Endress+Hauser
Greenwood, Indiana
Endress+Hauser is a global leader in measurement instrumentation, services and solutions for industrial process engineering. The company provides process solutions for flow, level, pressure, analytics, temperature, recording and digital communications, optimizing processes in terms of economic efficiency, safety and environmental impact.
Situation:
The Endress+Hauser Flowtec Division recently completed a $20 million production and calibration facility in Greenwood, Ind. To improve and formalize training efforts at the new facility, Endress+Hauser tapped Purdue and its Manufacturing Extension Partnership.
Solution:
The goal: Implement Lean Manufacturing principles at Endress+Hauser as the next logical step in its continuous improvement process. Purdue experts spent a few days each week over a 10-month period coaching all Endress+Hauser employees and supervisors on ways to improve and refine production and distribution operations.
Results:
Employees received a total of 3,200 training hours through the program. The results have been immediate and significant:
- As part of a final assembly redesign project, areas of workflow, batch reduction implementation and station layout were reexamined. Result: The team experienced a 48 percent reduction in processing time.
- A 5S evaluation of a Coriolis workstation revealed significant operator travel time was required for single-unit production. By targeting the areas of point-of-use storage (POUS) and process layout, the unit saw a 70 percent drop in operator movements and a 24 percent reduction in unit cycle time. Result: 1,200 more meters are produced annually.
- Overall production output has increased 20 percent across the facility without boosting employment, while keeping quality and delivery performance at their highest levels.
- Employees have made more than 400 continuous improvement and Lean Manufacturing suggestions — known as “events.” These have directly benefited the bottom line and include improvements in workplace layout and safety, just to name a few.
