The manufacturer finished internal bores of new components using older dual-spindle, index table honing machines. However, because the specifications of these new components called for higher accuracy than those of other components, execution of squareness on the older honing machines was inconsistent, and yield suffered. It was also necessary to center two jigs when changing the set-up, but the process was heavily reliant on the intuition and skill of experienced operators, and was therefore difficult to pass on to more junior operators making it hard for those junior operators to acquire these skills.
An employee from the production engineering division looked back on the troubles at the time as follows:
“The existing setup had reached its limits in terms of production capacity, but we had to do everything we could to prevent further yield declines. At the same time, those on the factory were going flat out trying to produce and ship components in sufficient quantities, so experienced operators did not have as much time to pass on their skills as we had hoped.”
The employee, along with all the rest of the production engineering team, discussed how the production arrangements could be improved. However, as time passed, the team failed to come up with an appropriate solution. The employee began to get anxious.
