Major Dairy Realizes $509,000 in Savings from Uniloy Blowmold Kaizen

PROBLEM

• Client is currently purchasing 40% of half gal and gal jugs from outside blowmolders due to equipment reliability issues in 3 blowmolds. The weekly cost variants ranged from 20,000 to 25,000. The total cost savings opportunity to eliminate outside purchases was 509,000.
• Data collection on the blowmolds was inconsistent and no reliable information was available to manage performance.
• The 3 blowmolds undersupply the filler by 873 jugs per hour at the OEE rate of 82%
• The half gal blowmold has one head that is not operational due to mold reliability issues which equals a 12.5% OEE loss.

APPROACH

Operators begin collecting data on the blowmold in the following areas:

• No of bottles produced per day/ hour
• Delay times and types
• Pounds of scrap and regrind

Identified top 3 downtime reasons

• Cooling bed lubrication
• Dirty and cracked molds
• Lack of operator trouble-shooting skills, including incorrect weight adjustments and Parison adjustments.

SOLUTION

• Wrote detailed trouble-shooting guide.
• Wrote detailed lubrication procedure.
• Implemented Standard Work for Leaders Board.
• Implemented visual management.
• Posted one point lessons for lubrication and adjustments.
• Built shadow boards for tools and cleaning supplies.
• Wrote standard work for operators and posted it on boards.
• Implemented visual workplace for lubrication points, weight adjustments, and mold and mandrel cleaning.
• Trained all three shifts of operators and mechanics in all tools and procedures.