Seagoe Technologies Limited
Company
Seagoe Technologies are part of the Glen Dimplex group and manufacture electric night storage heaters. They run 12 production lines producing components for 300 types of finished goods, in total they manufacture 600 components.
The Challenge
Seagoe wanted to reduce manufacturing costs by 30% by improving the workflow of components progressing through the factory.
Benefits
As part of their workflow improvement strategy Seagoe chose MXI to manage the customisation and implementation of the finite capacity scheduling software, Preactor 400. MXI and Preactor were chosen because of how it could be customised to each individual customer and it's demonstrated ability to meet our needs.
Results
1. Improved Workflows.
Seagoe has seen such improvement in workflows that they have started to apply the same principles to their paint shop
2. Maximised Throughput and Minimised Costs.
Scheduling in this fashion means it is much easier for Seagoe to determine start and finish times, account for labour fluctuations and process components together
3. More Stable and Predictable Manufacturing System.
"It is now much easier to determine start and finish times, account for labour fluctuations and process components together to maximise throughput and minimise cost, now that we use Preactor from MXI."
Alistair Finlay - Manufacturing Programme Manager
Seagoe can now see bottlenecks in advance and take corrective action.
4. Scheduling Time Greatly Reduced.
The time spent scheduling has been reduced and as a result our production supervisors spend more time on the shop floor supervising people, rather than in the office scheduling
5. Set Off of Incomplete Goods Significantly Reduced
By using the APS rule on Preactor Seagoe has been able to group together components that use the same tools, allowing them to be more efficient in machine set up times. The APS rule has been very important for Seagoe and without it they would not be as efficient.
6. Fact Based Decision Making
The fabrication information is electronically stored and managed in the system itself, with decisions being made based on fact not judgement.
7. Remove the constraints of complex routings and multiple set ups
Using MXI and Preactor we have been able to manage these constraints more effectively
8. Reduction of Set Up Times
Set up times have been reduced by over 60% without increasing batch sizes
9. Production Flexibility Increased
Our factory is now more flexible than previously
10. Improved Scenario Planning
We have a powerful tool now for analysing the impact of various scenarios such as break downs and potential changes to our master assembly schedule
MXI were able to customise the system to meet the specific needs of our complex processes and workflows, we are so happy with the results.
Alistair Finlay - Manufacturing Programme Manager