Navistar Achieves Real-Time Quality
Thanks to a Six Sigma project and a new defect-tracking software system that helps collect quality data in real-time, Navistar's Chatham, Ontario, plant has forged a path to in-process quality improvement.
"Navistar has made a substantial commitment to improving quality and customer service," says Rick Burns, the master black belt in charge of the Chatham implementation. "The Six Sigma initiative has refocused our efforts on making sure that we produce the best heavy trucks in the world."
Six Sigma projects rely heavily on statistical metrics to help lead teams to the areas that will benefit the most from process improvements. These "opportunities" are attacked to find the root causes of quality problems.
Navistar produces a full line of heavy trucks. The company's Chatham plant manufactures premium conventional and severe service trucks.
Navistar's Chatham facility developed an in-house system that helps collect quality data, but it couldn't trace the location of defects to their X and Y coordinates on panels or within subcomponents. A search began in late 1997 to find a system that would provide this functionality. Twelve potential software companies were benchmarked through the problem-solving and decision-making methodology to determine the best fit.
Navistar chose PlantMan Solutions from Information Technologies, which has created quality systems for such clients as Ford Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Manufacturing USA.
PlantMan Solutions consists of several configurable application modules. The Inspect system visually presents products to in-line assemblers and inspectors at various points on the plant floor. Touch screen or stylus entry--no keyboard required--allows fast, accurate capture of quality information by serialized product. Defect location may be stored with a product image for graphical representation. The Layout Manager module allows users to design each input screen to reflect the operating environment at each workstation. Functional defects not requiring X-Y coordinate capture can also be entered into the system.
Information about the current production now is available to anyone on the Navistar intranet via an Internet browser. Because the data collected is real-time, reaction to production and quality problems is immediate. Navistar also elected to purchase the Alert Service module, which may alert personnel via page, e-mail or displays in the plant based on variable data such as number of defects per unit, defects per hour, defects per thousand or even safety concerns. The system was installed and functional within weeks. Inspectors had no problem learning the new system with its fast, customizable input and intuitive design.
"When we first discovered the PlantMan system, we thought the ability to pinpoint the actual location of certain defects, especially paint, was the greatest benefit," says Burns. "But after using the system for a few months, it became clear that this function is secondary to the ability to analyze the statistical information immediately. The Alert Service will allow us to automate the notification process instead of trying to track down the appropriate parties when there is a problem that needs to be addressed immediately," he adds.
Information Technologies' PlantMan Solutions software
www.infotech-usa.com
Benefits
Visually quantifies defects found during manufacturing
Visually presents products to in-line assemblers and inspectors
Touch-screen or stylus data entry
Provides production information over company intranet or Internet
Supplier Reduces Inspection Time
At the Société Anonyme Belge de Constructions Aéronautiques in Brussels, Belgium, a large gantry-type coordinate measuring machine provides accurate dimensional measurement of critical rocket and aircraft structural components and tooling.
Belgian manufacturer SABCA, a premier supplier to the world aerospace market, makes Ariane rockets and specializes in designing and building large airframe structural components and subassemblies, mechanically complex engine components, and advanced technology tooling and assembly jigs.
In 1996, SABCA management invested in a Brown & Sharpe DEA Lambda SP gantry-type CMM to provide the company with advanced dimensional inspection capabilities that could help keep pace with the production of components and subassemblies for the European Space Agency's new Ariane 5 rocket program.
"Most of the parts we inspect here are extremely large and heavy," says Claude Mestrè, metrology department manager and head of the gantry CMM system project. "The Ariane 5 structural components are about 3,500 mm in diameter, by 200 to 1,200 mm high, and weigh up to 1.3 tons."
In the past, SABCA checked its production parts using hand tools, hard and fixed gages, and electronic theodolites for larger assemblies. But accuracy, repeatability and measuring documentation didn't meet more demanding standards.
SABCA selected Lambda for its combination of accuracy, repeatability, speed, large measuring volume and unique temperature compensation system. The Lambda SP, a large vertical CMM, inspects workpieces of the size of aerospace tooling and assemblies in open shop environments without sacrificing accuracy. The machine has an envelope of 6,500 mm x 4,000 mm x 2,500 mm, and its accuracy formula is 8 + 10L/1,000µm.
The CMM's open design allows easy integration of material handling equipment. Large aerospace structures are moved to the CMM by an overhead crane and can be easily placed within its measuring volume. The Lambda features a patented slant bridge technology design that incorporates dual drive/dual scale systems to prevent the yawing of the carriage, yielding high dynamic performance and long-term dimensional accuracy.
The machine structure is surrounded by a thermally shielded protective housing that seals out airborne contaminants and provides stable climatic conditions. This feature, combined with an advanced multisensor structural temperature compensation system, virtually cancels the effects of thermally induced distortion of the CMM and eliminates the need for environmentally controlled inspection rooms.Installed in SABCA's main assembly shop, the LAMBDA SP inspects a variety of close-tolerance, mechanically complex aerospace components.
"With the introduction of flexible gaging techniques, SABCA acquired a more complete data-gathering capability than provided by traditional measuring instruments," reports Mestrè. "In addition, we reduced start-up costs and eliminated the cost of modifying fixed gages when program changes are made. The Lambda gantry CMM has made a significant contribution to the company's overall improvements in productivity and adherence to production schedule."
Brown & Sharpe DEA Lambda SP gantry-type CMM
www.brownandsharpe.com
Benefits
Advanced dimensional inspection
Combines accuracy, repeatability, speed and a large measuring volume
An envelope of 6,500 mm x 4,000 mm x 2,500 mm, and accuracy formula of 8 + 10L/1,000µm
Advanced thermo-geometric compensation system
CMM Saws Off Inspection and Design Time
One of the greatest things about buying a new power hand tool is opening the box and seeing the possibilities. Power tools make life easier--and more fun--for professionals, do-it-yourselfers and hobbyists. Tool designs, capabilities and options have grown exponentially, boosting buyer creativity and satisfaction.
Ryobi North America Inc. Power Tool Group, manufactures routers, electric saws, drills and wood sanders. To sustain a market leader reputation for innovative tool design and engineering, Ryobi applies design and manufacturing technologies that help bring products to market faster and with better reliability, says Quality Engineer Dave Clark. This includes using a CMM dedicated to prototype and first-article part inspections.
Ryobi uses a Zeiss Eclipse CMM and U-SOFT software to conduct part inspections. "Although our previous manual CMM was reliable and accurate, our overall inspection process was 18 years old and needed to be updated," says Clark. "There have been amazing advances in measurement technology since we last considered what a CMM can and should do for us."
Objectives for a new measurement system included increasing overall inspection throughput, leveraging the repeatability of automated inspection, handling tighter tolerances and gaining the new capabilities created by the software evolution. Ryobi also needed a larger measuring envelope to accommodate the new line of benchtop power tools.
The new CMM improves Ryobi's ability to troubleshoot product design inaccuracies early in the development stage. "If we have a failure in a prototype part design, we can conduct CAD comparisons to see exactly where the problem lies--saving time and money," says Clark. "Previously, we would go a step beyond prototyping and develop a pilot part before we could test it."
The process to determine unknown geometries used to occupy an engineer for as long as eight hours. Reverse engineering utilizing the new CMM has reduced data capture to 90 minutes.
Programming the Eclipse to conduct automatic inspections also reduces overall measurement time. "It takes about 45 minutes to create an inspection program for a new part," reports Clark. "First article inspection of successive part runs using the 'Auto Repeat' software function requires just two minutes. In addition, the reverse engineering inspection process eliminates programming time because the CMM automatically recognizes previously run parts."
The Eclipse also has helped Ryobi improve measurement procedures where pins, calipers and micrometers are still involved with in-process inspections. Because the CMM has reduced prototype and first-article inspection time, operators can use the CMM to check parts during production overflow periods.
Ryobi's power tool performance and reliability also get a boost from the new CMM's higher accuracy range. Eclipse accuracy allows inspectors who previously searched for 0.0003" tolerances on a sander frame to measure tolerances down to 0.00022".
Inspectors adapted quickly to applying the new CMM technology, adds Clark. The U-SOFT software makes operation intuitive. "The menu instructions guide operators through part inspections on a variety of geometrical features, such as radius, diameter, contour and size," he reports.
Improved CMM inspection technology is helping Ryobi maximize the role that design creativity can play in the engineering process. "The Eclipse broadens the technology base we can use to satisfy consumers who enjoy using power hand tools," concludes Clark.
Carl Zeiss Eclipse CMM
www.zeiss.com
Benefits
Increases overall inspection throughput
A larger measuring envelope
Reduces measurement time in automatic inspections
Measures tolerances to 0.00022" |
Navistar Achieves Real-Time Quality
Supplier Reduces Inspection Time
CMM Saws Off Inspection and Design Time