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To impact the big picture, you have to start with small steps, says Jayant Murthy. It's time to consider the kaizen way of thinking
Kaizen is a toolset, a management system, and a philosophy that can change the way foundries are organised and managed. From a Japanese word meaning ‘improvement’, kaizen is a philosophy that focuses on continuous improvement in processes. It is a methodology that allows manufacturing facilities to improve product quality by reducing defects and waiting times. Kaizen is an approach that can support employees, eliminating roadblocks and allowing them to focus on providing worldclass quality. It is a system for strengthening organisations for the long term—reducing costs and risks while also facilitating growth. Kaizen helps break down barriers between disconnected departmental ‘silos’, allowing different departments to better work together for the benefit of the stakeholders.
In today’s hyper-competitive market environment, organisations of all sizes from all sectors are looking to kaizen and lean manufacturing to eliminate waste across their value chains. Eliminating waste ultimately helps the companies drive down costs and deliver quality goods and services to their customers. India and many other developing countries have become hot destinations for the manufacturing of castings as these countries offer a good combination of the required technology and competitive prices. However, unless good manufacturing systems are implemented, the potential to supply to the global market cannot be tapped. Foundries typically suffer from poor housekeeping due to flying dust, resulting in unsafe working conditions which impact equipment and product quality. Often the production flow is poor and quality challenges are abundant, resulting in high rework. Implementing the principles of kaizen can eliminate these shortcomings and improve the quality.
Implementing kaizen
Typical actions in a kaizen methodology of working would include features such as: Current state analysis and setting of goals for future state Improving manufacturing flow from core making through moulding, pouring, fettling and dispatch flow, reduces work in progress by eliminating obstructions to manufacturing final product Manufacturing flow may require layout changes Good flow has to be supported with quick changeover and fewer breakdowns There is potential for various focused improvement projects relating to casting defects, coremaking process, reductions in short blasting, fettling time, wastage of sand, chemicals, etc.  Benefitting from kaizen Better quality at lower costs— The kaizen approach reduces costs by improving flow and quality. Improved quality of delivery and safety— Fewer mistakes, accidents and errors resulting in better work culture. Improved delivery and/or throughput— Improved flow of material and information—in time, in full, error free. Accelerating momentum— Creating a stable working environment with a clear vision, standardised procedures that create the foundation for continuous improvement to attain world class performance. Improvements in store— Ensuring optimum level of stocks, better warehouse layout and processes to give dramatic results in inventory management. Kaizen has tremendous scope in a foundry environment. The first visible change is the creation of a dust-free work environment. It has been observed with sustained application of kaizen, the cost of production and conversion can be reduced by approximately 30 per cent. This directly adds to the bottom-line while customers benefit from timely delivery and high-quality products. Kaizen is applicable everywhere across the business—in marketing, design, manufacturing and after sales support. It offers financial benefits and, more importantly, benefits relating to teamwork, employee involvement and cultural change, which is an absolute must is an organisation in order to sustain the financial benefits. The author is Director at Kaizen Institute. He can be contacted at jmurthy@kaizen.com |
