As the economy continued to struggle during this year’s first half, many manufacturers were looking for ways to wring additional savings out of their factory operations. But what are the best ways to do that?
“Squeezing Costs Out of Manufacturing” was the topic for a panel of automation end users assembled recently by industrial automation vendor Omron Electronics LLC, Schaumburg, Ill. The session was part of conference late last month for trade press editors. And not surprisingly, automation came up big on the list of solutions put forth.
专家埃里克·卡尔伯森通过一个高级项目工程师at Shell Solar Industries LP, a Camarillo, Calif., maker of photovoltaic cells, described how his company is converting a previously all-manual manufacturing process into “a totally automated factory.” At a time when much U.S. manufacturing is moving offshore, Culberson said the Shell Solar automation project is an effort “to stay competitive so we can remain a U.S. company for our manufacturing.”
So far—with two out of four planned automated assembly cells up and running—the results are positive. Automated cell number one relies on conveyor systems and Fanuc robots to perform initial operations on the photovoltaic materials. The cell has allowed a direct labor reduction of 24 operators, while increasing throughput by more than 100 percent, said Culberson–all for an investment of about $2.1 million.
Automated cell number two, in which a robot assembles and attaches frames to the photovoltaic materials, cost somewhat less, at $1.4 million. But that cell has likewise more than doubled production throughput, while eliminating the need for a dozen additional operators, said Culberson. Two more highly mechanized cells to complete the automation project will be running by yearend, he added.
Stop watch worries
Culberson and other panel members conceded that they do encounter concerns from some factory employees who feel threatened by automation initiatives. “When my engineers go out on the floor with a stop watch and tape measure, people get nervous,” said Dennis Klotter, assembly engineering manager at the Birmingham, Ala., plant of Ogihara America Corp., which does stamping and sub-assembly of automotive body panels. Ogihara relies on highly automated production systems with real-time tracking and analysis of multiple process variables, as well as monthly scorecards for every department, among methods to drive continuous improvement, said Klotter. But no full-time employees have lost jobs due to automation at the plant, he added, in part because the company makes extensive use of temporary staffing.
Shell Solar likewise uses temporary staffing services, said Culberson, who also noted that employees whose jobs may be displaced by automation are provided access to training opportunities. “If they don’t continually reinvest in their skills, then they won’t be able to grow with Shell,” he said.
“拥有最好的人，其实是由另一个小组成员Joe Jansen引用的，作为剩下制造业竞争力的三个因素之一。另外两者是“生产最高水平的质量”和“使用领先的技术”，Kemet Electronics Corp.的控制技术员Jansen表示，基于Greenville，S.C.的电容器制造商。
詹森说，目前的经济衰退为制造商提供了一个良好的机会，为这些地区投资所有三个领域，以便在上升到达时准备好的方式。例如，在经济放缓期间，昆士们指出，Kemet正在进行其许多工程和自动化工具的评估。“我们致力于使用最佳工具，”他说。“我们正在看看多年来一直是我们的公司标准，我们正在重新评估这些是否仍然是使用的最佳产品，或者如果是时候进入别的东西。”
No tool unturned
评估包括从计算机辅助设计系统，仿真工具和可编程逻辑控制器编程包到自动化设备运营商使用的人机界面系统的所有内容。他说，kemet做了一些变化，例如，选择了新的设计工具，例如，已经通过减少机器和流程开发时间来支付。
Squeezing costs out of manufacturing is “not all outsourcing or buying cheap components,” said Jansen. “Reducing the cost of manufacturing means committing the resources needed to have the best possible process that you can,” he advised.
