niigata power systems (2) manufacturing innovation through 3d … · 2009. 8. 5. · our niigata...

(c) 2009. Lattice Technology, Inc.

8Niigata Power Systems (2)

Manufacturing Innovation Through 3D Data

- Improving Lean Manufacturing Through 3D Databy Dr Hiroshi Toriya

Recently Niigata Power Systems has been aggressively pursuing the creation and delivery of information that would be productive across the enterprise by apply-ing XVL in selected business activities. To expand its vision further, the company is now applying XVL to enhance overall work efficiency across all departments.

2(c) 2009. Lattice Technology, Inc.

8. Niigata Power Systems (2)

XVL as a ‘Video Camera’ for Observing All Aspects of Company Operations

Chapter 7 describes the initial business process changes undertaken by Niigata Power Systems created by going back to the fundamental vision of “making products more appealing using 3D data”. We asked Kazuhiko Fukuoka at the company’s Plant En-gineering Group about further progress being made in using 3D data, to which he made a significant comment: “Until now, each of our business divisions have been making individual improvements to enhance work efficiency. However as we progress, we need to focus on enhancing efficiency across all business activities. Just when we felt the need for a “video camera” that is able to observe and record all aspects of the company’s operations, we found XVL. We realized that with XVL, we could look at the whole picture and review all our business activities. We started applying XVL into a wider range of business activities and are currently realizing just how valuable a tool it is.”

Figure 8.1 3D illustrations posted inside the plant

So what does ‘observing the whole picture’ really mean? Fukuoka continued “First you must work out what the first step of using 3D at the workplace is going to be. For Ni-igata’s shop floor, we printed a 3D drawing of a product using an A1 plotter and sent it to our Niigata internal combustion engine plant. The production supervisor hung these draw-ings up in the plant, and employees started to become accustomed and familiar with the 3D views, making comments such as, “It is so much clearer to have a 3D drawing before starting assembly,” “Putting up the 3D drawing has improved our work,” and so on. Until then, the factory floor staff had been performing their work looking only at certain parts of the product on 2D drawings and reports. With 3D illustrations of the product on A1 paper,



they were now able to see and understand the entire product and their role in it. In this way, the factory floor staff gradually started to experience the advantages of 3D data and show interest in using 3D data at the shop floor.

A Workplace Where Staff Do Not Need to Look For PartsAt Niigata Power Systems, employees make simple suggestions and try them out

first, prior to it being implemented within a complicated system or process. This builds on the idea that if someone shows how a change has been useful to their work even in the slightest way, it can lead to a further opinion or insight, resulting in real progress. An example of this is shown in two divisions, the company’s Plant Engineering Group, performing design, and the Production Center, which supports the company’s manufac-turing activities. Both have been working on a theme called “A workplace where staff do not need to look for parts”. The engines that Niigata Power Systems manufactures are massive, and because of regulations the company is unable to transport its products in a fully assembled state. As a result, teams first assemble the products at the plant to check its operation, and then disassemble it for shipment. (As shown in Figure 8.2). Then the parts are once again assembled at the customer’s site using a crane. This is a highly risky process because missing even one part during assembly can result in tremendous losses caused by crane rental costs (several thousand dollars a day) while the missing part is located.

Figure 8.2 Establishing a workplace where staff do not need to look for parts

Since the parts are carefully prepared and shipped, with accurate paper lists with product and part codes, why do such problems occur? It lies in the fact that these writ-ten parts lists only serve as a means of communicating code information, with no actual relationship between the codes and their parts. Once at the assembly site, it is extremely difficult to identify what parts correspond to what codes.



Niigata Power Systems’ first step to fix this problem was by making the relationship between the codes and parts visible using 3D XVL data (See Figure 8.3). Next, they analyzed the problems at the customer site. It turned out that most of the time the staff at the site did not know what parts were coming and saw these parts for the first time when they were delivered. Just by looking at invoices and parts codes, they typically had dif-ficulty identifying these delivered parts. Niigata Power Systems identified this as the real problem, and was occurring because the design, production assembly, and production shipment departments were giving priority to enhancing productivity at their own depart-ments and ignoring the downstream processes at the customer site. No one realized that the staff receiving the parts had no idea what would be delivered until they received the shipment. In addition, these employees could not find or identify the corresponding parts from drawing numbers and delivery lists. It therefore took time to understand what had to be assembled, and how, and it was only after repeated trial and error that they were finally able to install and assemble the parts correctly.

Niigata Power Systems delivered code and parts information, but the relationship between the codes and their parts was vague at best. They therefore decided to visualize these relationships using XVL.

Figure 8.3 Visually showing the relationship between parts and part numbers using XVL

Visualizing Installation Methods Using 3DFirstly, the company reexamined its shipment department processes and packaging

methods, and decided to describe these using 3D XVL. Giving top priority to delivering clarity at the customer site, the teams created on-site 3D installation manuals by using XVL Notebook, an XVL-based documentation application. The finished manuals clearly show the parts being shipped and their corresponding codes as inter-related 3D shipped parts lists. As shown in Figure 8.4, they were now able to convey what parts are being used for installing the engine base, and the procedure for installing the engine body us-ing visual relationships between shipped parts and their codes. Niigata Power Systems admits that its design department had no idea how the engines were being disassembled



and transported, and this was the root of the problems being faced at the customer site. The resulting visualization of products thereby helped everyone in the process, from de-sign through to manufacture, understand how products are disassembled and assembled again. Figure 8.5 shows the installation instructions for a power generator. In addition to drawing numbers and parts numbers, explanatory illustrations are also provided for better comprehension by on-site staff. In fact, the documents were described as “Procedures that even children can understand”. Through these means, the company successfully solved its problem through the distribution of user-friendly instruction manuals. By linking the on-site assembly procedures and shipped parts lists, they achieved their aim of creat-ing a shipment and packaging method which was simple and clear at a glance.

Changes At The Assembly SiteAs a result of these new 3D documents, the trial-and-error process previously used

was no longer needed during the installation. However, the use of 3D data brought about another, unexpected, improvement: Because plant facilities were often delivered on cus-tomer holidays to minimize disruption, Niigata Power Systems’ staff often had to work on these days to resolve installation questions. Since the assembly procedure was now so clear, these support issues dramatically decreased. To further support that, Niigata Power Systems now also holds regular meetings for its on-site assembly staff using 3D data to explain how to assemble the parts.

Figure 8.4 Preparation of specifications using XVL Notebook

In addition to all the business process improvements listed so far, the new precision achieved with the 3D packaging and assembly methods has contributed to increased accuracy in the estimates of time required for the assembly work, etc. Changes were also taking place at Niigata’s shipping plants. In the past, disassembly methods used would



differ depending on the individual handling the disassembly – a situation that often led to confusion. Now, by standardizing the shipped parts list, the disassembly work of com-pleted products also became standardized, through the use of 3D data, and the mindset of the factory floor workers also changed. Currently, the shipped parts list is prepared by the Plant Engineering Group. In future, shipping teams at the disassembly site will be put in charge of compiling this shipped parts list to further resolve problems faced at the as-sembly site.

Figure 8.5 “Visualized” installation manual for a power generator

Differentiating Procured Parts and Internally Manufactured Parts

The parts used by Niigata Power Systems consist of pipes and steel parts made internally which they call “internal parts” and procured parts which they call “purchased”. The company uses drawings and separate parts lists for the procured parts. As shown in Figure 8.6, these drawings and lists alone are insufficient for locating the parts used for complicated products. When an employee is given actual “internal parts” lists and “pur-chased” lists, they are next faced with the laborious task of identifying which part attaches to another part just from the lists.



Figure 8.6 Task: Difficult to determine which part corresponds to which part

Figure 8.7 Visualization of procured parts using Lattice3D Reporter

To help resolve this, Niigata Power Systems decided to try using the Lattice 3D Reporter application for preparing lists of procured parts. This software embeds 3D into a Microsoft Excel file and displays the 3D of an entire product associated with the vari-ous related parts lists. Using 3D images called ‘snapshots’ saved in the spreadsheet for each procured part, the user is able to check the shape of the procured parts by clicking on the listed information. As shown in Figure 8.7, Lattice 3D Reporter enables parts to be checked compared to the list data, and shows at a glance where to add procured parts. The company’s success in “visualizing” its procured parts list was a major success.



Previewing Work Process Scenarios Presently, Niigata Power Systems’ Production Center is building methodologies for

virtually previewing work processes and work scenarios, using 3D data for accuracy. The company realizes that if changes to a process are made only after the actual work starts, the PDCA—Plan, Do, Check, Action—cycle typically used is too little, too late (Figure 8.8). This PDCA process involves a lot of physical steps, such as observing the actual work process, correcting the work procedure while watching video taken, correcting parts lists and drawings, changing the delivery of arranged parts, preparing the required tools, and feeding back information to the staff involved in the actual work.

Therefore, Niigata came up with the idea of previewing its assembly procedure virtu-ally using XVL to enhance the work scenario phase (as shown in Figure 8.9). The teams started to use 3D XVL data to create animations of the assembly procedure, and these are shown to the employees for observation and discussion. Based on the results of the discussion, the teams would then design the work procedures and correct the 3D data as necessary. This data would also be applied to the manufacturing parts lists and prepara-tion for required tools. After the virtual previews, the teams would then observe the actual work and the procedures, as shown in Figure 8.9. The end result is that by reviewing vir-tual working procedures, the company has been able to minimize problems in the actual work on the shop floor.

Figure 8.8: Tasks in carrying out standard work processes



Figure 8.9 Building visualization of standard work processes into the company

Figure 8.10 Work memos and check sheets currently used

Bringing Visual Manuals On To The Shop FloorCurrently, Niigata Power Systems is using work instructions, check lists, and draw-

ings for its manufacturing and construction work. Work instructions are prepared on the shop floor, and notes and comments are written on the photos. Check lists itemize design control values, and these values are checked to ensure they meet specifications (Figure 8.10). The company has now started procedures to change these check lists to visual



manuals which include 3D animation. The goal of visual manuals is to provide direc-tions and instructions which are easy for anyone to understand. (Figure 8.11) As a result, product quality has improved, and work hours have stabilized. These manuals can also be used for training: The key to the success of these visual manuals is compiling them in collaboration with the field staff. Experts in the field best understand the various work procedures, and it is essential to have them make continuous improvements to the visual manuals. For this to work, they have to be constantly looking at these visual manuals, so Niigata Power Systems decided to integrate the visual manuals and the check lists. As a result, the field teams are then forced to look at the visual manuals when they are check-ing products. This ensures that the accuracy of the manual is maintained, and is also useful for identifying improvements that need to be made to the manuals. As a result, Ni-igata plans to start distributing the visual manuals to their customer support and mainte-nance departments, because it allows everyone to check disassembly methods and parts replacement methods quickly and easily.

Figure 8.11 Aims of visual manuals

Frontloading At The Shop FloorNiigata Power Systems prepares its visual manuals using the process editing tools in

XVL Studio. The company is hoping that the visual manual will help increase knowledge in younger engineers and technicians. As an example, due to a lack of experience, young staff will often find it difficult to identify parts on photos because they are hidden behind other parts. Furthermore, young staff often prepare jigs and tools for operations differently from experienced staff. Adding such information in visual manuals helps young staff learn the know-how of their experienced colleagues and superiors.

On the other hand, experienced staff usually can usually tell how a product works just by holding and touching it. They also know what improvements would need to be



made, and this is information that cannot be found in typical manuals. So Niigata Power Systems has their experienced staff regularly check the manuals for continuous improve-ment and updates. Presently, most of the company’s education and training is carried out by on-the-job training, and here, they face problems such as difficulty in creating work standards, again due to differences in staff experience and knowledge of work processes. This problem can be resolved if visual manuals can function as work standards, and using this method Niigata Power Systems is gradually starting to use visual manuals as tools for PDCA.

Currently, the company’s visual manuals are printed on paper. In the near future, the company plans to show the manuals on PCs at the workplace, using animations even for huge assemblies. The company believes it is important to ensure that the visual manuals are updated with every design change. Usually experienced staff at the factory floor are confident in their own work, and often have a strong influence on their colleagues. This creates an atmosphere which makes it hard for staff from production technology-related departments, who are not that familiar with manufacturing, to voice their ideas. Again XVL can play an important role here. With XVL, animations represent the actual assemblies. In other words, the visual manuals allow operations at the plant to be checked before-hand, thus frontloading the factory floor. With this tool at hand, production technology departments can now propose new improvements since they understand the problems being faced at the factory floor.

Today at Niigata Power System’s PlantsNiigata Power Systems is headquartered in Tokyo, and has five plants: the Ota plant

which manufactures large engines, gas engines, and ship propulsion devices; Niigata casting plant; Muikamachi plant; Niigata internal combustion plant; Nico Seimitsu Niigata gas turbine plant. To see how the various plants are using 3D data, the authors visited the company’s Ota plant and toured the facilities. This plant manufactures 16 cylinder high-speed diesel engines with 5,000 horsepower which are mounted on patrol vessels, etc. We were all overwhelmed by the size of these diesel engines, which are made up of about 5,000 to 20,000 parts in 1,000 to 2,000 units. Without doubt, “visualization” is indeed a must to differentiate such a large number of parts.

One engine is said to take two people two days to assemble and, including the pipework and wiring, it takes about five-to-seven days to complete. The engines are then moved to the test run site for testing for about one week. This is then followed by three days of painting before the engines are shipped out. The work process is based on a cell production method and work procedures outlining the respective roles of the two workers, as well as operation rules, are provided for all specific assembly work. Says Mr. Uchida, who toured us around the plant; our task here is passing down the skills of our experi-enced staff to our young employees. When we asked what their greatest challenge was, Mr. Baba, Head of the Production Center, said; “Our greatest challenge is in enhancing productivity. We hope to make use of our space and people efficiently to enhance our machining and procurement skills.” Their use of 3D data by XVL will contribute to these efforts.



Every plant requires very strict management of deadlines, and factory floor staff work hard to meet those deadlines. The production technology department supports the factory floor technically, and, like many major companies, the production technology department at Niigata Power Systems plant is also small. Regardless, alongside their normal work, the members of this team are now working to build a system for passing down on-site knowledge and experience to future generations. This is an endeavor that any company should not ignore. The team’s efforts in focusing on how to make the workplace produc-tive using digital literacy such as XVL were great food for thought. Although they may have just started out from displaying 3D on paper, their efforts are certainly promoting positive change at the workplace.

Using XVL as a Tool for Enhancing ProductivityMr. Goto, of Niigata Power Systems’ Production Center, which is in charge of creating

visual manuals says, “When we compile the visual manuals, the process gives us ideas on work methods that are different from those practiced at the work site. By reproduc-ing these different procedures using 3D animation, it creates opportunities for improve-ment by allowing everyone to think about these ideas together.” Fukuoka says that their next challenge is to develop a method to enhance production efficiency by using XVL for previews prior to work commencing, and to eliminate differences between the CAD model and actual manufactured product. In this way, Niigata Power Systems is expanding the various applications for 3D to further enhance manufacturing processes.

Lightweight 3D data in XVL enables the whole product to be seen long before it is completed, but until recently, workplace improvements at the company meant focusing on one department’s processes and improving them. Even when the company started using CAD, they were able to check the individual parts of products using 3D data, but they were not able to see the entire picture. Using the cutting-edge XVL technology, the company’s Plant Engineering Group and Production Center are now working together to resolve the problems at hand. By repeatedly showing frontline staff how useful 3D data can be, its value is spreading throughout the company. Frontloading work procedures means the company can resolve many design problems in the early stages. Such ef-forts will pay off in the near future by delivering an enormous competitive edge to Niigata Power Systems.

About ‘The Critical Need for Digitalization in Manufacturing’ by Dr Hiroshi Toriya.

This book, one of several published by author, Dr. Hiroshi Toriya, discusses how Japanese manu-facturers are addressing the critical need to continually improve manufacturing processes across the entire enterprise. In the cases highlighted in this book, manufacturers are turning to 3D data practices and processes to enable greater leanness of manufacturing. This book discusses why this is a necessity in the current economic conditions and discusses real world examples through in-depth interviews with manufacturers of all kinds.

Published in Japan in 2008, this book is available as an e-book from Lattice Technology, and is available at www.lattice3d.com

niigata power systems (2) manufacturing innovation through 3d … · 2009. 8. 5. · our niigata...

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