jaxson50 Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 A toothpaste factory had a problem: they sometimes shipped empty boxes, without the tube inside. This was due to the way the production line was set up, and people with experience in designing production lines will tell you how difficult it is to have everything happen with timings so precise that every single unit coming out of it is perfect 100% of the time. Small variations in the environment (which can't be controlled in a cost-effective fashion) mean you must have quality assurance checks smartly distributed across the line so that customers all the way down to the supermarket don't get pissed off and buy another product instead. Understanding how important that was, the CEO of the toothpaste factory got the top people in the company together and they decided to start a new project, in which they would hire an external engineering company to solve their empty boxes problem, as their engineering department was already too stretched to take on any extra effort. The project followed the usual process: budget and project sponsor allocated RFP, third-parties selected, and six months (and $8 million) later they had a fantastic solution - on time, on budget, high quality and everyone in the project had a great time. They solved the problem by using high-tech precision scales that would sound a bell and flash lights whenever a toothpaste box would weigh less than it should. The line would stop, and someone had to walk over and yank the defective box out of it, pressing another button when done to re-start the line. A while later, the CEO decides to have a look at the ROI of the project: amazing results! No empty boxes ever shipped out of the factory after the scales were put in place. Very few customer complaints, and they were gaining market share. "That's some money well spent!" - he says, before looking closely at the other statistics in the report. It turns out, the number of defects picked up by the scales was 0 after > three weeks of production use. It should've been picking up at least a dozen a day, so maybe there was something wrong with the report. He filed a bug against it, and after some investigation, the engineers come back saying the report was actually correct. The scales really weren't picking up any defects, because all boxes that got to that point in the conveyor belt were good. Puzzled, the CEO travels down to the factory, and walks up to the part of the line where the precision scales were installed. A few feet before the scale, there was a $20 desk fan, blowing the empty boxes out of the belt and into a bin. "Oh, that," says one of the workers - "one of the guys put it there 'cause he was tired of walking over... "every time the bell rang". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaysEpiphone Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 A toothpaste factory had a problem: they sometimes shipped empty boxes, without the tube inside. This was due to the way the production line was set up, and people with experience in designing production lines will tell you how difficult it is to have everything happen with timings so precise that every single unit coming out of it is perfect 100% of the time. Small variations in the environment (which can't be controlled in a cost-effective fashion) mean you must have quality assurance checks smartly distributed across the line so that customers all the way down to the supermarket don't get pissed off and buy another product instead. Understanding how important that was, the CEO of the toothpaste factory got the top people in the company together and they decided to start a new project, in which they would hire an external engineering company to solve their empty boxes problem, as their engineering department was already too stretched to take on any extra effort. The project followed the usual process: budget and project sponsor allocated RFP, third-parties selected, and six months (and $8 million) later they had a fantastic solution - on time, on budget, high quality and everyone in the project had a great time. They solved the problem by using high-tech precision scales that would sound a bell and flash lights whenever a toothpaste box would weigh less than it should. The line would stop, and someone had to walk over and yank the defective box out of it, pressing another button when done to re-start the line. A while later, the CEO decides to have a look at the ROI of the project: amazing results! No empty boxes ever shipped out of the factory after the scales were put in place. Very few customer complaints, and they were gaining market share. "That's some money well spent!" - he says, before looking closely at the other statistics in the report. It turns out, the number of defects picked up by the scales was 0 after > three weeks of production use. It should've been picking up at least a dozen a day, so maybe there was something wrong with the report. He filed a bug against it, and after some investigation, the engineers come back saying the report was actually correct. The scales really weren't picking up any defects, because all boxes that got to that point in the conveyor belt were good. Puzzled, the CEO travels down to the factory, and walks up to the part of the line where the precision scales were installed. A few feet before the scale, there was a $20 desk fan, blowing the empty boxes out of the belt and into a bin. "Oh, that," says one of the workers - "one of the guys put it there 'cause he was tired of walking over... "every time the bell rang". I can say, that is right on par with a lot of factories I worked at. LOLZ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G McBride Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 Sometimes in life we get so worked up over a problem that we blow the problem up bigger than it should be. One should make it a habit to look for simple solutions so that you don't find an expensive fix while you overlook the simple one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanvillRob Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 I work in a manufacturing environment, and actually ran the manufacturing department for many years....if you ignore the guys on the line, you'll miss out on some VERY valuable information and problem resolutions. The $8M investment to fix a $20 problem, is exactly what you can expect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruznolfart Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 Bravo, excellent solution. K.I.S.S. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelvinator Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 Great story! After not being in the actual working environment of my company for almost 15 years, I've learned to let the people who do the work solve the problems......... Makes me look good! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L5Larry Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 Great story. Here's another fan story without the $8M wasted investment. Our regional single-stream recycling sorting facility uses the same "machine" to separate crosscut shredded paper from broken glass. As the broken glass discharges from a chute about 8 feet off the ground into a 4' high bin, a Wal-Mart post fan blows the paper into the next bin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyK Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 Some times the best person to start with when making updates to the assembly line is the assembly line workers. Too many educated engineers (I've know hundreds) have never used a wrench. Example: the design of a particular rubber component required a rubber block about 4" cubed. An extruder was designed with a die that pushed out heated rubber as a bar of rubber 4"x4". The bar then had to be cut 4" long to make the required cube. Many engineering designs were tried and failed as the knives used to sever the length of fresh rubber, many of exotic materials still stuck to the rubber while slicing, distorting the rubber cube beyond use. Until, frustrated, an engineer sat down next to the machine, dejected saying, "I've tried everything". A line worker said I know how to cut the rubber. With a length of twine, he severed the 4" long block with little effort and great precision. It seems the line worker likes cheese. The cutter was fashioned after a wire cheese cutter as a standard knife gets caught in a block of cheese. Engineers? Make friends with the assemblers. They can make your life easier, or miserable, depending on whether they like you or not. They can think of more ways to make your design fail than you can dream of ways to make it work. I've seen it done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badbluesplayer Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 Y'all are making fun of me and my engineer buddies again? Just because I make paper airplanes all day long. Sheesh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyK Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 Y'all are making fun of me and my engineer buddies again? Just because I make paper airplanes all day long. Sheesh. Ummmmmm.... yup. Actually, just the one what wouldn't know a 9/16 combination wrench from a gas hatchet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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