Realize World Class Manufacturing

The World Class Manufacturing Structure

World-Class Manufacturing (WCM) is a transformative concept born in Japan, extending the principles of Total Quality Management (TQM). Its primary mission is to eradicate breakdowns, defects, accidents, waste, and pollution within the manufacturing sector. Achieving this lofty goal hinges on three pillars: Total Maintenance, Total Effectiveness, and Total Employee Involvement, encompassing operations, maintenance, and management. WCM materializes through small-group initiatives, visual control, and the Six S framework: Safety, Sort, Set in place, Shine, Systemize, and Standardize, carried out daily.

At its core, WCM relies on eight foundational principles: Focused Improvement (FI), Autonomous Maintenance (AM), Planned Maintenance (PM), Training and Education (T&E), Early Equipment Management (EEM), Quality Maintenance (QM), Energy Management (EM), and Office and Administration (O&A), with an overarching focus on Safety, Health, and Environment (SHE). WCM's effectiveness is gauged through the Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) metric, where an organization achieves world-class status when APQ exceeds 81%. The structure of WCM is illustrated in the figure above.

Unlocking the Potential of WCM in Six Steps

To harness the full potential of WCM, you need a structured approach. Here are the six key steps:

1. Identify Opportunities and Waste

• WCM's journey begins with recognizing different types of waste, inefficiencies, problems, and areas ripe for improvement. It goes beyond conventional problem-solving, emphasizing creativity, innovation, and setting new performance benchmarks. To unearth opportunities and waste, methods include comparing performance against standards, production analysis, identifying the seven types of waste, and implementing the Six S methodology.

2. Analyze Current Methods

• WCM offers various techniques to scrutinize current manufacturing methods, including work analysis, motion analysis, time study, standardized work, machine loss analysis, and material flow analysis. Each method is geared toward enhancing efficiency, minimizing downtime, and optimizing workflows.

3. Generate Original Ideas

• Creativity is the heart of WCM. To inspire teams, you must eliminate creativity roadblocks like habits, preconceptions, and emotions. Encourage diverse thinking and employ techniques like Osborn's checklist and the Why Why Because Logic Analysis (WWBLA) to generate fresh ideas.

4. Develop an Implementation Plan

• Effective planning is crucial to achieving WCM's goals. Ensure that proposed changes outweigh costs and complexities. Start with method-based improvements, as they are more manageable and lead to insights for future product or equipment design. Prioritize system-level changes and maintain safety and quality standards. Piloting changes before full implementation can be beneficial, and involving team members fosters ownership and contributions.

5. Implement the Plan

• Implementation varies by company and context, but some universal considerations include clear communication with affected parties, detailed action plans, fostering a positive attitude toward WCM adoption, and proactive follow-up on action items.

6. Evaluate the New Method

• In WCM, improvement hinges on measurement and comparison. Only results that demonstrate improvement qualify as WCM successes. Establish clear cause-and-effect relationships and measurable outcomes. Utilize standards like autonomous maintenance, quality maintenance, overall equipment effectiveness, planned maintenance, and energy management for assessing WCM activities. Crucially, maintain an absolute standard to quantify improvements accurately.

In the world of manufacturing, WCM stands as a beacon of excellence, providing a structured pathway to operational perfection. It's not just a concept; it's a tangible approach to elevate your manufacturing prowess and lead your organization towards becoming truly world-class.