THE END OF CHAOS
Quiet Riot: Because inventory was out of control, this tool crib was the busiest area in the plant. No one knew where any tools were to manufacture scheduled assemblies. But now, after installing an integrated tool management system, the tool crib is the quietest area in the building.
Posted: October 2, 2008
Remmele Engineering Inc. (Brighton, MN) made its reputation in providing the highest quality of complex machined components to various market segments. Whether it's unique parts that manufacturers cannot or will not produce themselves, or tackling a material that is deemed too difficult to machine, Remmele has proven themselves time and again as a viable and creative solution developer.
The company has four different manufacturing plants throughout the metropolitan area of Minneapolis. With over 130 CNC machining centers of various sizes and functions, the customer base that they serve can range from very small, intricate medical applications to larger, complex aerospace parts.
The firm's engineering reputation created opportunities that were knocking at their door, literally every day. However, serving various markets also meant that the manufacturing support had to be arranged and segmented appropriately. In other words, different areas needed different types of tooling . . . a lot of different types of tooling. In fact, tooling demands were becoming unmanageable.
"We had no formal tool management system, so orders were being placed for components already on-hand, everything was always hot and expediting cutter deliveries via UPS Red was a daily occurrence," explains Tom Shuga, CIM manager. "NC programmers and manufacturing engineers had to physically browse the crib inventory, looking for tooling which would meet their needs. Often, it was easier and faster just to order more. We knew we had to find and implement a system solution that could get this under control."
The search began and TDM Systems, Inc. (Schaumburg, IL) was approached. The problem was evaluated as to how best to provide a solution. Once this was completed, the process of dedicated work by Remmele staff began to tackle the problem head on and realize how to best implement a Tool Data Management (TDM) system to help alleviate the situation.
The installation of this system included the tool crib module to achieve inventory control, but also the ability to build tool assembly libraries and tool lists. The TDM system also interfaced to their NX CAM and Vericut Systems.
DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH
A side benefit was that, once all of the tool crib components were loaded into the tool management system, the company actually ?recovered' tooling inventory that was valued at seven-figures (!) and turned a huge "invisible inventory" into visible assets for the CAM programming and engineering groups to draw upon.
The tool crib module provides the tracking of inventory for individual components and assemblies, whether this inventory is stored in a physical crib, vending machine, storage area or shop floor. It also allows the establishment of minimums and maximums of items and can internally interface directly with various ordering and ERP systems, to place orders directly with vendors. "We use the Ordering module to create purchase orders within P.O. Database (another module), then email our orders directly to preferred suppliers via PDF attachment," says Shuga.
Once items arrive from vendors, they are ?Received' (another module) against the system P.O. to automatically add quantities back into the inventory. When assemblies come back from the shop floor and are broken down, durables go back into inventory for future use. Consumables, if needed, can be scrapped out once their useful life has been realized.
"Implementing this system across multiple facilities was definitely a process," states Shuga. "We started at our New Brighton facility, then implemented at our two facilities in Big Lake." The tool crib was the busiest area in the New Brighton facility at one time, according to a Remmele manufacturing manager. "We simply didn't know where different items were and if we had enough of them to make the assemblies we had to have at that time. Now the tool crib is the quietest area in the building," he says. "A side benefit was that, once all of our tool crib components were loaded into the TDM system, we actually ?recovered' tooling inventory that was valued at seven-figures!" This turned a huge "invisible inventory" into visible assets for the CAM programming and engineering groups to draw upon.
"The use of this system, interfaced to our NX CAM and Vericut systems, also provides us a big benefit by populating NX with tool definitions and Vericut with simulation graphics required for proofing CAM programs prior to cutting chips on the shop floor," adds Shuga.
Remmele tested the use of TDM Tool Assemblies, Technology Data and the interfacing with NX CAM and Vericut on a large complex Boeing project with great success. The use of common tool assemblies with standard feeds and speeds stored as technology data streamlined the CAM programming process, improved the programming consistency and resulted in achieving very aggressive delivery dates. The success of the Boeing project led to more follow-on business, adding to that rich history of success in providing complex components and assemblies for the aerospace, defense and medical industries.
As Remmele goes forward and continues their relationship with new customers, as well as focusing their efforts to support current customers, this tool management system will most assuredly be part of their solution and a useful component to continue their reputation as one of the finest contract manufacturers in the country.
Remmele Engineering, Inc., 10 Old Highway 8 SW, New Brighton, MN 55112, 651-635-4100, Fax: 651-635-4168, www.remmele.com .
TDM Systems Inc., 1901 North Roselle Road, Suite 800, Schaumburg, IL 60195, 847-605-1269, Fax: 847-605-0586, chris.rezny@tdmsystems.com , www.tdmsystems.com .
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