Lithium Ion Battery Recycler Case Study
Challenge
- Following an accelerated MOS implementation, mechanical compliance was high, but conceptual compliance was lacking
- The production manager position was utilized at one plant, but unfilled at another
- Supervisors saw themselves as operators more than members of the management team
- Gemba walks per leader standard work (LSW) were being completed regularly but not effectively
- Inventory accuracy at plant was under 80%
- Sense of urgency, particularly during downtime was lacking
- Maintenance in a run-to-failure mode
Solutions
- Management Operating System (MOS)
- Training & Development
- Short Interval Management
- Core Competency Assessments
- Root Cause Analysis
- Shop Floor Situational Coaching
- Visual Management
- Near-term Inventory Reconciliation
Approach
- Conducted daily directional setting (DDS) meetings with participation of entire management team
- DDS included a review of maintenance schedule for the day with a greater emphasis on preventive and predictive maintenance
- Developed core competency criteria in an offsite workshop with executive team and all plant managers
- Performed and reviewed core competency gap assessments, as well as an improvement plan with plant managers, production managers, and supervisors weekly
- Demonstrated on the floor situational coaching with all members of management team, with an emphasis on “professional supervision”
- Facilitated classroom sessions on proper systemic transfer of product, as well as on floor reconciliations of inventory at the end of each shift
Result
- Significant growth in core competencies of plant managers, production managers, and supervisors at all three plants
- Inventory accuracy improved to over 98%
- Amount of time devoted to daily reconciliation went from over two hours to approximately ten minutes
- Line availability increased from under 70% to over 85%
- Over 30% increase in volume of product processed per hour of runtime
”“My supervisors remind me that their assessments are due. They really see it as an investment in them.”
– Production Manager