Contents: Guilin Fuda is a high-tech enterprise that specializes in production and sales of the crankshafts for engines. It is a major supplier of Yuchai Machinery Co., Ltd. Under the Yuchais appeal of strengthening the competitiveness of the supply chain, Guilin Fuda undertakes the Lean Improvement Project of reducing the unqualified rate of crankshafts produced by Guilin Fuda. Guilin Fuda creates the atmosphere of lean production by undertaking the projects to facilitate the whole staff of the Company to study the thought of lean production. From clapping the head (acting on impulse)to speaking based on data, from purchasing high-end equipment to self-produced measuring and inspection fixtures, from trolley conveying to anti-collision guide rail design The efforts and footprints of Fuda people are engraved everywhere in the way to lean production.

Engaging in lean production, there are two situations, namely: did it and did well. Though the two phrases are different only in one character, their meanings are utterly different. Whether the lean project is completed properly or not, it mainly depends on the fact that whether that subject company did it carelessly, or did well through careful efforts. As the pilot enterprise of Suppliers Collaborated Improvement Project of Yuchai Group in 2013, Guilin Fuda Crankshaft Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Guilin Fuda) takes did well as its work objective and treats lean concept as the guidance that runs through the entire production activities.

Good news at the very beginning: The unqualified rate of crankshafts is reduced by 54%

Guilin Fuda is a high-tech enterprise that specializes in production and sales of crankshafts for engines. It mainly supplies the crankshafts to Yuchai. It is the excellent core supplier of Yuchai Group Co., Ltd.

In the production workshop of Guilin Fuda, the journalist found an interesting thing: the Station Master of the Final Inspection Station, Lu Jiejun, who was inspecting the axial length of the G2500 crankshaft, was not using the ordinary vernier caliper as usual. Instead, he was using another inspection fixture.

According to the introduction by Lu Jiejun, the journalist learns that the said inspection fixture is the specialized inspection fixture for axial measurement that is independently designed and manufactured by the Project Group since the commencement of the lean project. The inspection fixture is composed of dial indicator, measurement support, measuring rod, probe, etc. After finishing the calibration on calibration shaft before inspection, it is required to carry out an inspection to the corresponding part of the crankshaft. Whether the crankshaft is qualified or not can be determined by observing whether the pointer of the dial indicator stays between the upper and lower tolerance lines during the inspection. It takes less than 1 minute for finishing the inspection of all axial lengths of one piece of crankshaft. Thus, the problem of inaccurate measurement by using vernier caliper and time & labor-consuming and failure to realize online measurement by using height gage are solved.

In the March of this year, Yuchai Group Co., Ltd. began to implement the Suppliers Collaborated Improvement Project and expanded the lean thinking to the suppliers, so as to strengthen the competitiveness of Yuchai and the suppliers from the perspective of supply chain. Through the statistical analysis of the quality data for 2012, Guilin Fuda decided on the lean improvement project of reducing the unqualified rate of crankshafts of Guilin Fuda and strove to facilitate the whole staff of the Company to study the thought of lean production by undertaking projects, so as to guarantee that the products produced can satisfy the requirements of the customers. While the aforesaid specialized inspection fixture for axial measurements is the specialized inspection fixture independently designed by Guilin Fuda during the groping of the mode of lean production. It enhances the accuracy of axial length inspection, realizes online measurement and saves directly RMB 773,200 for the Company for purchasing specialized inspection fixtures from the other manufacturers. More importantly, it allows Guilin Fuda the first chance of enjoying the benefits brought about by lean production. Besides, Guilin Fuda also adopts such advanced equipment as Landis grinding machine, American MP balancer, ADCOLD testing equipment, etc. to assist in implementing the lean improvement activity.

The quality inspector is using the self-produced measuring and inspection fixture to inspect the products

Later on, Guilin Fuda overcame the other key factors one by one: grouped marking, depth of tapped hole, quality of the crankshaft in oil pipeline, depth of pin hole, diameter of shaft journal, etc. During the whole project, 28 quick improvements altogether has been made, 14 standard documents have been formulated, an analysis has been conducted to the existing problem by utilizing several tools of the Six Sigma Tools. Besides, DOE test focusing on polishing and heat treatment of shaft journal has been carried out for several times to find out the optimal production combination between different factors, and remarkable effect has been observed. After the efforts over several months, the unqualified rate of crankshaft drops continuously in 6 months in succession, falling from the 23.36% of April to the 10.70% of September, that is a decrease of 54%. All this announces the good news of lean improvement.

Xiao Jiancai, the General Manager of Guilin Fuda, was very confident of the lean project at the very beginning. He explicitly indicated that he highly advocated the lean project, he even advocate promoting the thought of lean production to each field and supplier of the Company, so as to enhance the production efficiency and product quality of the Company from an overall level, develop the capability quickly and strengthen its market competitiveness. Xiao Jiancai said, Guilin Fuda will follow the suit of Yuchai closely, strive to satisfy the requirements of Yuchai and cooperate with Yuchai to enter the list of international brands.

Deepened training: Paralleled progress of thinking and behavior

When we talk of undertaking lean project, Guilin Fuda does not do it for the first time. As early as 2011, the Company had already begun to introduce the mode of lean production. It completed 13 lean projects under the instruction of the consulting company. Of them, 90% reached the anticipated target, which accumulated experience for the present lean supply chain project. However, the result is, though the projects have been completed, the lean thinking is not yet enstilled into the awareness of the employees. Therefore, how to make all the employees that participate in lean improvement project to clearly know that they are engaging in the lean project rather than tedious and unnecessary things and how to synchoronize their thinking and behavior, at this very spot, appropriate trainings are quite neccesary.

The production workshop of Fuda

Having realized the importance of trainings, Guilin Fuda dispatches 4 specialists to participate in the lean training organized by Yuchai Group. During the training, none of the aforesaid 4 specialist are allowed to be replaced due to whatever reason, so as to guarantee that they can learn consistent and systemic knowledge. In the lean training of the Company involving 40 employees of all levels, lean dashboard is demonstrated in the workshop to publicize lean knowledge and let the employees fully understand lean knowledge and its results.

In this way, several months passed by, lean thinking took root in the minds of the employees and the managerial personnel gradually changed the habit of clapping their head (acting on impulse) and began to solve problems by based on data and fact. Frontline employees also applied lean thinking to their posts. It is learned, by the end of October of this year, big and small innovation projects of Guilin Fuda have already reached over 80. Compared with the 30 projects of last year, it doubles.

Walking in the production workshops of Guilin Fuda, it is not difficult for you to find the traces after lean improvement. Please look over there, the guide rail trolley transformed in different production lines for conveying the crankshafts, cut down the employees labor for loading and lifting the crankshafts. Besides, both ends of the trolley are reasonably designed. As a result, collision of the crankshafts is avoided and the waste of unqualified products is reduced. Furthermore, cooling water tank is added in the processes of milling of main shaft journal, milling of connecting rod journal, in this way, the axial length of crankshaft produced is steady and controllable. In the process of polishing, a magnetic separator is added based on the original filtering device to filter kerosene, so as to enhance the cleanliness and utilization rate of kerosene and prevent the crankshaft from being scraped during the process of polishing.

Now, the production site of the different workshop of Guilin Fuda is very clean. This mainly attributes to the decrease in the quantity of products produced. It is learned, the products of Guilin Fuda can be produced for about 20 days last year. At that time, the workshops were littered with products everywhere. After application of lean tools, the Company, according to the characteristics of each production line, calculate the turnaround time of each process, then make the corresponding adjustment to control the turnaround days of the products within 10~11 days and the production environment is also greatly changed. The Deputy General Management of Guilin Fuda, Li Hongkun said, the quantity of products in progress decreases, the labor for handling the products is sure to drop, this even helps the employees to distinguish products in process from reworked products or waste products and reduces the unnecessary waste in manufacturing, so as to enhance product quality, cut down the cost of products in process and make the capital of the Company utilized efficiently.

Gradual progress: a little spark may kindle a prairie

Generally speaking, when the project is voluntarily operated by the Company itself, without urge and supervision from the outside, the situation equals to that the project is operated without any pressure. As a result, its progress will be slow and its effect will also be bad. Therefore, with the spur of the lean supply chain project promoted by Yuchai Group, Guilin Fuda will run faster in the way to lean production.

In the blink of an eye, having just completed the project of Phase 1 and having not yet made the systemic summary, Guilin Fuda had already received a notice from the Procurement Department of Yuchai Group concerning submission of projects of Phase 2. So, they began the busy preparation for applying for the projects. The Vice Director of Quality Department and Group Leader of Lean Project Group of Guilin Fuda, Jiang Haiyan said, undertaking Lean Project following Yuchai, you are never allowed to slow down your pace.

After all, lean improvement is a process of gradual progress. Even you want to speed up, you can just make it within appropriate scope. The Assistant General Manager and consultant of Lean Project Group of Guilin Fuda, Qin Yuefang said with emotion, lean improvement is a process of gradual progress, engaging the project only for one year, there will be no difference; for two years, the effect will not be obvious. If you engage in it for three years, just like little spark kindling the entire prairie, it can lay solid foundation for Guilin Fuda to realize the objective of earning the profits of RMB 10 billion.

(Chen Xiaoxiao, Yang Mingze)