Lean Transformation in
Cable Manufacturing Industry

Situation – deep dive

ABC Ltd (name changed to protect confidentiality) is a leading manufacturer of electrical cables in the country. SSA supported the company’s drive for improvement in business profitability and processes that would bolster hard-cash savings. The approach covered the following areas:

• Material efficiency by systematic root-cause analysis and implementation of counter-measures.
• Efficiency in consumption of utilities by setting calculated targets for itself.
• Efficiency in consumption of spare parts and consumables by setting a benchmark, keeping in mind its sister companies.
• Establishing a system to capture the money lost through material, labour or other elements.
• Upgrading the existing systems to provide greater cost-benefit ratio.

Actions Taken – deep dive

The project was approached in five stages: RMAOR

• Recognize (R):
  In this phase, majority of the time was spent in finalizing the scope of the projects. With a scope clear in mind, the projects run smoothly with a clear agenda in mind.
• Measure (M):
  In this phase, the current health of the KPIs were measured, and the current health of the processes which are in scope of the project. Baseline capability of the processes were identified.
• Analyze (A):
  In this phase, the problems across the projects were analyzed and supported by statistics. Lean tools such as Fishbone Diagram were utilized and identification of flow detractors was undertaken.
• Optimize (O):
  With problems analysed statistically and targets in mind, brainstorming for solutions to optimize the KPIs was undertaken at this stage. Effort-benefit matrix for various solutions was used and the ideal solutions were agreed upon for full-scale implementation.
• Repeatability (R):
  Upon the implementation of the solutions, the solutions were monitored and the relevant KPIs were tracked for signs for improvement.

Results – deep dive

• SSA’s support to the team encouraged Lean thinking and improvement opportunities arose, which were handled by the team for approval and implementation.
• Drastic reduction was brought in the costs associated with the overall product cost, aiming to improve the company’s profitability.
• The costs of consumption of utilities and material ensued from the deliberate Lean approach of elimination of wasteful usage and activities at the shopfloor.