America's premier hand hardware manufacturer, Rogan Corporation, turned to a Lean Manufacturing initiative to increase productivity, reduce labor and free up floor space in their Northbrook, IL facility. Taking advantage of their buildings ceiling height, Rogan utilized five KardexRemstar ShuttleTM Vertical Lift Modules (VLMs) in three departments to regain 5,000 square feet of valuable floor space, increase productivity by 22%, and reduce inventory.
With over 4,000 customers, Rogan manufactures and distributes 13,000 different types of products. Utilizing a two-shot molding process to manufacture their soft grip, Pure TouchTM line of control and clamping hardware, Rogan Corporation provides OEMs with instrument knobs, clamping knobs and dials that can be found on various products such as valves, exercise machines, marine equipment, office furniture and sports equipment. Like most manufacturers, Rogan's market was quickly changing with some markets cooling off and others skyrocketing. To meet their evolving market?s demands, Rogan set out to review and improve their manufacturing process.
Three storage areas were targeted for improvement: First was a 1,000 square foot area of 6-foot high racks buffering mold bases. The second area was a 4,000 square foot footprint in the center of the plant supporting 25-foot high pallet rack containing semi-finished inventory and lastly, a 1,000 square foot area of 6-foot high shelving system storing sample stock.
The KardexRemstar Shuttle VLM met Rogan's long-term plan to utilize their Lean Manufacturing initiative to provide their customers with shorter lead times and an overall cost reduction while increasing their current manufacturing capacity. Replacing the pallet rack are two 21-foot high KardexRemstar Shuttle VLMs for mold bases, two additional Shuttle VLMs for the semi-finished inventory, and one more Shuttle VLM for sample parts.
"I'd say we've gained a net 5,000 square feet of floor space by going up" Rogan's plan manager Jim Ritzema, reported. "With the space freed up from the elimination of the pallet racking we were able to set-up manufacturing cells using both existing and new equipment. This has given us greater control over in process inspection and greater throughput without increased labor costs.
Mold Base Area
The plant's 150 mold bases, which are inserted into plastic injection molding machines, weigh up to 500 pounds apiece and are difficult to move and store.
Previously, molds not in use were stored in heavy-duty racks with steel diamond plate shelving that made it easier for workers to slide molds around. They were lifted on and off the shelves and moved to the assembly table with a powered-lift walker.
All mold bases are now assigned to two 21-foot tall KardexRemstar Shuttle VLMs, with two bases on each 1500-pound rated shelf," the Plant Manager reported. Assembly technicians store and retrieve bases by simply pushing a button KardexRemstar was the only VLM manufacturer that could accommodate the weight of the mold bases; each tray is able to hold up to 1,500 pounds, Ritzema stated. Combined, the two Shuttle VLMs contain 31,500 pounds of mold bases.
We realized that we needed an ergonomic solution so assemblers no longer had to slide the 500 to 600 mold bases around," Ritzema stated. "A counterbalanced pneumatic manipulator grips and lifts the bases and swings them between the Shuttles' extraction tables and the assembly table."
Space was at a premium in the mold assembly area; so the Shuttle VLMs were installed in the tooling room next to the molding room. Holes were cut in the wall to allow access to the Shuttle VLMs from the molding room without occupying any floor space within that area. Installing the units into the adjacent toolroom was possible because the toolroom was expanded after the semi-finished inventory's lift modules were installed.
Semi-Finished Inventory
Not only was floor space reduced, but totes of semi-finished parts are no longer picked using forklifts or by hand via portable stairs. Instead, the parts are protected on trays within two enclosed Shuttle VLMs and are retrieved simply by entering a shelf location via a keypad. The selected shelf is automatically brought down, delivered onto an extraction table, and presented to the operator at waist height. Having all semi-finished inventory brought to the worker reduces forklift costs as well as walk and search time consequently enhancing the production departments productivity.
"The storage of semi-finished inventory is more common with clamping knobs because these products don't tend to be as customized as instrument knobs," Ritzema said. "We generally can make longer molding runs, place the parts in stock, and then pull and finish them as orders are received."
Samples & Prototype Stock
Rogan has made thousands of custom and semi-custom knobs over the years. From of each run, they have saved a few fully assembled knobs for future use. Storing these samples in bins on shelving had occupied 1,000 square feet of floor space. Currently there are some 13,000 sample knobs and R&D prototypes on hand.
All of this stock has been transferred to a 25-foot high VLM, which saves space and protects the samples from dust, dirt, and light exposure. All samples are now accessible with the touch of a button stored neatly within a single Shuttle VLM occupying only 70 square feet. This allowed Rogan to regain 930 square feet of floor space where they were able to expand their toolroom and add additional assembly machines.
Located in front of the Shuttle VLM is an assembly table with hand-operated machines for producing prototype knobs for customer review and test. "Building samples is more art than science and depends on the knowledge, memory, and skills of the assembler," Ritzema emphasized. New knob designs are often created by mixing and matching parts from different BOMs stored in this Shuttle VLM.
So how has the VLMs helped turn Rogan's Lean Manufacturing initiative? The plant is turning out more product and manufacturing costs have fallen since implementing the Shuttle VLMs,reported Ritzema. He continued, the use of vertical lift modules eliminates the need for a bricks-and-mortar expansion.
KardexRemstar International Inc., a company of the Kardex AG KardexRemstar International (KRI) Group of Zurich, Switzerland, is a leading provider of automated storage and retrieval systems for manufacturing, distribution and warehousing applications. For more information on KardexRemstar International call 800-639-5805 or visit the KardexRemstar web site at www.KardexRemstar.com.