Topic(s)
- Technology
Overview
This session will provide participants with a case study of how a small manufacturing company has grown over five times through the application of cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence and Vision Systems to unlock bottlenecks and develop people faster.
These technologies have aided in the application of Lean, Agile Strategy Execution, PDCA, TWI, and Toyota KATA to create a culture of superior business results and rapid development of the company’s people. This 10-year-old company began its continuous improvement transformation journey just two years ago with a change in leadership that shifted the focus from an R&D-oriented model to one of operational excellence. Since then, the company, which builds carbon fiber automotive parts for GM, has scaled from 50 employees to 250. In the process, the company has seen a nearly 10% month-over-month increase in production output and reduced employee turnover.
To achieve this rate of growth, the company has adopted Vision System technology that enables shop floor data of employee activity to be collected in real-time, automatically identifying safety and productivity improvements through the application of AI. This led to the creation of a rack system that reduced loading time at its autoclave by over 80%, making the process capable of being completed faster and by lower-skilled workers.
Other examples include the application of software to visually manage goal-setting, the cascade of improvement priorities, and the systematic application of PDCA and leaders-as-coaches throughout the organization. This technology applies AI to help expedite the time to identify root causes, suggest improvement ideas based on user goals and priorities and feed tailored learning modules based on specific employee needs. This has led to the reconfiguration of a bottleneck work area, increasing its throughput by 3X and creating excess capacity for continued scaling of operations. Meanwhile, employee satisfaction ratings have also improved dramatically, as they have been engaged by leadership to facilitate transformation.
Please note: this session accompanies the plant tour submitted by Co-speaker Robert Cushard at SMI Composites.
Key learning objectives
- How technologies like Vision Systems and AI are used to create a continuous improvement culture
- How Agile Strategy Execution incorporates strategy deployment, leaders-as-coaches, and PDCA to engage everyone in continuous improvement
- How manufacturers can better build and manage relationships with technology partners
Company
SMI is dedicated to growing and developing its core capabilities, as well as remaining at the forefront of advancing technologies in composite manufacturing. It is committed to the growth of the industry and its contributions to it.
For its customers, the company is committed to providing quality, engineered parts and services and superior customer service ahead of rapid growth. SMI is a specialized group with the capability to service both low and high-volume clients. Ultimately, its focus is on how best to serve the customer. https://www.smicomposites.com/
Presenter
Robert Cushard is currently the general manager of operations for SMI Composites, LLC, leading the team on an ambitious growth path, increasing both revenue ($10M-$100M) and workforce (100-250 personnel). Using Training Within Industry in concert with Toyota Coaching and Improvement KATA, he leverages advanced manufacturing, advanced materials, advanced analytics and data science to achieve a digital manufacturing facility in the next 24 months.
Previously the director of continuous improvement at Teijin Automotive Technologies (formerly Continental Structural Plastics), Chushard led the company on the continuous improvement journey with unique savings-generating capabilities-based LSS courses, a platform-directed operations-based continuous improvement strategy and a practical screening/refining/optimizing process optimization model. 
