In today’s world of IoT, there is a tendency to look for high-tech solutions to eliminate equipment breakdowns and improve reliability. But, in many cases, simpler solutions could easily improve the causes of many equipment breakdowns – solutions that are simple, practical, economical, reliable, and sustainable.
One of the most powerful and effortless solutions is “equipment-related visuals.” Do you want to improve your KPIs by reducing your equipment-specific training time while also eliminating equipment operations and maintenance errors?
Your equipment will be easier to operate, maintain, inspect, troubleshoot and solve problems.
It is a reality practiced at a growing number of manufacturing locations. Some OEMs also address these improvements when they design and build new equipment and machinery.
In our next example, a simple modification of the fixed guard will reduce inspection time to seconds instead of minutes or sometimes hours. A member of the autonomous team can do this inspection while the equipment is running; very little training is required. No need to stop the equipment, plan for CIP or other activities required after maintenance or PMs and even reduce the time for a maintenance team member to check the rotation of the motor after replacement.
Visual management requires that we think hard about simplification.
4M Analysis Process
The purpose of this procedure is to define the steps to do a 4M …
