services.
table 4—bUSiNeSS
perforMaNce
Shopfloor practiceS
Having advanced machine tools and ancillary equipment does not ensure success,
however. Top Shops excel because they
work to establish effective processes around
that capacity to facilitate flow and minimize
waste on the shop floor. In doing so, they
are able to realize higher spindle utilization
(80 percent versus 65 percent in median
values), faster order lead time (17.5 days
versus 21 days) and a better on-time
delivery rate (95 percent versus 90 percent
in median values).
Leading shops don't rest on their laurels,
either. As noted in Table 3 on the previous
page, a significantly higher percentage
of Top Shops have implemented a formal
continuous improvement program. Those
shops also employ lean manufacturing
concepts, including 5S workplace organization, kaizen events and value stream
top
Shops
other
Shops
13%
7%
Profit margin (average) 19%
9%
Growth rate (median)
20%
9%
Growth rate (average)
25%
17%
Profit margin (median)
mapping. In fact, the percentage of Top
Shops that perform value stream mapping
is twice that of other shops. Applying this
concept can be challenging in a high-mix/
low-volume environment, but it certainly
isn't impossible. This is demonstrated in
the ar ticle "From Job Shop Chaos to
Lean Order." The article explains how a job
shop is able to co-locate certain machines
together in effective cellular configurat i o n s by g ro u p i n g c l u s te r s of p a r t s
that share similar routings into potential
table 5—SUpplY chaiN practiceS
top Shops other Shops
Access to customers' forecasts
48.4%
27.6%
Certification of major suppliers
45.2%
27.8%
collaboration design with customers (DfM)
32.3%
23.5%
Collaboration design with suppliers
35.5%
10.5%
Customer satisfaction surveys
48.4%
28.1%
Just-in-time deliveries from suppliers
38.7%
18.6%
Just-in-time deliveries to customers
58.1%
30.8%
Sharing forecasts with suppliers
25.8%
16.2%
Vendor-managed or -owned inventories
16.1%
16.8%
Vendor-managed or -owned inventories for customers 35.5%
13%
None of these
6.5%
12.7%
mmsonline.com/topshops August 2013 MMS 13