Improved Quality and Productivity through Standard Work Kaizen Event

Situation

In growing medical device manufacturing company, 3-day SW Kaizen Event was arranged in dispensing step of the main production process, aiming to improve the capacity and productivity of the dispensing. In addition, the operators faced challenges with visual inspection, leading to inconsistent quality due to varying individual capabilities.

Approach

The approach taken during the Kaizen event included:

1. Pre-Kaizen Preparation:

   • Visual inspection summary and training.

   • Tools for eye relaxation.

   • Measurements of start-up and end work.

   • Detailed visual inspection measurements.

2. Event Activities:

   • Monday: Introduction, current state training, time measurements, waste observation, flow chart creation

   • Tuesday: Future state training, waste observation, trying improvements, visualization of new processes, and detailed future state finalization.

   • Wednesday: Finalizing weekly SW scenarios, creating an action plan, Report-out.

3. Key Deliverables:

   • Daily and weekly SW documents.

   • Defined capacity limits, micro-breaks for eye relaxation, and clear inspection procedures.

Results

The Kaizen event led to significant improvements in the process:

• Productivity: Increased from 200 units/HC/shift to 335 units/HC/shift over the following 12 weeks when all the planned improvements were implemented fully.

• Start Time: Reduced the time required for start-up procedures giving extra 30 min of production time per day.

• Sustainment: Regular reviews and adjustments ensured the sustainment of improvements, with ongoing monitoring and feedback from team members.

The event successfully addressed the identified issues, leading to enhanced productivity, better quality control, and a more efficient production process.