In basic geometry class, students are all taught the same rule: The most direct route between two points is a straight line. However, manufacturing engineers at Applica Inc. (Miami Lakes, FL) have discovered a different truth by applying cellular assembly cells.
When point A is a collection of unassembled parts and point B is a company's productivity and quality goals, the most direct path is a U-shaped curve.
The benefits of this theory have been tested repeatedly by Applica employees in China and Mexico who assemble a variety of household appliances, such as blenders, coffeemakers, irons and toaster ovens. In fact, the U-shape vs. straight-line theory has become the rule.
Since redesigning the Queretaro, Mexico, plant based on lean principles, total productivity has increased by 70 percent. Today, the factory produces 100 percent more products than it did in the mid-1990s. Quality, measured in defects per million opportunities, was more than 20,000 in 1994; today, it is less than 100. In 1994, the scrap rate was 4 percent; today, it is 0.4 percent.
This did not happen in a controlled environment. It would have been much easier if our product lines and customer demand had remained somewhat steady during the transition. But, Applica's former parent company shut down plants in North Carolina and Malaysia, and transferred half of that business to Mexico.
The inventory, machines and new product expectations landed in our 200,000-square-foot plant in 1998. Without cellular manufacturing, we would have been in serious trouble. But, our engineering team completely integrated the new operations within months.
Old Assembly Process
Steam irons are the main product assembled at the Queretaro plant. In the past, the shop floor …
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