MOOG Controls Corporation Team

Lean is at the heart of MOOG’s operating system, and developing a positive culture where employees work together towards common goals is at its core. Lean, in simple terms is the elimination of waste in the workplace. Waste can come in various forms. Waste can be defects in parts produced, overproduction, waiting time, non-utilized talents, unnecessary movements, excess inventory, unnecessary motions or even extra processes not required by our customer. SCRAP is a defect in part and one of the most wasteful expenses that a Manufacturing Company can have. In MOOG-Baguio, recycling scraps is not an option. Hence, when demand was low and business was slow because of the pandemic, a team coming from various disciplines decided to come together to find a way to help the company by reducing or eliminating scrap in its production. Hence, the SCRAP REDUCTION OF CLASS C PARTS, CA25734-001 and CA42408-001 was conceptualized.

Based on data from Week 38 FY2019 to Week 37 FY2020, these two parts produced scraps with a total value of USD 18,752.41 and USD 5,049.77, respectively. In terms of units, weekly scrappage was at 1,165 and 104 pieces annually. While these two parts are not the most expensive, they are high-volume parts and the constant scrappage has been sticking out in the expense reports of the Components Business Unit. The target of the team was to reduce scrap cost and quantity by 50% by Week 52 of FY2020.

Despite being on different work shifts, the team was able to complete a root cause analysis and able to identify several causes. These included: 1. Multiple machines running the same part allowing human intervention in the loading and unloading from one machine to another; 2. Tool life has not been established yet; 3. Process qualification is not in place; and 4. The machine-crew ratio is 1:3.

To address these issues, the following innovative ideas were the major contributors to making the project a success: 1. After a review of the capability of the existing machines, it was found that one of the current machines used in the area is capable of being programmed to do both turning and milling operations. With this, our Manufacturing Engineer worked to create programs to enable the parts to run in just one machine eliminating human factors in the process. 2. Tool life has been established. Tool life management has required that tools be changed as soon as the established life is reached regardless of its physical appearance. This process ensures tools are sharp and cutting is precise for quality results. 3. Established the clamping pressure of the sub-spindle to avoid deformation in the processed parts.

The results of the project were measured by Week 50 of FY2020. There was a marked reduction in scrapped parts by 98.78% for CA25734-001 and 63.63% for CA42408-001. In quantity, from 22.4 and 2 units respectively as weekly scrappage, this is now down to 0.3 and 0.77 units respectively. Annual Cost Avoidance for Scrap is computed and validated by the Finance Department at USD18,913.12 and USD13,432.19 or an aggregate of USD 32,345.31 or Php 1,769,288.45. At a time when morals were low, this was a real show of “malasakit” to the company.

For this to succeed, the K18 team that worked on this project is represented by three men. Teejay Generosa is the Technical Lead of the Manufacturing Engineering responsible for creating a new program for this process. Adjusting the program to match the requirements of the parts has been tedious and needed patience. Very close work with the operators working on the parts and for our Quality people measuring the results and sharing feedback back and forth towards the goal has been required. This was ably accomplished by Teejay. Teejay is a hands-on father with 3 toddlers to care for, he truly demonstrates work-life balance. Ensuring that he spends quality both at work and at home.

John Matthew Quedi is the Process Quality Engineer who ensured that the new process adhered to the requirements of quality, despite the changes in machine, process, and steps. His job included the creation of inspection plans, to make sure that each part is compliant with customer requirements. John is married and a devout practitioner of his faith. As a new father, he spends much of his free time taking care of his first baby. A very silent but responsive worker.

Representing all the Machinists who contributed to the success of this project is Rene Tupas. As one of the more tenured machinists, Rene was in charge of implementing the changes in the program into his machine. Relaying the results to Teejay. As the machinist, he was responsible for pre-setting tools needed, and set-up of machine fixtures. Prove-out programs and produce the first piece before manual inspection and then CMM inspection. Work with the Manufacturing Engineer to adjust parameters and produce good parts. Rene is usually a quiet person had to go out of his comfort zone in communicating his observations. As a single father, his vacations are properly planned to make sure that he spends long quality time with his four kids who stay in Negros Occidental with his parents. He is also a volunteer First Aid Responder for MOOG-Baguio.