Fig 4. Three shop orders are in the queue.
Fig 5. The ERP interface has one shop order highlighted in green, indicating an employee is jobbed on to the order.
planning, so they sup- ported efforts to get better information and establish clear goals. Ask for Help: Many
of SCP’s cleaning room employees have never used a computer on the job. SCP reached out to Mark Danly, an industry consultant with experi- ence training employees in the use of ERP soft- ware systems, to provide technical support. He also helped train employees and keeps SCP focused on developing proper habits. Computers and hardware were pro- cured prior to his visits, so he could focus on training and testing. By the end of these visits, SCP was success- fully using the ERP system in its data collection stations. Roll Out in Phases: SCP chose
to roll out the new ERP system in phases. Instead of installing data col- lection stations at every operation at once, the company began with one operation and expanded into addi- tional operations at a gradual pace, which has proved successful so far. SCP learned a lot about how its shop orders needed to be configured for the ERP system to work properly. SCP personnel enjoyed the benefit of focus- ing attention on each addition of a data collection station. Tose handling the installation could spend significant one-on-one time with operators.
Challenges Putting computers in the clean-
ing room presents several chal-
Eventually, this information will be used to identify dead- lines for castings going through each operation in order to reach an on-time delivery.
lenges. For one, SCP is now asking employees to interact with comput- ers, something that had never been required before the installation of the new ERP system. Fortunately, the data entry screens can be cus- tomized for the employees in the cleaning room, so they can be quite simple while still gathering the needed information. SCP has been pleased with the way employees have picked up on the process for enter- ing data.
Te most difficult challenge was the seemingly simple act of counting. Historically, cleaning room employees have not been responsible for report- ing the number of castings worked with an order quantity. Tat task had fallen to the final inspection operation. It was at this final step when finished castings were counted against order quantities. When orders were short, employees often did not have enough time to find or replace the quantity that is short without missing a prom- ised ship date. Cleaning room employees com- pare quantities worked with order
quantities. This allows SCP to identify, as early as pos- sible, cases of castings drop- ping out of the process so employees have time to find the castings or pour make-up castings. Now, employees are asked to quantify exactly how many castings are serviced. With the ERP’s accurate
queue for a particular opera- tion, SCP hopes to create daily schedules of castings that need to be completed.
The system captures the time spent between “jobbing on” and “jobbing off ” a shop order, so it can build a historical rate of production for each product number through a particular operation. Eventually, this information will be used to identify deadlines for castings going through each operation in order to reach an on-time delivery. An additional benefit of the
time collection feature of the ERP software is that casting costs can be approximated based on variable and overhead rates for the employees and the historical average time per part in each operation. Currently about halfway through its implementation of the new ERP system, Southern Cast Products has already realized three significant benefits: • Process retention through creation of detailed routings.
• Increased visibility of order quanti- ties and due dates to everyone in the cleaning room.
• Improved information to help employees prioritize.
January 2016 MODERN CASTING | 41
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