The Scenario

• Toyota’s engine manufacturing plant opened on Deeside in September 1992 and has produced engines to supply Toyota’s UK and overseas car plants since.
• The plant operates the Toyota Production System (TPS) a world-renowned Lean Production System, fine-tuned over generations and in operation within Toyota Manufacturing UK for 30 years.
• The Deeside site operates capable but ageing equipment that requires increasing levels of maintenance and support and the plan is to operate much of it for a further 10 years, when internal combustion engine production is expected to end.
• Use of the TPS has driven the relentless elimination of waste through the continuous application of Lean. “Quick Wins” were delivered many years ago, so improvement opportunities are increasingly hard to identify, quantify and deliver.
• Iter Digital have assisted by digitising the Production Control Board (PCB) process, identifying gaps in Productivity and Operational Efficiency that impact Operational Ratio (OPR).

The Machining Production Control Board (PCB) Challenge

• The existing PCB process relied on Team Leaders manually capturing production output and lost time data by the hour during shifts using a paper and Microsoft Excel based process. This data was then consolidated by shift managers and transferred to Excel for upwards reporting.
• The pre-Iter Digital approach was:
  • Time-consuming to complete.
  • Focussed on capturing data (through the day but reporting on the previous day).
  • Unable to provide timely views of performance to management unless they physically visited the section or waited for reports the following day.
  • Unable to provide answers to key performance questions without time-consuming data preparation that limited its ability to drive Improvement.
  • Based upon the capture of “Top X” issues to limit reporting time preventing identification of small, repetitive but potentially significant issues.
  • Limited in its ability to provide historical performance reporting particularly down to the asset/machine level.
• Iter Digital/s PCB Challenge was therefore to:
  • Reduce the resource effort required to collect qualitative and quantitative data and report on hourly, shift and daily performance.
  • Improve management visibility of performance from all locations and increase the frequency of reporting.
  • Improve analysis and reporting to support the further focussed application of TPS by effectively “lowering the waterline” and providing immediate access to all captured data and information.
  • Provide greater visibility of previously hidden but significant issues.
  • Drive increased engagement in performance reporting and improvement.
  • Provide a platform which could be used across other manufacturing areas.

“The move from our traditional method of recording information to a new digital platform was made possible through great collaboration with Iter Digital. Their approach of encouraging small continuous improvements, rapid solutions, and genchi genbutsu (Go and see for yourself) within the plant has delivered a superb solution that has improved the productivity of Production, Maintenance and Engineering. All stakeholders would like to thank Iter Digital and I personally recommend them if you seek to improve your shopfloor operations.”

– Mark Davies TMUK-D Senior Manager Machining

How Iter Digital Addressed the PCB Challenge

Iter Digital:

• Recognised that the performance metrics and underlying management reporting process in use and refined over many years met the needs of the plant but the PCB process could be improved through digital enablement.
• Configured its Microsoft Power Platform based Apps and Dashboards to digitally enable the process and eliminate paper and Excel
• Presented these tools to users via Microsoft Teams to support hourly/shift and daily “Stand Up” meetings.
• Worked with Toyota Team/Shift and Section Leaders to refine their process and the configuration of Iter’s tools to maximise ease of use and Lean the Lean Process.
• Enabled data collection to occur “at source” and for data to be collected once and consumed multiple times.
• Worked incrementally, starting on one line and “getting it right” before deploying to the remaining five; training Toyota “Super Users” along the way.
• Moved to deploying their “Accountability” tool to support Toyota’s Kaizen activity.

The Benefits Toyota and Iter Digital Delivered

• Increased responsibility for and engagement in data collection, performance reporting, and improvement activities at all levels.
• Data is collected once and consumed multiple times as and when required.
• Data is validated on entry; errors are visible and prevented at the lowest levels
• All data collected (not just the “Top X”) is available for analysis; previously unnoticed issues identified and addressed.
• 2500 Excel spreadsheets eliminated per annum and a stage of reporting eliminated.
• Instantaneous historic reporting and data drill-down.
• Performance visibility at all locations both on and off-site.
• Discussion on performance is based more on Facts than Opinions.
• Time saved collecting data and running the process available for improvement
• Quick and easy implementation.
• Toyota are largely self-supporting, only needing Iter to help them address differing Lean challenges, and implement its other applications.

In Conclusion, Iter Digital met the challenge head on and the plan is to extend the scope of the solution’s operation.

“I have worked with Andy & Colin from Iter Digital from project planning, through to the implementation and roll out of the Digital PCB across 6 machining lines in Deeside.

The System has been a breath of fresh air, allowing us the visualise all our actual problems based on real data and not just perception. We no longer have to trawl through files of paperwork to build data histories for problems, the data is always there for us to use.

The Iter team have supported fully in designing and delivering a system that gives us what we need to visualise our real issues and then act to fix.”

– Steve Hunter, TMUK – D Machining Project Leader

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