Question

Critically analyze the scope and impact of process improvement and assess whether you have a readiness for developing business development through continuous process improvement. Any specific examples of prior personal or professional experiences?

Answer 1

I have considered a lean six sigma process improvement project, Project is divided into two parts: Analysis of the scope and impact of process improvement project Assessment whether we have readiness for developing business development through continuous process improvement project

Analysis of the scope and impact of process improvement project

COMPANY’S PROFILE: Sunlight is an inverter manufacturing company. It assembles inverters for domestic and industrial use. It has one assembly line to produce an average of 2500 inverters per day with the maximum capacity of 4000. All the components are mounted on the PCB and soldered using an automatic wave- type of soldering machine before inspection. PROBLEM: The company is facing problems in soldering. The machine causes large number of soldering defects of the order of 640100 PPM in an year. This kind of magnitude of the problem requires five inspection stages post - auto soldering. After the inverter PCBs are passed through the Auto Soldering Machine (SMC), there are 3 operators for retouching the solder joints. Then there is an In- circuit tester to test for all electrical defects including solder joints. The PCB is then passed through Chassis inspection stage and finally through the assembled inverter inspection stage. After using various tools and inviting views from all the team members, following were the expected problem areas: Machine parameters Machine maintenance Raw material quality Auto Insertion clinching Skill PCB Design Air pressure Soldering iron Gap between joints Cooling time Cut &Clinch machine Wave angle Wave height Solderability Conveyor angle Early removal of PCB The high defect rate causes lots of unnecessary expenses to the organization. One of the Green Belts was asked to take up a project to reduce the defects by at least 60%. He was given a time frame of 6 months to prove himself.

Defect ppm is given for all repair stages of SMC output: Defect Data was collected for individual Retouch (main + retouch operators from ICl stage ICT SMC outputsubassy) BA process Main Li repair FIELD e pair repair TOTAL DEFEC IS AT ICT STAGE (QTY.) DEFECT S OF KAVITA DEFECTS! OF KIRAN DEFECTS OF ANSHUIQTY) INSPECTION STAGE DEFECT PPM SUB ASSY (RETOUCH) MAIN RETOUCH ICT PBA PROCESS MAIN LINE FIELD TOTAL ppm Field showed all DRY 159 79 26 54 470000 537454 joints whereas in A questionnaire wasOperators/ technicians judged-14 57process, the breakup 1147 1421 67%, Dry 30%, 8642 Dewetting 2% and rest was like this- Shorting ive to all soldering Questions asked-12 operators and technicians and the result No. of persons passed 3 was Minimum to qualify= 50% (1 operator +2 technicians) 10219591 of the Poor joints 1% The Green Belt is made available with defect data with change in clinching angle, clinching length air pressure, and LTH ratio for analysis of causes After project completion, following data was reported by him: AREA APRIL NOV Month Total DPU Sample Sample small angle 2995 3000 low air pressure 1522 1542 large angle 2990 3000 samplo moderate length 4504 45201|LTH=05mm small length 31753195 ||LTH-0.8㎜ AIN RETOUCH 537454 245161 ril 1021959 1023846 918530 735626 670627 SUB ASSY RETCUCH470000 02451 May FIELD CT PBA PROCESS VAIN LINE TOTAL ppm high air pressur 3175 3195 8642 3574 1147 142 1021959 4521 uly 1452 Agust 119 3126 September 544630 Oclober 449213 353610 3110 3126 25 November 353610

The Six Sigma project identified is “To reduce the soldering defects by 60%”

Project Scope and Goal statement: Problem Statement: High soldering defects in inverters resulting in poor quality and loss of productivity thus, Objective is to reduce the Defect rate by

60%, that is from 640100 ppm to 256040 ppm,

Impact with Business case and benefits:

Business case:

• Poor quality due to soldering defects
• Low Productivity due to production loss and repair of defectives

• Expenses incurred in servicing of failed sets and use of raw materials for soldering

Benefits:

Expected Tangible Benefits

• Expected COPQ Saving can be due to Reduction in resources cost for re- soldering- Solder wire, Soldering Iron, resource- holding cost, and man hours and Reduction in loss due to re- inspection and repair technician and rework operator cost, repair resources cost, cost of loss in production.

Other Benefits:

Less process defects

Less field fields

Better customer satisfaction

Reduction in cycle time

Increase in productivity

Reduction in WIP (work in progress)

To assess the readiness which will help to prepare correct response strategies for developing business development through continuous process improvement, first I have prepared SIPOC, and followed by Cause and effect diagram and FMEA,

nput utput Customer upplier rocesS Material Dept. -Semi finished Engineering defectivePCB Planning Maintenance Repair Tools Purchasing Facility Auto-insertion -Troubleshooting Repaired PCB DAYLIGHT Repair Report EYEOPENER Cut and Manual Ll -Operator Machine *Areas of concern -defective joints Repair Chassis Main Line Field

C&E DIAGRAM SOLDERING M/C CUT AND CLINCH/ AI PCB warpage Dross Dross remove PCB material Lack of awareness k not given of operator Excess flux-Spec. gravity out ve Paths Dry joint Improper wave height Maint. Person not avail-No schedule C&C cutter remains old Joint Less heat Uneven ends Cutter not smooth rheated join- Solder/ pre-heater temp tured joint Excess heat Reverse clinching Small angle Clinching Unreliable joints High dip time r cooling or heat dissipation Cleaning/ lubrication of tank/ guides Alignment with cooling convevor SOLDERING DEFECTS Large lead: hole dia upply u pad size large! small ead-to-hole ratio Clinching and flowering Rust Leakage emp and humidity Temp checked emp marked Design g storage Solderability Impurities Availability of time Negligence of poor joints Shorting beyond excess flux SMC performance unsatisfactory Iron Temp Temp not controlled Wrong bit Bit dirty- Bit r ts y- sponge not used Impurities Type Compatibility Visibility/ Light condition Training required Absenteeism Lack of Skill Manpower it condition k of skill Material -visibilit Solder SOLDERING IRON OTHERS RETOUCH

FMEA:

Potential Failure Potential 5 Pr ocess Function Potential Causes of Failure (KPIVs) Current Pr ocess Contrds Modes (pr ocess Failure EffectsE (KPOV s) Cutter condition NG Spares not avallablePreventive M/C repair when 1 AI Clinching Cinching length long Shorting Unawareness/ less skill & Feedabck to operator once in a while Shorting Cutter condition NG/ Spares not avallablePreventive maintenanace improper Clinching angle MAC repair when Dry/ Shorting ox idation Excessive handling High workmanship defects 4 Cutter condition NG/ Spares not avallablePreventive M/C repair when 2 C&C Clinching Cinching length long Shorting Unawareness/ less skill & Feedabck to operator once in a while Shorting Cutter condition NG/ Spares not avallablePreventive Clinching angle Dry/ Shorting MAC repair when Ex cessive handling unaware/ High workmanship 4

Potential Failure Potential Causes of Failure (KPIVs) Current Pr ocess Contrds Process Function No Modes (pr ocess Failure EffectsEs Low temp/ High wave height/ less gap bet ween the pads mproper comp. Orientation/m/e parameters daily Checking of soldering Soldering m/c Operation not proper 3 SOLDERING OF PCB Solder shorting 8 ters daily, 8 Maintenance improper preheating Air presure low/ zero, flux sp. Gravity low, excessivee 10 causing warpage, oxidation Checking of soldering Dry joint Dewetting m/c paramet Maintenance ters daily,9 Improper wave height/ wave angle, low high temp, ox idation, excessive dross, air Checking of soldering Poor joint I0 m/c parameters daily 10 700 Maintenance poor air flow Slippage of Lack of knowledge RET OUCH Operator less skilled 10 560 defects Lack of Insufficient/ poor monitoring of defects feeling Soldering Responsibility not delegated/ Lack of time Fee dabck to Operator512 once in a while defects Poor eyesight/ Less illumination Poor visibility Soldering defects6 10 300

Preparation of various Potential X, those need essential care for this continuous process improvement project

Machine parameters

Machine maintenance

Raw material quality

AI clinching

Skill

Air pressure

Soldering iron

Cooling time

Wave height

Impurities

Design

Further to implement the project and considering the project readiness, we need to consider Project budget, Resources and their ability, Time constraints, all these will be helpful for increasing probability of success towards continuous process improvement project,