Creating a data-driven, fix-to-root-cause culture

Technology Category

Analytics & Modeling - Predictive Analytics
Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Data Exchange & Integration
Functional Applications - Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES)

Applicable Industries

Consumer Goods
Electronics

Applicable Functions

Process Manufacturing
Quality Assurance

Use Cases

Machine Condition Monitoring
Predictive Maintenance
Process Control & Optimization

Services

Software Design & Engineering Services
System Integration

The Challenge

Although the company had made major improvements to production throughput and first pass yield, they had reached a plateau and wanted to push through to the next level. To achieve this they needed better knowledge management, especially of repair data, in real time. Critical production repair data was being collected in a variety of ways in a host of different data systems. No standard processes were in place that prescribed or enforced what to do with data. Time to capture data was too high, and the data that was captured was not used effectively because it was not timely or accessible. The leadership team wanted to establish a company-wide, user-friendly database that would further their company's evolution into a data-driven, fix-to-root-cause culture. They knew they would have to refine and improve defect categorization, and define processes to enforce the use of data to investigate, resolve to root cause, and monitor quality.

About The Customer

Hertzler Systems has been a leader in Statistical Process Control, SPC Software and Six Sigma for over twenty-five years. They provide the leading real-time data acquisition and analytics SPC software, the GainSeeker Suite. Hertzler Systems serves a diverse customer base, including BAE Systems, Crown Audio, McCormick & Company, Inc., Hormel Foods Corporation, Snyders of Hanover, Titleist & Footjoy, IDEX Corporation, and TaylorMade-Adidas Golf Worldwide. Their software and services enable clients to connect, collect, analyze, and visualize data, building a data infrastructure for making data-driven decisions. These capabilities help clients improve throughput and yield, improve cycle times, reduce costs and errors, and increase profitability.

The Solution

Hertzler Systems worked in concert with the customer's engineers to build a comprehensive, integrated data collection system that captures repair data from any one of eleven processes in real time. Once captured, all data resides in GainSeeker Suite in a single, central data repository. There it is accessible to all staff for tracking defect levels (DPMO) over time and for automated drill-down Pareto analysis. This system allowed the company to make repair data more accessible, visible, and timely. By doing so, they were able to reach previously unimagined yield levels. The solution also included refining and improving defect categorization and defining processes to enforce the use of data to investigate, resolve to root cause, and monitor quality.

Operational Impact

The initial investment was recouped in less than three months, with a ROI after seven months of 171%.
Only a small portion (2%) of the return came from reducing the cost of data collection.
Ninety-eight percent of the return came from increased throughput and improved first pass yield.

Quantitative Benefit