When machining for automotive, pennies and seconds count

Moving from a job shop to an automotive manufacturing company presented several challenges to my machining skills. The constant pressure to reduce costs, the almost maddening pace, the volume of parts and the relentless drive to eliminate downtime can overwhelm someone unaccustomed to the industry.

At the job shop, we had an “If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it” attitude toward improvements. We would live with inefficiencies if a machining process delivered good parts in a reasonable amount of time. Shop improvements were measured in hours and dollars.

Automotive manufacturing improvements are measured in seconds and pennies. We would spend hours on a project to reduce a cycle time by one or two seconds, and then we would celebrate as if we had achieved perpetual motion. Automotive processes are well tuned, so incremental improvements are typically all that are possible.

Therefore, success required developing a completely different approach to machining, as well as understanding that accomplishments would differ from those at the job shop. I learned several important lessons that have served me well as I’ve transitioned to other industries.

Automotive manufacturing improvements are measured in seconds and pennies.

Machinist Intervention

Human intervention in the machining process is the gateway to most quality and safety issues. Building robust, capable operations that require little intervention from machinists is the first step to becoming efficient. Unfortunately, there is no silver bullet to eliminate the things that call for a machinist to interact with the process. Machinists must change tools, load parts, measure dimensions and make adjustments, but careful observations and projects that minimize these activities pay off in improved efficiency.

Too Fast