Controls News 13
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Main theme: Lean automation |
Processes
Standardize – Optimize – Adapt
The first step towards a lean automation process is
to have an optimization phase as a normal compo-
nent of a project. The operators of a facility do not
end up at handover with something «ready-cast in
concrete», but rather with something that contains
errors and is malleable.
The next mental step is to adjust to permanent adapt-
ability. Nothing is set in stone, and everything must
be changeable at any time without major risks and
expenditure. In order to guarantee a «good fit» and to
achieve the«perfect fit» at a reasonablecost, it is advis-
able to apply another key lean concept in automation.
Added value margins – stable and integral
With lean, the optimization range is always the whole
supply chain from the added value of the supplier to
that of the customer. Individual optimization of a
single component of added value has simply proved
to be suboptimal or unstable. This realisation has
spread from Japan – the birthplace of lean – to the
rest of the world. With its blend of the highest quality
at low prices, Toyota has pushed the whole automo-
bile industry towards lean and put an end to oppor-
tunistic changes of supplier.
Only a comprehensive approach can bring significant and lasting efficiency gains.
In the green phase, the facility is operated with a conscious intention to learn and correct.
Operating phase with a green framework: Adaptations for the «Perfect Fit»,
regardless of what happens next – throughout the whole life cycle.
The basis for this must be laid down during planning and handover.
An example for the route to the «Perfect Fit» is
the technical equipment of the «Holiday Inn»
conference centre in the Westside Centre Bern.
In the first phase following handover, the entire
display screen had to be altered and remounted,
because it often broke down due to overheating.
For wall mounting, the insulation of the wall was
probably too thick. Reliability was improved in the
six months following handover Technically, only
the «good fit» level was achieved. It worked. The
operator now had a technically functional system.
However, he had suffered a lot of stress and high
staff costs with the «standard off-the-shelf» control
panels in the 13 conference rooms. It was clear that
conference room users simply could not cope with
the preset service menus.
Case
study
The optimization margin with lean.
With lean automation, the conference
centre «Perfect Fit» was achieved; every
browser and mobile device (here the
iPad) can be a control station. Every room
is illustrated precisely and shows every
user group only what they need. Watch the
video to see what the operator has to say:
web code en135a
Ms Yvonne Oberföll,
Director of the Conference
Centre at the Holiday Inn in
Westside, with «Basic Fit»
automation devices: Stand-
ard masks were unusable
without training.
Plan
Implement
Optimize
Operate
Plan
Implement
Operate
Optimize
The panels are designed for all kinds of room automa-
tion and offer every refinement. This option overload
and the fact that the picture did not show the actual
room led to users making mistakes and getting frus-
trated.
This is the opposite of lean automation – every user
trying desperately to master the abstraction and
complexity of the preset standard control panel. Lean
automation would make the panel a «Perfect Fit». It
shows the visible room and its equipment precisely. It
only offers functions you need as a conference speaker.
In the meantime the «Perfect Fit» was achieved. You
can read here what the director of the conference cen-
tre had to say about it, and how the step towards lean
was realized for the conference operations – detailed
description on page 88.
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