PBN MANUFACTURING AWARDS 2020 | Lean Manufacturing: Hitachi Cable America Inc.-High Performance Medical Solutions Division
CHANGE IS RARELY EASY. But less than a year after switching to lean manufacturing materials, Hopkinton-based Hitachi Cable America Inc. – High Performance Medical Solutions Division has seen quantifiable returns.
“It’s the way of the modern manufacturing world,” said John Carson, Hitachi’s lean manufacturing coordinator.
With Hitachi acquiring the former HTP Meds LLC operation in 2017, the influence of Japanese manufacturing and the lean principles of streamlining and eliminating waste were bound to come into play. Hitachi implemented lean last March, and productivity increased immensely for the company that employs close to 200 people and manufactures complex medical tubing and cables in both Rhode Island and Stonington, Conn.
“Once we … were seeing actual monetary value added and we started getting good feedback from the other divisions, we knew we were on our way,” Carson said.
Hitachi hired a lean consultant to lead the transition. There was a learning curve, Carson said, and some hesitation from employees who had spent years implementing a variety of trial programs. Still, most teams at Hitachi were progressive-minded and the lean process gained momentum.
The Kaizen team, which finds and solves problems that may occur on the production floor by working closely with those employees, saved $263,955 within this past year.
“The lean program seems to force better communication in the company between all levels,” said Darren Whelan, the director of facilities and continuous improvement at Hitachi. “Poor communication was a frequent complaint in the past, but it is getting much better as we implemented lean programs.”
For example, upper management walks the production lab each day in a “Gemba walk” so they have a clear understanding of the value stream on the floor. This eliminated a barrier between employees on shift and employees in offices or within upper management.
“All of a sudden we started communicating better, we inadvertently solved some flow issues and everybody being in unison is a big improvement,” Carson said.
Along with Kaizen and Gemba, Hitachi’s lean program has five other categories – 6S, Production White Boards, SWISS, Kanban and KPI – and each category has an assigned team.
The Kaizen team looks at finding problems and solutions for productivity and waste, while the 6S team focuses on organizing all spaces in the company. The Production White Board team creates a schedule that is updated throughout the day to show the current stage of a job.
“These boards allow everyone on the floor to communicate without having to hunt people down for updates,” Carson said. “It is effective and convenient.”
The SWISS team oversees standardized work, or, as Hitachi calls it, the “Play by Play.” This group looks at breaking down instructions to all the machines and procedures to make them easily readable and understandable.
The Kanban team is in charge of inventory and making sure there is just enough product, but not too much. This keeps the area organized and assures everyone will have the items they need to successfully do their job.
KPI stands for key performance indicators. The KPI team keeps everyone in the company updated on all aspects via white boards that display quality reports, scrap rate, profit and waste management.
According to company executives, lean effectively brought all different levels of Hitachi together, created higher productivity, saved the company money and organized the company’s assets and processes.
“Overall, our lean program has created a more productive and friendly working environment that has had a positive influence on our company’s profit,” Carson said.
Whelan is encouraging other manufacturers to look into lean.
“The first step is to get involved with support groups such as [Greater Boston Manufacturing Partnership], [Rhode Island Manufacturers Association] and Polaris [MEP]. Don’t try to do it on your own,” he said.
COVID-19 UPDATE
Hitachi Cable America Inc. – High Performance Medical Solutions Division may have taken a hit in international imports, but most products continued production, with some tubing and cables even used for COVID-19-related necessities.
Throughout the spring, over 50% of the workforce kept working, under new precautionary measures. Those with child care needs and medical issues remained at home on unemployment. As of mid-May, all workers were being asked to report back in stages. Being a medical manufacturer, many of the safety and sanitary procedures expected for reopening are already in place.
“We haven’t missed too much of a beat in our main product line,” said John Carson, Hitachi’s lean manufacturing coordinator. “There have been some negatives but we are still pushing product out the door, so that’s a good thing.”
