The primary motivation for adopting lean manufacturing principles can be attributed to the lesson of an age-old adage — “waste not, want not.” In essence, eliminate the wasteful steps to best deliver quality products and services for your customers. As such, committing to a lean process requires the ability to identify waste in minute detail, to best address the root cause of waste in its various forms, within every process and production step. To best achieve this lofty goal, it’s imperative to execute processes with the lowest possible amount of variance and inconsistency while maintaining quality under increasing demand limitations, which, on paper, is common sense. But to achieve this practically, it requires more than just planning and strong teamwork — it requires adopting technology that can provide the widest array of relevant data to synthesize and refine process steps. And this is why Hansen Plastics utilizes the eDART® System.
The eDART® System is a software solution utilizing various sensors — temperature, mold deflection, cavity pressure, etc. — in machines and molds to create a control system hub of real-time, actionable information for every job and part. Measuring every step from start to finish throughout the manufacturing process, the data displayed using the eDART® System allows users to track that a job is being completed within tolerance, to catch and contain abnormal variation before they happen, and provide incremental, systematic changes to the process to maintain minimal variance and time to completion with every job and for every mold. Ultimately, the data collected and evaluated using the eDART® System allows Hansen Plastics to dramatically limit the production of imperfect parts, saving time and resources, and allowing for the completion of jobs with a greater threshold of consistency, and at a higher rate of quality, for their clients.
Being able to pivot and react in real-time to the data provided by the eDART® System provides the opportunities to eliminate wasteful practices as they happen, tightening and strengthening the lean process as a whole. For instance, part of the eDART® System is an automatic part diversion, separating non-conforming parts automatically, reducing the need to sort through potentially defective parts by hand, and minimizing the guessing game of which parts are still good and which are not, eliminating the waste of inventory, waiting, and defects. Additionally, the eDART® System maintains a historical record of all of the data collected on completed jobs and for manufactured molds, down to every shot of the process. Having access to this library of information allows for constant reevaluation and refinement of processes, reducing fluctuation, and providing the opportunity to eliminate the waste created by disorganization.
Hansen Plastics maintains a lean manufacturing philosophy as a natural extension of its mission to “provide the highest quality injection molded products and services to a diverse client base, ensuring customer satisfaction, trusting relationships, and sustainable, profitable growth.” Adopting the eDART® System as part of their manufacturing process only strengthens their commitment to their manufacturing philosophy, their mission, and to their customers at large. To learn more about what helps Hansen Plastics maintain its high standards of quality in manufacturing, visit HansenPlastics.com.