Lift & Tilt Podcast – Episode 002 : Six Sigma & GE – A Cautionary Tale
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Date: 1/27/20
Host: Robert Dennard & Kurt Guntner
Overview: Robert and Kurt enjoy a Mexican style lager while discussing the history of Six Sigma, and how it shaped GE from the late ’90’s to current day. With expert testimony from Toyota’s National Manager of LEAN, Robert and Kurt look to understand how process management systems work and if they can help businesses outside the manufacturing industry. Join us to learn more about process management, and what can be gleaned from past successes and failures of a company like GE.
Question & Answer with Scott Redelman, National Manager LEAN – Toyota Material Handling
1) Given the history/example detailed in the article – do you think it’s possible to focus so heavily on a particular style of process management that it becomes a detriment to the organization?
That all depends. If the process management focus is a detriment to innovation, then maybe yes. In Toyota Lean Management, we are using TPS methodology – which is entirely focused on developing people to incrementally solve problems in their own process. This fosters a culture of continuous improvement rather than an event. It also relies on the creativity on the associates in the organization to solve the issues they face every day whereas often times the style of Six Sigma encourages the improvements to be conducted by the ‘experts’ – the black belts. TPS considers the people in the process to be the true experts in the process. If we value our associates as the experts, and put them in the position to solve problems they face every day, then the culture of improvement builds upon itself. This philosophy looks at management and skilled improvement folks as the culture builders. They don’t exist to solve all of the problems. Instead, management and improvement leaders exist to remove roadblocks in order to put the team in a position to win.
2) For companies that aren’t manufacturers, companies that are primarily service providers or retailers, do you think that the lean styles of management can have the same positive transformational effect that it’s had for manufacturers?
Absolutely yes. Lean applies to everything. Everything we do – at home and at work, in manufacturing, retail, whatever industry – is a process. Wherever there is a process, there’s a process that isn’t perfect that can be improved. Toyota has relationships with customers and contacts benchmarking TPS (Toyota’s lean culture and tools) from health care, military, logistics, accounting and of course service organizations. We even use the skills of lean to support continuous improvement in not for profits! You name it, lean can be applied. Successful lean transformations always begin and are sustained by the culture of respect for people’s work.
3) For companies that are thinking about implementing a process management style such as lean, agile, six sigma, etc. What advice would you have for them regarding implementation and potential pitfalls they should be aware.
First, you have to be ‘all in’. You have to trust the process over time. It can’t be flavor of the month – meaning the top of the organization has to understand the process takes time.
Second, it can’t all be about the KPI results. Instead, focus on the human capital development rather than cost savings. Successful lean cultures focus on singles and doubles (baseball metaphor). Home runs can come later as the organization develops.
Third, designation of ‘lean champions’ is critically important. Choose folks that are ‘servant leaders’ – people that look for how they can help other succeed. The champions don’t need to be leaders on the org chart, but they need to be leaders in the sense that others in the organization respect their approach and are willing to follow their lead.
Finally, pick the methodology that will work best within your organization and that your culture can sustain.
Source Articles:
Quartz at Work | Whatever Happened to Six Sigma
https://qz.com/work/1635960/whatever-happened-to-six-sigma/
The Brew & Tasting Notes:
Deep Ellum – Neato Bandito
“Neato is Deep Ellum’s interpretation of a Mexican-style lager. But Neato’s been working out and is stronger than the others! Light in color, but big in flavor, Neato Bandito wants to help you enjoy all of your summertime activities! Viva la RAZA!”
Original Gravity: 0
Bitterness: 18 IBU
Alcohol Content (ABV): 6.0%
Produced by LTS Studios, an in-house division of Lift Truck Supply, Inc. – a full-line provider of Toyota forklift equipment, service, parts and rentals. LTS – Your Forklift Accessory & Parts Headquarters
Jan09
Lift & Tilt Podcast – Episode 001 : Automation & The Human Element
Subscribe on iTunes or Google Play
Date: 1/1/20
Host: Robert Dennard & Kurt Guntner
Overview: Robert and Kurt discuss the ethical concerns regarding automation raised in the Vox article – Robots Aren’t Taking Warehouse Employees’ Jobs, They’re MakingTheir Work Harder. With input from automation experts from Stocked Robotics, Plaskolite, and Toyota Material Handling our hosts attempt to look at the issues from all perspectives – offering warehouse operators and manufacturers key take-aways on how to avoid common operation/labor/public relations pitfalls when implementing automation equipment.
Source Articles:
VOX | Robots Aren’t Taking Warehouse Employees’ Jobs, They’re Making Their Work Harder
https://www.vox.com/recode/2019/10/22/20925894/robots-warehouse-jobs-automation-replace-workers-amazon-report-university-illinois
Fast Company | At Toyota, The Automation is Human Powered
https://www.fastcompany.com/40461624/how-toyota-is-putting-humans-first-in-an-era-of-increasing-automation
The Brew & Tasting Notes:
Saint Arnold – Ye Olde Christmas Ale
A rich, copper colored, hearty ale perfect for the holiday season with a malty sweetness and spicy hop character. The generous use of five different malts is responsible for the full flavor and high alcohol level of this beer.
Saint Arnold Christmas Ale is best consumed at 45° Fahrenheit.
Recommended pairings: Fruit cake, Christmas pudding, & squash bisque.
Original Gravity: 1.067 (17.0° Plato)
Bitterness: 24 IBU
Alcohol Content (ABV): 7.5%
Produced by LTS Studios, an in-house division of Lift Truck Supply, Inc. – a full-line provider of Toyota forklift equipment, service, parts and rentals. LTS – Your Forklift Accessory & Parts Headquarters
Feb14
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Sep05
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For more information contact us at:
Lift Truck Supply
T:1.800.873.1828
E: marketing@lifttrucksupplyinc.com
» Learn more
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Sep05
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For more information contact us at:
Lift Truck Supply
T:1.800.873.1828
E: marketing@lifttrucksupplyinc.com
» Learn more
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Sep05
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For more information contact us at:
Lift Truck Supply
T:1.800.873.1828
E: marketing@lifttrucksupplyinc.com
» Learn more
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Aug20
00:28 Speaker 1: This is a dual, full layer robotic palletizer in which it takes two product lines, moves ’em both, then creates full layers on each product, and then the robot will actually take full layers and drop ’em off onto the pallets.
00:46 Speaker 2: The customer came to us. The issue is needing to palletize in a small area with multiple products. So this solution provides the ability to palletize two different products and two different lines in a very small footprint.
01:01 Speaker 1: Cases come into the system on an existing conveyor system. We immediately gap them with a meter-spacer conveyor. And once the cases are gapped, we use an interlock selective turner to orient the cases, either narrow-side leading or wide-side leading. At that point we form rows, we push individual rows onto a intermediate layer table. Once we form an entire layer, we push the entire layer onto a full layer end of arm tool. The end of arm tool is a roller bed that retracts out to strip the layer onto the pallet. We build full layers on CDLR conveyor and discharged onto a shuttle car, which takes it to an existing stretch wrapper. The overall system output of this one is 45 cases per minute.
01:40 Speaker 1: One of the key technologies in this is the very complicated control system on this one here, this system uses a lot of photo eyes to monitor the position of all the boxes and the placement of the boxes as they move through the dual layer palletizer. The controls will actually help to create the full layer and then let the robot know that it’s ready to pick up a layer to move it onto the pallet.
02:01 Speaker 2: Because we’ve integrated all this stuff into a single GuardLogix platform, the customer needs one software package to maintain this system from a controls perspective, and because it’s on Ethernet, they can access the controller within their plant network, they can see the status of the devices because they’re on Ethernet also. So they have a high-level of visibility into the system.
02:22 Speaker 1: The key technologies in this project were the FANUC M-410 450-kg robot. We needed to go to the 450-kg robot due to the layer weights and the tool size. The end of arm tool is the most important part of this project. It is a full layer design that accommodates either narrow-side layers or wide-side layers due to spacing requirements, gathering requirements on the layer. Additionally, we have two-layer formers that are mounted on top of each other. That was a key design part of this project to minimize the amount of floor space required to palletize these cases.
For more information contact us at:
Lift Truck Supply
T:1.800.873.1828
E: marketing@lifttrucksupplyinc.com
F: Contact Page
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Aug20
00:01 Speaker 1: We’re in Park City just outside Wichita, which is considered the air capital of the world. We’ve had a lot of airplane manufacturers here: Boeing, Spirit. A lot of airplane history in the Wichita area.
00:13 Speaker 2: We warehouse aluminium, we do cut it all down to size, and we send it out to any customer out in the world, which right now we have several hundred of them. We have 26 forklifts, they are constantly running. We’ve even had to create part of our warehouse, what we call the highway, and it’s specifically developed for forklift travel.
00:31 Speaker 1: A couple of years ago we’d come in and there’d be two or three forklifts in the shop, some of them would need some extensive repairs. Last year, we started bringing in these Toyotas, forklifts in the shop, very reliable forklifts.
00:42 Speaker 2: We’ve noticed a dramatic drop in what we’re spending on forklift repairs, which ultimately hits the bottom line if you’re able to save a lot of money by utilizing the T-Matics system.
00:53 Speaker 3: The T-Matics system gives the operations the ability to have that end-to-end experience knowing exactly which operator is on the forklifts, and they understand what’s going on from the minute that person logs into the lift to the minute they log off of that lift.
01:07 Speaker 1: Before an operator can start it, he has to check various points that we decide, and if he comes across something that’s not right it’ll lock the forklift down until maintenance comes, looks at it, fixes it, and then puts it back into service. T-Matics report, I can look at that, I can see how the operators are doing, and I can hold them accountable for the impacts that they’ve caused or their driving or, on the other hand, I can praise them for driving well.
01:31 Speaker 4: Whenever we have people not following those best practices, we’re able to look at it as, is it a process, is it an area, is it a specific truck, or is it a specific employee?
01:42 Speaker 1: We spend a lot more time working on our machines, a lot less time working on the forklifts. Overall the Toyota T-Matics system makes our job a lot easier in maintenance.
01:51 Speaker 3: It’s exciting for Toyota and T-Matics to work with partners like ThyssenKrupp to be able to supply the aerospace industry.
01:58 Speaker 4: At the end of the day, it’s great to work at a place that, no matter how small, what we do here affects the bigger picture and puts planes in the air for the people flying them every day.
For more information contact us at:
Lift Truck Supply
T:1.800.873.1828
E: marketing@lifttrucksupplyinc.com
F: Contact Page
Be sure to share with #ForkliftHeadquarters
Aug20
00:05 Speaker 1: So Newell Brands is a consumer goods powerhouse. It’s mostly consumer goods, such as Rubbermaid, Rubbermaid Commercial, Sharpie markers, PaperMate pens, Calphalon cookware, and the Mr. Coffee.
00:16 Speaker 2: Here at the Rubbermaid facility in Ohio, we were assembling all the kits on a box line. Basically, the box line was a 100-foot long conveyor with anywhere from 15 to 20 operators.
00:29 Speaker 1: The overall facility is 850,000 square feet, of which 500,000 is manufacturing and 300,000 is warehouse.
00:38 Speaker 2: The major challenge we were trying to solve with the robotic automation was gaining productivity with packing up these set boxes.
00:50 Speaker 1: The system will help us serve our customers by hopefully improve our margin. Approximately 80% of our set volume will be able to be processed by this robotic cell, and shipping a more accurate product to the customer, which is the most important thing.
01:04 Speaker 2: We wanted to improve on the ergonomics. We also wanted to improve on our quality.
01:09 Speaker 1: Along with our cost of failure metrics, one of our biggest components is how many parts we put in a box. We’re hoping with the accuracy of the cell, we’ll be able to improve that going forward.
01:21 Speaker 2: We decided to work with Bastian Robotics because their project management team was very knowledgeable of our business, our products. They put a lot of time and effort into understanding what our needs were.
01:33 Speaker 1: The parts are made in injection molding in this facility. So we mold the parts here, then we store the parts in the warehouse, from the warehouse are moved to our pack and assembly operation within the same warehouse. The different product lines will be EFLs, as we call our Easy Find Lids, it’s where the lid attaches to the base. They’re more of a thicker part, more of a durable product. We also do TakeAlongs, the very thin-walled product and more of a disposable product. Both those will be processed on this line.
01:58 Speaker 3: Once they get conveyed into the system, we have a special device called the denesting device. It’s a mechanical device that pulls product from the NP conveyor and presents it to the robot in a specific quantity. There’s up to 10 robots in the system, and those 10 robots can pick from one or two denesters on either side, depending on what the recipe calls for. Once the case gets to the end of the system, the last robot does something a little bit different. The last product, if it’s a lid, a twist and seal lid, it doesn’t nest like the rest of the products. So those are caps, they get fed to the robot and the robot would put down the standard tool, pick up a vacuum tool, pick those lids, and place those into the case. After the product exits the system, it’s either sent down one of the additional process lines or a reject conveyor.
02:51 Speaker 1: The robotics system will process items at two different cycle times. We’ll do some of our sets at a 4-1/2-second cycle, which is about 800 parts per hour, and we’ll do some at 6-second cycle, which is 600 parts per hour.
03:05 Speaker 2: My experience with Bastian has been really good. The project managers, the sales, the engineering as far as mechanical, electrical, and programming have all been a really good help with the project, helping us understand the nuts and bolts behind the project.
03:23 Speaker 1: My experience working with Bastian Robotics has been both positive and informative. Positive as I see the progress we’ve made on the cell, and the improvements that are in front of us that could help us go to the next level. And also informative, through all the project and from all the information sessions and team that we would be able to answer questions, and to walk us through logistics, willing to work with us, listen to both sides of the story. It’s not always their solution, but it can be a team solution, and they’ve been able to work with us to come to the resolution we have today.
For more information contact us at:
Lift Truck Supply
T:1.800.873.1828
E: marketing@lifttrucksupplyinc.com
F: Contact Page
Be sure to share with #ForkliftHeadquarters
Aug20
00:08 Speaker 1: As the number one selling brand of pickles, relishes, and peppers, having reliable distribution processes is a really big deal to Mt. Olive Pickle Company. Helping to keep 170 million jars of product on the move each year at the Mt. Olive, North Carolina facilities is the work of Toyota forklifts. About 80 vehicles are typically deployed throughout the production and distribution areas of these operations.
00:35 Speaker 2: We chose to go with Toyota lifts because of our relationship with our partners, Southeast Industrial. We felt that those lifts fit our application very well. The safety features on the lifts as well as the mobility and the flexibility that Toyota provides, felt like it was a good fit for our business.
00:54 Speaker 1: The Toyota forklifts are involved in nearly every aspect of product movement at Mt. Olive Pickle Company. Here, Toyota’s 5,000 pound capacity, counterbalanced forklifts with internal combustion engines, unload raw cucumbers from delivery trucks. The powerful forklifts easily climb the ramps to reach trailers in the outdoor yard. These forklifts are equipped with special rotator attachments to quickly dump the cucumbers from their containers into large washing bins. Similar trucks with pneumatic tires work in large outdoor yards containing brine vats. The vats are used to ferment the cucumbers into pickles. Toyota forklifts also move pickle products to various processing stations, such as washing and cutting. Elsewhere in the building, jars to hold the finished pickles are unloaded and brought to packing stations. The packed items are then gathered from the end of lines and taken to storage. Once at the distribution center, cases of pickles are floor-stacked up to four pallets high. To fill customer orders, Toyota forklifts provide work platforms for associates to pick individual cases onto mixed pallets. Full pallets are also selected from storage and taken to stretch wrappers. The wrapped pallets are then loaded onto outbound trailers. In total, some 20 million cases each year ship from this facility to customers in all 50 states.
02:21 Speaker 2: It’s worked out great. The lifts are reliable, durable. We have a very high speed, high-paced type business, so we have to have reliable equipment, and the equipment has held up very well for us.
02:32 Speaker 1: Forklift drivers also appreciate the maneuverability and ease of operation that they experience when driving the Toyota forklifts, including the easy to reach controls.
02:42 Speaker 3: Oh, yeah, they’re right here at your fingertips. You got your forward and reverse. You got your up and down, your tilt and your side. It’s fine. I like it right here. It’s a lot better than the ones with the handles up here. I like the controls right here at my fingertips. I’ve been driving a lift for 30 years, and it’s good lift.
03:09 Speaker 1: Pickle production is a fairly seasonable business, with peak production between May and October when the company can take advantage of local cucumber crops. As a result, the forklift needs of the company vary with production volumes. For that reason, Mt. Olive Pickle looks to its Toyota dealer, Southeast Industrial Equipment, to supply the right quantity of vehicles needed throughout the year.
03:32 Speaker 4: Mt. Olive Pickle leases their equipment primarily because they want to have fresh equipment. It’s a very high use application. They run the equipment very hard. Having reliable, durable equipment is a key aspect to their expectations. We’re always looking for ways to save them money and partner with them.
03:54 Speaker 1: Southeast Industrial Equipment also provides regular maintenance on the vehicles, including preventative maintenance, as seen here, and any other repairs needed to assure that vehicles are in top working condition. Being able to depend on their forklift fleet is why Mt. Olive Pickle chose Toyota and Southeast Industrial Equipment in the first place.
04:16 Speaker 2: Really, really good. Very reliable. They’re really able to help us in a moment’s notice if we have an issue with equipment or have additional needs for additional pieces of equipment. They’re very receptive and a great partner. Two thumbs up.
For more information contact us at:
Lift Truck Supply
T:1.800.873.1828
E: marketing@lifttrucksupplyinc.com
F: Contact Page
Be sure to share with #ForkliftHeadquarters
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