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Company applying, spreading CI systematically

Industry                                                                               
Foundry, Casting

Company City
Anniston           

Company State
Alabama                                             

Company Name                                                                     
Union Foundry Company          

Project/Activity Year
Continuous Improvement / 2010

Company Profile
Union Foundry Company, a division of McWane Inc., has been a manufacturing mainstay in Anniston, Ala. since 1912. Boasting annual sales of about $75 million, Union Foundry is among the leading manufacturers of cast pipe fittings and accessory components.

Situation
In 2007, the company began working with Auburn Technical Assistance Center – the ATN Center at Auburn University – applying Lean Continuous Improvement (CI) to its operations.

Solution
To date, Union Foundry has spread CI into multiple areas of its operations through the application of Lean training and Rapid Improvement Events in the manufacturing process. Additionally, ATAC has provided company leaders with strategy planning and CI initiative coaching assistance.

Results

Union Foundry officials say that ATAC assistance has been a significant factor in enabling the manufacturer to remain competitive in a fierce global market.

"ATAC’s training and assistance in helping us to improve the efficiency of our manufacturing and management processes has definitely made us more competitive,” said Plant Manager Bryan Biehunko.

The company credits ATAC with helping it to retain some $1 million in sales that it might otherwise have lost and about that same amount in cost savings by improving its processes.
“We have facilitated Rapid Improvement Events in five different manufacturing processes,” said ATAC Lean Specialist David Hicks.

Hicks aided by other ATAC Lean specialists, has been the primary facilitator in CI work with Union Foundry.

A Rapid Improvement Event, or Kaizen, is taking the lessons learned through Lean training and implementing them into rapid and meaningful improvements in the actual operation. Rapid Improvement Events are conducted onsite at the company's manufacturing or business operations facility as three- or five-day facilitation sessions. During this process, ATAC trainers impart the knowledge and skill base to make immediate improvements and to enable the organization to continue and sustain those improvements.
Union Foundry personnel have been trained in ATAC’s five-day Lean Certificate Series, which prepares an organization’s Lean leaders to direct CI in their organizations; in ATAC’s Accounting for a Lean Enterprise course, which shows Lean companies how to tie accounting to the product Value Stream; and in the various tools of CI. 

“We have conducted Rapid Improvement Events in our component blasting and cleaning area, our mold casting area, machining area, cement lining process, and in the core box rigging area,” Biehunko said. “The events have significantly reduced set-up and travel time, in some cases by more than half. We have applied 5s (sort, set in order, shine, standardize and sustain) to areas and the result there is better organization as well as improved work flow and efficiency. And in other areas, we have improved product throughput by as much as 50 percent and production volume by nearly 80 percent.”

Impact Summary By Production Area:

Component Blast Cleaning: Shot blasts to clean components

• Reducing product flow constraints

Mold Casting: Set-up and changeover of pipe fitting production patterns

• Achieved better material storage and organization
• Reduced travel distance for product handling by 50 percent
• Improved set-up time 50 percent
• Improved work order tracking

Core Box Rigging: Set up and tear down of core boxes for casting process

• Travel distance reduced from ¼ mile to 50 feet/trip
• Time per trip reduced from 15 minutes to 3 minutes
• Number trips reduced from 3 per setup to 1
• Number setups accomplished improved from 8/shift to 25/shift
• Value-added time spent per setup improved from 33.4 percent to 76.4 percent

 Machining: Face, drill and thread fittings

• Improved tooling life from two pieces per insert to 9, saving some $53,000 annually in tooling costs alone.
• Established operator standard work and maintenance process (TPM)
• Reduced batch production and improved product throughput by 50 percent

Cement Pipe Lining: Spray inside of pipe fitting with a cement liner to reduce deposit buildup

• Reorganized production area
• Increased production volume by nearly 80 percent

ATAC continues its work with Union Foundry and company officials say its next steps in systematically spreading CI is to begin looking at its inventory and shipping processes.