GETTING LEAN:
In 2002, a multi-year investment in excess of $20 million was begun to convert the Florence factory from a traditional "push-type" operation, where scheduling is done from a sales forecast, to a "pull-type" philosophy, where machines are built to customer orders within short lead-times. The umbrella initiative is called Production on Demand (POD), and it effects three main areas of operation:

1. Systems integration that includes order processing, product design, MRP, scheduling, purchasing, and Point-of-Production (POP) information flow.
2. Investment in people skills to improve flexibility and utilization on the plant floor.
3. New manufacturing processes and work flow to reduce lead-time and costs.

Ben Schawe, Deputy Plant Manager and team leader for POD, refers to the change in manufacturing strategy as an "epochal shift" in the way Mazak does business. He is also proud to share the results of their efforts to date:

• Decreased open machine inventory
• Reduction of manufacturing delivery times from order to shipment
• Increased machine utilization and reduced cycle times
• Increased labor utilization
• Improved quality

The following are specific examples of the changes Mazak has implemented to drive lean thinking through its manufacturing operations, and at the same time, deliver higher-performance products at competitive prices.

Products designed for manufacturing:
A global design initiative was undertaken to optimize product designs to aid in the implementation of POD. This program resulted in the Nexus product line, introduced in 2003, consisting of CNC turning centers, multi-tasking centers, vertical, and horizontal machining centers. The initiative delivered on all of its goals, including:

• Global sourcing and manufacturing opportunities
• 20% fewer parts - leading to lower WIP
• Modular product concept - receptive to market changes and new assembly processes
• Common drill/tap/bore sizes and fasteners - lower tooling costs
• Reduced purchasing burden - modules versus parts
• Easier scheduling and response to customer orders
• More machine functionality / performance / accuracy

Mazak Cyber Factory Network:
A significant portion of Mazak's investment in lean production involved software development and electronic hardware to fully network sales administration, design and production engineering, the fabrication and paint shops, all machining functions, ASRS and inventory, plus our new assembly Point of Production (POP) system.

POP consists of a series of computer kiosks strategically placed at assembly work centers. Software applications distributed from an IBM backbone include:

• Solid modeling - direct access to product designs for clarity, plus reduction of new product launch times and real-time tracking of ECN's.
• Cyber Production Center (CPC) - Mazak-developed software for real time scheduling and allocation of factory resources - critical to an order-driven operation.
• Point of Production (POP) - makes all information available to plant-floor associates in real time to identify problems quickly, look ahead for setups and workload factors, and track orders at each stage of manufacture.

These powerful information tools have allowed assembly lead times to be reduced to two or three weeks, depending on the machine model, from one to two months. Machine tools are configured with the customers' specific option packages, tested and shipped complete.

Investments in people:
Modular, flexible machine designs require a flexible workforce as well. All Mazak associates received training in the Nexus modular assembly system, followed by a significant amount of cross training among operations including machining, assembly, test and inspection. This gives us a high degree of flexibility in assignments and allows associates to see and understand much more about the complete product manufacturing flow.

To leverage this education and comprehension, we formed Quality Control Teams under our ISO 9000: 2000 certification to help drive continuous improvements throughout our manufacturing operations.

Optimizing metal cutting processes:
Like our customers, we must always be aware of, and invest in, new manufacturing technologies as they become available. Our investment to date in machine tools under POD includes a new Integrex / Palletech® cell, and upgrading of our horizontal machining capabilities in two large Flexible Machining Systems (FMS). Both have demonstrated powerful results.

Integrex machines represent the full integration of machining centers and turning centers, allowing diverse families of parts to be machined in one setup. It's what we call done-in-one. We focused Integrex technology on a portion of our machining operations that manufactures over (80) distinct part numbers, including spindle shafts and chucks for the Nexus line of machine tools. Four Integrex 300 machines with 120-tool capacity, 12" chucks, and automatic chuck jaw changers are integrated with a 31-pallet cell that schedules each machine, and moves workpieces between machines, load/unload stations, and queue stations. Combining and optimizing processes has resulted in process time savings of 40% to 45%, and overall cycle time reductions of 50% to 55%.

Moreover, this 4-machine cell replaces eleven machine tools including three HMC's, two VMC's, two turning centers, four multitasking machines, and all of the tooling that went with them. In addition to cycle and lead-time reductions, we have freed up floor space to allow for future capacity expansion with no new brick and mortar.

As we evaluated our horizontal machining capacity, we found that a total re-processing of the parts was not necessary. Mazak's HMC technology has dramatically improved the speeds, feeds, horsepower and accuracy over the years since our FMS was installed. By optimizing our part programs to take advantage of these improvements, we could significantly improve cycle times, manufacturing capacity, and re-use all of the original palletized automation that has served us so well. We also upgraded our central tool storage / qualification area, which automatically replaces cutting tools in all of our HMC tool magazines.

In our small / medium parts cell, three FH-6800 HMC's replaced six earlier models, a gain of 50% in productivity. Of course, space remains available to install three more FH-6800's, giving us the possibility of doubling our output from the same square footage.

Our large part FMS, with size capacity up to a three-foot cube, was reconfigured from eight HMC's to four of our new FH-8800 models. The results were the same, 50% improvement in productivity with expansion options to double output. In the past, expansion of production in Kentucky meant moving out the walls. But now, advances in machine tool technology lets us work faster, with less manpower, in less space, so any increases in our plant size will be a long time coming.

Future investments:
Mazak's continuous improvement philosophy and investment will continue for years to come. Included in our planning are larger-size Integrex e-1060V and Integrex e-500H multi-tasking centers, super-accurate µ8800 HMC's with jig-borer accuracy, five-axis Variaxis 730-5X machines with robotic material handling, and more.

We'd be proud to show you our factory. QTN turning centers and multi-tasking machines, and VCN vertical machining centers are manufactured here for our U. S. customers, and exported to Canada, Mexico, even Japan. Just contact your Mazak sales representative to set up a visit and plant tour. Or, return here regularly as we post the latest updates in our lean strategy.