Bottlenecks in Machine Building & How Best to Manage Parts Lists 3

[Finglas]

I work with a company that builds machinery. Only with them about 3 months. Noticed some bottle necks in the assembly stage where I'm based. Majority of our tooling parts are done inhouse and we do a pre-assembly of stations (sub-assemblies) to check fits/identify errors etc. Problem is that once that's done we send out parts for anodising. Gathering them all up again is a nightmare as stuff seems to grow legs after being handled by different people. Takes about a week for parts to come back. Anyone got any advice/experience in how they manage this specifically in speeding up this process (tooling parts made - pre-assembled - anodised - final assembly)?

Also, I work with parts lists in Excel which have been imported from SolidWorks. Managing them can be cumbersome in terms of sharing info. I would like things to be more transparent to all involved in terms of what we have received and what's outstanding. Have a good system in place but it has lots of room for improvement. One idea of mine is to highlight parts in an eDrawing file. Everything that has been manufactured/bought in, mark in green. Everything else leave as is. Can't do this however in edrawings plus it's time consuming. Another idea is print off an exploded drawing and highlight parts received. Can't explode in eDrawing however and designer doesn't want extra work. Any advice on how to improve this?

 

[berkshire]

You need to go back to basics, either PERT, or CRITICAL PATH REVIEW. Identify the bottlenecks. You may have to resort to notepad and paper until you can see how the parts are/are not showing up on your spread sheets. I am presuming Solidworks is generating a bill of materials which is coming out as an Excel spreadsheet. Bag and tag your parts if you are not doing so, then follow the tags through the system . Good luck with this. It is after all basic quality assurance.
B.E.

You are judged not by what you know, but by what you can do.

 

[3DDave]

Make a calendar tags board. When the part goes out the tag goes on the board for the expected return of the item. I guess one that has business days for short term and another with months for longer term would be good. When an item returns, the tag goes on the part. Maybe color code the tags per supplier, if there aren't too many.

For physical parts I prefer physical tracking methods. Add a spreadsheet for a sanity check as tags are made and orders shipped and that should take most of the tracking errors.

The future could involve using qr-codes on the tags and just scanning the tags on the boards instead of reading them and including a matching sticker for the supplier to put on the finished parts or using a laser to cook the qr-code into the part.

 

[Finglas]

Thanks lads. I must confess I'm ignorant of these methods but they sound good. Will research. Thank you both.

 

[mfgenggear]

a good erp system will print the Christmas tree of the build, and print out the parts list for the ship sets required to build. even a simple ERP can do this. kit and keep track of the parts on a list.

 

[rb1957]

adopting a system/procedure is easy ...
your big problem is going to be getting people to use it ... always, without exception. There will be a lot of resistance at first, people will see it as getting in the way. Getting them to join in without using a big stick will be difficult, but if you convince the boss and if he leads by example then you've got a chance. Eventually people will see the sense of it.

another day in paradise, or is paradise one day closer ?

 

[drawoh]

Finglas,

I like pulling Excel parts lists out of SolidWorks. This gives me an external BOM keyed to the item numbers on the assembly. I would rather not have BOMs on the drawings. Our stuff is complicated, and the BOMs kind of take over the drawings.

A big advantage of Excel over any database is that you can easily customize the BOM. You can add a [tt]BACK FROM ANODIZE[/tt] column, for example. When I mess with Excel BOMs, the first thing I do is add a column called [tt]CLASS[/tt]. I use this column to classify everything so that I can sort it. I can separate the anodized parts, the machined parts, the assemblies with separate BOMs, fasteners, specific vendors, etc. I create separate spreadsheet pages for the grouped data.

If your BOM format is the same as your purchase requisition format, you can generate requisitions by copy and paste. If your company is about the implement MRP/ERP, make sure they follow your BOM format. If you have MRP/ERP, make sure your parts lists conform to their format. Even if they do not want to do it, you create the opportunity to copy and paste, and to simply transfer the data straight out of SolidWorks.

Definitely, you and your fellow designers will have to be disciplined about filling in the profile cards in your CAD[ ]models. Everyone must do it. Everyone must do it correctly. The standard excuse for accounting to manually enter data their way is that they don't trust you to do it properly.

--
JHG

 

[Finglas]

You hit the proverbial nail on the head there rb1957. Luckily the boss is the type of fella who listens and if an idea has the potential to help then it stands a good chance of being adopted.

 

[Finglas]

What are the benefits of MRP/ERP over Excel spreadsheets. Our designers at present generate the BOMs directly from Solidworks. Additional column are added. I'll post up a sample tomorrow.

 

[EdStainless]

You need a system beyond excel, otherwise how do you tie together and coordinate all of the excel sheets?
Without having all parts, complainants, and tasks listed you will not find out that one of the sub-assemblies that you need for the next to last step should actually have been the first thing started because of lead time on some internal parts.

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P.E. Metallurgy, Plymouth Tube

 

[rb1957]

with some thought I think you can get there in excel. Sure ERP will get you there quicker and with less thought, 'cause someone's already done it. And ERP will update and modify quicker (and more reliably) ... if a component processing changes.

Excel will be cheaper, but you'll have to do more work and headaches.
ERP will be more expensive, but should run much cleaner.

ERP should link well with your CAD and so prepare raw materials requirements
Excel may link to your CAD, less you have to enter the data.

ERP should present the story clearly, but maybe not exactly as you like it.
Excel can be tailored more easily to present the data the way you want to see it.

another day in paradise, or is paradise one day closer ?

 

[berkshire]

Ed,
Without having all parts, complainants, and tasks listed you will not find out that one of the sub-assemblies that you need for the next to last step should actually have been the first thing started because of lead time on some internal parts.

This is exactly why he needs to do PERT or CRITICAL PATH REVIEW .
B.E.

You are judged not by what you know, but by what you can do.

 

[EdStainless]

Yes Berk, I understood that, but I wasn't sure that OP did. You hit the nail on the head.

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P.E. Metallurgy, Plymouth Tube

 

[Finglas]

Here's an image of my column headings.

 

[KENAT]

How is the purchasing side of things handled?

Here if I had a bunch of related parts going out for the same secondary step I'd probably try to get them put on the same PO, with the same delivery date stated and then track that PO as needed.

There are subtle distinctions between a BOM and a drawing Parts list. There is another distinction still between these and the buy list. Seems like it's the latter you're struggling with.

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