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Lentink: continuous improvement program

Displacement assembly displacement

Lentink strives to continuously improve its processes in order to be able to produce as optimally as possible. In the context of the Lean methodology, continuous improvement strives to improve every process in the company by focusing on improving the activities that generate the most value for our customer and at the same time removing as many waste activities as possible. Eliminating waste goes hand in hand with this.

Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA)
The Plan-Do-Check-Act model is the most popular approach to achieving continuous improvement.

Lentink has incorporated and implemented the continuous improvement program in its processes since 2006. From September 2018, this program has been included as a project department and two colleagues are busy daily with mapping, implementing and supervising potential improvement topics in our processes. D.m.v. recording the IST situation and then working out the SOLL situation, the actions and costs to be taken are worked out. After the presentation of the proposal, it is determined whether the improvement action can generate the intended "profit" within a certain time period. The result of this determines whether or not the improvement project / proposal can be implemented.

One of the last implemented improvements is the relocation of the assembly track and the shortening of the coating line. This has led to a reduction in the lead time of products and less work in process. This allows problems to be resolved earlier because they are discovered earlier. The new location of the assembly line is not just chosen. Due to the displacement, both the distance to the previous process and the distance to the next process are reduced. This greatly reduces forklift movements.

Another step has also been taken in the further spread of 5S at the new location, where all components have a fixed location and only the required components are present. This allows the available area of the new location to be used as efficiently as possible. Another improvement step is the optimization of the supply and removal of the assembly track.

This photo shows the current situation after optimization / improvement.

(Photo at the top of message; before optimization)