With fabrication shops working on tighter margins than
ever before, many shop managers and owners are eliminating unnecessary cost by
increasing efficiency. Recently, I conducted a roundtable on increasing shop
efficiency with members of the Stone Fabricators Alliance (SFA), which can be
found on page 62 of this issue.
The participants in this discussion were very thorough in their responses, and
they outlined some easy-to-implement procedures that apply to large-scale
production facilities as well as smaller fabrication shops.
Virtually all of the fabricators who participated in the forum said that
focusing on basic material staging was an immense help in increasing shop
efficiency. And although this may seem to be a fundamental part of shop
procedures, it can often be overlooked when things get busy or a shop
owner/manager is being pulled in another direction - as is often the
case.
Among the steps being taken by today’s fabrication shops to increase
efficiency, I noted a couple of common threads. The first of these is material
staging. Although it seems basic, I can tell you from experience that many
stone fabrication shops have not been able to make material staging an integral
part of their operation. “Staging materials in front of the saw can be a huge
way to improve the efficiency of the sawing process,” explained Matt Lansing of
Stone Innovations in Plover, WI. “Take the jobs for the day that need to be
cut, and stack the slabs in reverse order on an A-frame next to the saw. When
the sawyer finishes a slab, he can grab the next one and keep moving throughout
the day. Spending 10 minutes to go around the yard looking for the slab adds up
very fast.”
This thought was echoed by Eric Pate, Technical Director/Sales for Continental
Diamond Products, Inc. “Matt’s saw-staging suggestion is the best thing we did
while at my previous shop. This saves so much time - not only in going back and
forth pulling the slabs individually from outside or from a warehouse - but
also in terms of paperwork. Any issues can be caught immediately during that
phase for all jobs, instead of running back and forth for each job that might
raise a question. All materials can be reviewed to the saw operator as they are
being pulled. Even though we would have what we thought were great notes for
the saw man, he may have had his own interpretation or even find issues we
missed. This led to job staging and the review process going hand-in-hand in
the mornings.”
Again, although it seems fundamental, the basic gist is to ensure that
employees are spending most of their cutting and polishing stone as opposed to
walking around the shop. “All the material, not just slabs, needs to be in
spots that make sense for the shop,” said Joe Durfee, Production Manager of
Great Lakes Granite & Marble in Redford,
MI. “Why take 10 steps to get material when five steps will do? By having
everything close to the machines, you will save a few steps - and seconds - for
each job. It may not seem like much, but all those seconds are pennies that add
up at the end of the year. Efficiency comes down to making more
money.”
Another fundamental of shop efficiency is maintaining the proper material flow.
However, as shops expand and add equipment, this is often disrupted to the
point where efficiency is compromised. “Our production is completely linear,”
explained Miles Crowe of Crowe Custom Countertops in Atlanta, GA.
Although their shop has made a number of technology investments over the years,
it has continuously maintained this approach, and when Crowe moved into a new
facility earlier this year, he was able to ensure that material flow would be
maximized. “Material comes in through one end of the shop and finished product
goes out the other end,” he said. "Material handling has to be kept to a
minimum. Work only flows in one direction. Slabs are staged for cutting and
then go to the SawJet. From there, pieces go onto the CNC router and then on to
finish polish by hand. Nothing is allowed to go backwards.”
The concepts I mention above are only two of the many points that were
discussed to increase shop efficiency. At a time when every business is looking
for an edge, it may prove invaluable to take a moment and examine the other
insights that were shared in the full roundtable discussion on page 62.
Increased shop efficiency = increased profits
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