Like many others in the US manufacturing sector, the domestic textile industry has certainly faced their share of challenges. Amid manufacturing job losses and budget cuts, one bright experience sheds some light on improving competitiveness. Here, this textile success story is attributed to lean manufacturing.
Focus:
- Improve spinning yarn quality
Baseline Data:
- Current process is creating “clubs” in the yarn
- Lack of training and standard work procedures
Goal:
- Reduce textiles knit stop levels and fabric defect levels by 15%
Approach:
- 5 Day R.I. Event/ Basics of Lean/ Cause & Corrective Actin/ Fishbone
Solutions for delivering results:
- Created four fishbone diagrams on the top issues creation defects
- Developed standard work procedures for all operators/ technicians
- Established technician education sessions
Impact:
- Developed standard work procedures for Operators/technicians resulting in an annual savings of $113,288.00 knit stop level and $31,283 annual savings for the defect level.
