By Jeff Reinke, Editorial Director
The competitive and operational benefits of lean manufacturing have been well-documented throughout the marketplace. With more and more production being moved out of the country, there are very few plant engineers who don’t want to learn more about streamlining processes and eliminating waste.
The great thing about these time and resource-saving concepts is that they can also be applied to the design process. And while I’m far from the first to make such a mention, I think that of all the Lean, Six Sigma or Kaizan gospels being preached and implemented, the 5S approach is best suited for helping design engineers get their products to the market sooner. Typically reserved for reforming maintenance processes, here’s how I think the concepts of 5S might be able to help:
Sort and Straighten relate to organization. So when it comes to developing your build lists, take the necessary steps to organize your specs and resources to help assemble the bill of materials as quickly as possible. This will also mean looking at past projects and identifying any commonalities with current ones. I admit that a lot of this is common sense, but often the simplest of actions are also the easiest to overlook. Sustain, which is usually further down the list, can be looked at from the vantage point of re-evaluating your specs and designs once feedback is obtained. Sometimes this can be the most frustrating part of the process, but allotting time for it will help in making quicker adjustments. Shine. In plant floor settings this relates to improving overall appearance. So we’re obviously dealing with aesthetic elements. Although the coating and other details related to the product’s “look” will be integrated throughout, it can help to allot time in the schedule specifically for appearance factors. Finally, Standardize. Outside of design situations, this relates to establishing standard operating procedures, and would also be implemented earlier in the process. However, it might be easier to wait until going through all steps of a given project before establishing SOPs for the next. While many of these principles might already be a part of your lean design approach, the quest for reducing time-to-market is a constant one. So more important than any of these steps is the need to constantly be re-evaluating your approach in order to realize the full benefits 5S or any other lean approach can offer.
What’s your opinion? Send comments to jeff.reinke@advantagemedia.com.
RE: A Tough Lesson From An Unusual Source Jeff,
RE: A Tough Lesson From An Usual SourceHello Jeff,I read your article in Sept. PD&D. I Couldn’t agree with you more.
I’m a product designer with over 40 years experience since college, and have built the largest design firm in the southeastern U.S., Industrial Design Associates Inc. This firm’s charter, from day one, was to combine the disciplines of industrial design and product engineering into a cost-effective process that aimed at exceeding the expectations of our client companies.
What I’m seeing now, from client companies as well as other design firms, is of great concern to me. There is a general conception that “product engineering” can and will be accomplished offshore. Client companies see this as a great cost savings to them, and the design firms seem to like the idea of being able to do conceptual, front-end work only. To them it’s great not having to deal with the complexities of product engineering.
Those of us that understand product design and development can see the long-term negative effects of these beliefs. Oh well!
Sam Crosby
Read the original article at www.pddnet.com by clicking here.
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