Date: Tuesday 15 February 2011
Venue: Stenton Campus, Adam Smith College, Fife
Hosts: Christine Sinclair, Executive Head; Pamela Bennet, Dep. Head
Speakers: Ian Fitzsimmons, Quality Co-ordinator, Carron Phoenix, Falkirk; Malcolm McNnight, Quality Manager, Spanoptic, Glenrothes.
Subject: Graduate Presentation on Quality Projects.
Ian Fitzsimmons
Ian began by outlining the history of Carron from its founding as a foundry in 1759 to its current position of a major manufacturer of quality sink units. The foundry was famous, initially, as the manufacturer of “60 pound carronades” and cannons which Nelson stated were instrumental in winning the Battle of Trafalgar. They continued manufacturing many cast iron items including baths, post boxes and telephone boxes. Stainless steel sinks were added to the range in 1960.
They achieved BS5750 in 1980 but went into receivership shortly thereafter. A management buyout formed Carron Phoenix Ltd in 1982 concentrating on sinks and central heating radiators. They were awarded ISO 9002 in 1987. The Swiss firm, Franke acquired the firm in1990 and commenced the manufacture of a resin based sink range by the Silquartz manufacturing process using injection moulding. This was a radical departure from iron founding but by 1992, they were exporting the sinks globally.
In 1993 and 1995, they gained the Queen’s Award for Export. Technological improvements continued with resin granite based sinks which are very popular in the American market and a new press plant for stainless steel sinks was installed in 1998. As a result of continuing efficiency programmes, they achieved IMS 9001, 14001 and 18001 in 2004. Further investment was made with the installation of robot mixing machines for the resin plant and the introduction of a Rapid Engineering Deployment system (RED). The company celebrated their 250th anniversary in 2009.
In 2010, Ian undertook a Lean/Flow project as his Quality Diploma D5 dissertation. This was aided by Franke introducing what they call the Franke Flow Lean Operating Way (FLOW). This introduced colour coded work areas and wall spaces. The aim of his project was the implementation of Lean tools into Carron Phoenix. Previously, the order to product delivery period was three weeks. Using the FLOW and TIMWOODS operating system, the time was reduced to three days. (TIMWOODS – Time, Inventory, Motion, Waiting, Over-production, Over-processing, Defects and Skills – reducing these wastes). This resulted in a reduction of WIP of 36%
His biggest task with this type of operation was, as usual, the motivation of the workforce to become part of and take up ownership of the processes. The workforce was educated in the 5S system and checklists for Total Preventive Maintenance (TPM) were introduced along with clearly visible flow-charts. Key Performance Indicator (KPI) charts were posted and updated regularly. The layouts of the various departments were subjected to flow analysis and the whole plant was gradually re-arranged so that clear Flow Cells were established for greater efficiency. The Lean process took three months from beginning to end which was well within the projected Jan – May timescale.
A Lean Project analysis was carried out among the workforce which showed that the vast majority had taken the Lean message on board. The conclusions from the project showed marked improvements in Process efficiencies with improved Product Quality and fewer Customer complaints. Their future goal is to become the top market leader in coloured kitchen sinks world-wide by continuously improving.
Malcolm McNight
The second graduate speaker on the quality project could not appear owing to commercial commitments. Malcolm, a CQI Committee Member, stepped into the breach and gave a presentation on the Anti-Reflection Coating Qualification of the lenses which Spanoptic produce.
They can purchase lenses to specification or receive free-issue lenses which they coat according to the relevant standards. The coated lenses are used for medical, military, aerospace and commercial applications. Coatings on lenses were first devised by Zeiss Ltd in 1935 to improve the performance of camera lenses and binoculars. Spanoptic have invested in a system for Single Layer Anti-Reflection (SLAR) coating.
The reason for having a coating is that if you have a four lens system, only 72% of available light will be transmitted. With appropriate SLAR coatings, about 98% of light can be transmitted. They are working on Multi-Layer Anti-Reflective (MLAR) coatings which give even greater performance. The AR coatings Provide a durable, thin film, provide resistance to physical and environmental damage and improve optical performance of the lens system.
The coatings are produced in vacuum chambers where the lenses are suspended in carriers. The vacuum chambers are provided with heating pots which, usually, contain magnesium fluoride. The evaporated medium condenses on the underside of the lenses in the carriers. Silicon is another coating medium which is commonly used.
The next step is the important validation process. A comparison can be made to a known Reflectance standard which is customer supplied or from an approved reference. Witness pieces are always included in each batch so that comparisons can be made wrt the specified spectral scan. Measurements are made using a Spectrophotometer. Various physical tests on scratch resistance etc. are also carried out.
In conclusion, Malcolm indicated that the challenges they are now facing involve new materials with different refractive indices. This is where the MLAR coatings come in but each coating “recipe” is more difficult and more expensive. They also are working on IR coatings using silicone and germanium. Ian could not give much information on the latter as they are normally used by the military.
Each presentation was followed by a lively Q&A session. Ian Fitzsimmons was presented with book tokens in appreciation of his hard work in gaining his Diploma and for providing an excellent presentation.