While I was running my manufacturing line, I was having problems in one area of my process. The containers had a clamp that would hold the different sizes of bags. The clamps were flawed. They often wouldn't hold the bag with enough pressure and the product would spill onto the floor. This caused a great deal of waste and hours of time. I would have to pay my employees to clean the floors and then we would start the process over again. The clamps failed and would not hold the bag firmly enough during the fill. I needed this desperately because my product was in the form of a hot liquid. This was a safety issue as well.
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| Their design. Courtesy of Zeroclamps.com |
One morning while working out, I noticed the clamp device that held the weights on the bar would be a perfect match if only it were much larger. I took it to a friend who owns a machine shop and for two dollars he made me one. I took it back to the line and slipped it onto the area that held the bag. The tension had to be adjusted slightly but it fit and worked perfectly. It still had some problems though. I found that the clamp need to curve outward to allow the worker more of a good grip while using. I tailored it to my needs and that two dollar part put an end to my headaches. I had wasted at least $45,000 in time, money, and training.
In the end, I looked back and thought how many other two dollar fixes are currently on my line? How many are on yours as well? Take a look at your process. See if you can reinvent or fix a problem in the simplest way. Below I have provided a couple of pictures of the before and after. The employees could operate my version so fast it looked like a Kung-Fu move when they swapped the bags out. The clamp had been extremely slow and cumbersome. Look around your processes and find the answers. This takes time and you will need to sleep on it. You can't change the world overnight. Takes planning and strategy. Have you ever created such a simple design that has saved you money as well? Leave a comment below. I would love to hear about it.
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My design. The trick is in
the tension. |
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