The Sanda Plant is a PATLITE manufacturing plant located in Hyogo prefecture, Japan.
About 8,000 different part numbers are manufactured at this plant, totaling to an annual production of roughly 450,000 units.
340 different lot setups occur each day, and average 5.6 units per lot.
Simple visualization of worker's "at work area" and "not at work area" statuses.
Calculate the duration and number of times a worker leaves their work area.
Measure the effectiveness of changes made and maintain these positive outcomes.
Determine the next steps for further improvement.
Aimed for maximum improvement with minimum investment.
Expanded effective methods horizontally within our system.
This automatic system has saved us a great amount of time and labor that was previously used for data collection and analysis.
With IoT being such a vast concept, we were struggling to visualize how it can be used for improvement at our worksite.
We were collecting PLC data, but were not able to use the information effectively. Furthermore, we did not have a proper system to manage work processes of our employees.
After seeing how the WD System was used at the Sanda Plant, we immediately knew that this would be the perfect solution for our facility.
Although we knew where we needed to improve within our processes, we were hesitant to implement the changes due to the risks and costs.
When visiting the Sanda Plant, we learned that we need to start small instead of changing everything at once.
After our first visit to the Sanda Plant, we decided to implement the WD System at our own facility. Since then, we have seen drastic improvements in our work efficiency.
At our second visit to the plant, we noticed that additional Kaizen steps were being taken, and further improvements were made to their monitoring system. Their system which combines the WD Series and cameras is simple yet very effective.
The continued improvements to the monitoring system at the Sanda Plant was encouraging, and we would like to expand our use of the WD Series to our overseas facilities.