Manufacturing Improvement

Manufacturing Improvement is a specialized application of Pretium’s Methodology that can be applied to individual capital projects, plant operating units or entire manufacturing sites.

With Pretium’s Manufacturing Improvement process, you can:

• Substantially reduce operating cost - Double-digit percentage reductions of operating cost are often possible through mobilization of latent resources.
• Substantially reduce capital cost – alternate equipment, operating procedures and technologies are applied to reduce or even eliminate the need for large capital expenditures
• Increase Revenues – Increased throughput, reduced scrap and improved yield are all possible by improving the functional design of manufacturing systems

Pretium’s Manufacturing Improvement is a combination of Function Modeling and Guided Brainstorming™, with emphasis on Ideal Vision and Resource approaches. The result is innovative solutions to problems that minimize capital and operating costs and maximize benefits.

The Manufacturing Improvement method maps plant equipment to functions provided by the equipment resulting in a function model of the plant or capital project. Guided Brainstorming™ sessions are employed to generate high value, innovative ideas to provide the required functionality in alternative ways. Guided Brainstorming™ sessions involve your subject matter experts facilitated by Pretium’s specialists. Pretium can also provide outside experts in a number of technical fields if desired.

Manufacturing Improvement method is applied by conducting facilitated workshops with an experienced Pretium facilitator, Guided Innovation Toolkit™ software and your Subject Matter Experts. This combination is highly synergistic and results in dramatic increases in the number and quality of ideas generated.

Copper Production Executive Case Study

Situation

A large multinational copper production company experienced dramatic financial losses caused by poor appearance of a superior-quality product. Large green spots on the surface of the copper sheets resulted from oxidation on the surface.

The cause of the problem was small pores created by high electrical current applied during the purification process. Electrolyte became trapped in the pores which caused the copper to oxidize. If the electrical current was reduced, the surface would be free of pores, but the process time would increase dramatically resulting in an intolerable loss of productivity.

To correct this problem engineers suggested removing the electrolyte from the pores by using a high-pressure washing system to drive the electrolyte out. The company planned to make a large capital investment of $955,000 to purchase and install washing equipment. However, before committing to this investment, management asked for a “second opinion.”
 

Pretium Process

The Pretium Process combines the skills of experienced facilitators, the Theory of Inventive Problem Solving (TRIZ) and Function Modeling in the following process:

Step 1 – Define Objectives

As current is increased, the production rate of purified copper increases. However, as current increases, pores begin to appear on the surface of the copper sheets. When the sheets are removed from the electrolyte, some electrolyte becomes trapped in the pores and after the water evaporates from the pores, black spots appear on the surface resulting in a quality defect. To counteract this problem, a high pressure washing system is used to rinse electrolyte from the pores. Our Objectives is to consider projects to reduce operating cost, improve quality, increase throughput and/or reduce the capital cost to install an electrolytic copper process.

Step 2 – Formulate Opportunities

Function modeling is a process of depicting the ideal vision by building a diagram of the relationship between useful and harmful functions. We do this with Pretium software.

The function "Purify Copper" is produced by three other functions, "Supply Electrolyte", "Supply Raw Copper" and "Supply Electric Current". The washing operation would occur by "Pump Water" to produce "Supply Water to Nozzles" to produce "Spray High Pressure Water" to produce "Wash Sheets" to produce "Eliminate Oxidation". All of the functions described above are useful functions. There are a number of harmful functions we can identify and incorporate into the model as well. "Pump Water" results in "High Energy Cost". "Spray High Pressure Water" can result in "Clogged Nozzles" which can produce "Down Time". Significantly, "Supply Electric Current" results in "High Current Produces Pores" which produces "Pores Contain Electrolyte" which produces "Oxidized Surface". "Oxidized Surface" is then counteracted by "Wash Sheets".

Step 3 – Guided Brainstorming

Next, we conduct a structured brainstorming session using TRIZ. We begin by looking at contradictions in the function model.

A team of subject matter experts facilitated by a Pretium Structured Innovation Specialist considers inventive principles to resolve this contradiction. Contradictions can often be resolved by a Separation in either Time, Space, Structure or Condition. There are six different inventive principles embodied in Separation in Time as listed below.

• Preliminary Action - Perform a necessary function in advance
• Hide - Temporarily hide the system from a harmful action
• Use Pauses - To resolve incompatibility of functions, conduct one function in pauses of the other
• Dynamicity - Change the characteristics of the system or process in time
• Rushing Through - "Rush through" a harmful or risky process
• Post Process Time - Use time after a process

One idea suggested here is to make our process dynamic by changing the level of current over time. Alternatively, we could rush through the harmful process of producing pores by raising the current very high and then dropping it near the end of the production cycle.

Step 4 – Evaluate Ideas

In our brainstorming session, this idea would be accepted along with all others at face value. Later, we will validate these concepts. Any idea such as this one will raise questions. One engineer might say, This is a great idea. It will reduce the time required to produce high quality sheets and could greatly reduce or eliminate pores. Another engineer might say, Nonsense. I don't think this idea will do anything but produce big pores faster. Fortunately, we have an outstanding method to evaluate this idea: six sigma. With six sigma we can ask the following questions.

• How high should we set the current?
• How long should we hold it at a high level?
• How low should we set the current?
• How long should we hold it at the low level?
• How much can we reduce the creation of pores?
• How much pressure do we need to clear the pores?
• How long should we wash the sheets?

Results

High electrical current was used early in the process to speed production and low electrical current was used near the end of the process to create a smooth surface. The “separation in time” virtually eliminated the pores. Since there were no open pores, no surface oxidation occurred, and the sheet appearance was excellent. Rinsing the sheets with low-pressure water was sufficient post-production treatment. High pressure washing was no longer needed eliminating the need for high pressure pumps, nozzles, manifolds, and control systems. The number and size of washing tanks was also reduced. The overall savings was almost 50% at $450,000.