Optimizing Flow Through Lean Cell Design

Lean man­u­fac­tur­ing involves adjust­ing process­es to effi­cient­ly gen­er­ate a prod­uct just-in-time. Pro­duc­ing too much or too lit­tle leads to waste or an unhap­py cus­tomer. When tai­lor­ing to a lean pro­duc­tion line, cell design is an impor­tant step to accom­plish­ing this goal.

Before design­ing or choos­ing a work cell, here are some things to think about:

What por­tion of the pro­duc­tion line will the work cell be used for?

What appli­ca­tion will be performed?

How will a part be loaded and unloaded from the machine or area?

Which direc­tion it will be moving?

How much floor space do you have?

How do you want to mount the robot?

Will an oper­a­tor be involved? If so, will the oper­a­tor need access to the robot, machine or product?

How fast does a prod­uct need to be produced?

Choos­ing the best loca­tion and ori­en­ta­tion for your cell design plays a major role in lean man­u­fac­tur­ing. Then uti­liz­ing the cor­rect type and size of a robot helps you reduce errors lat­er on and adds more flexibility. 

Lean cell design increas­es prod­uct through­put and reduces waste. It cre­ates an effi­cient process flow that reduces errors and increas­es speed. Under­stand­ing the entire process flow is impor­tant to how the mate­r­i­al, peo­ple and infor­ma­tion flow through a system. 

Robots​.com under­stands that lean designs prof­its a busi­ness. If you would like to learn more on how to auto­mate part of your pro­duc­tion line or make it more lean, con­tact Robots​.com here, or call 877−762−6881.