6. Lean Finishing Cells
Speaker:  Kirk Shirar, Deimco

The panacea of many lean practitioners is one-piece flow, also known as single piece flow. This is the practice of moving one piece at a time through manufacturing operations. This is all well and good, but how does this apply to metal finishing? We will discuss "Lean Finishing Cell" design and how the system design begins with the formation of part families. We’ll discuss how part families are typically organized by the size of products – dimensions and weights. For example, a lean cell might be designed to finish a broad range of products for Company XYZ that fit within a 9” wide x 9” deep x 2’ high cube and weigh from a few ounces to ten pounds. The manual and automatic process finish steps are typically linked by a through-process continuous conveyor.  The many types of conveyance systems will be reviewed and we’ll discuss how large parts are handled as well.