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Whirlpool - Lean Design : Consumer Product

Whirlpool Sweden in Norrkping is a Whirlpool Global Technology Center for microwave ovens. It manufactures over one million ovens a year. Whirlpool Sweden produces several platforms of microwave ovens, with varying options on some of the base models. The companys primary mar et is !urope, though there are some overseas sales as well. The plant produces 5 microwa!e o!ens a da".

"ssembly is almost e#clusively manual. $ecause the !uropean mar et favors simple, low%cost appliances, oven designs must be as lean as possible, and assembly of the final product rapid and ine#pensive. # D$# training program at Norrkping was initiated with two goals. The first was to teach two teams of eight people each how to perform &'" analysis using speciali(ed software. The cross% functional teams included mechanical and electrical engineers, microwave technicians, designers for air ventilation systems, and personnel directly involved with production and assembly. The second goal was to reduce in-plant costs and generate a lean oven design by using a proposed production model as part of the &'" teaching process. Cost reduction was e#pected to come from reducing the number of parts in the oven assembly and from reducing overall assembly time as a result of integrating parts and simplifying or eliminating assembly processes. Whirlpool %urope&s tool o' choice 'or D$# anal"sis is D$(#), or &esign for )anufacture and "ssembly, cost and design analysis software from $oothroyd &ewhurst, Inc. *$&I+, Wa efield, ,.I. The software guides design teams through a systematic analysis that enables them to benchmar e#isting designs and propose new designs that consolidate parts and eliminate assembly difficulties. In so doing, the teams reduce assembly time, increase assembly efficiency and -uality and produce lean, functionally integrated designs. Ste'an Wohnhas* a D$# champion at Whirlpool* says, .It was important for us to develop a &'" implementation strategy with a target, a running pro/ect, in order to train people in using &')" as a standard tool in the product development process.0 1is ob/ect was to focus the design teams on e#isting products and ongoing design pro/ects so that participants would see measurable benefits from learning and applying the &'" methodology and the &')" software. Training $ocus $ortunatel"* there was an ideal pro+ect in-house that presented both a new design and a benchmar . Whirlpool Sweden was planning the introduction of a new oven. Since the new oven will replace Whirlpools current microwave oven, the 2I3 45, the decision was made to benchmar the 2I3 45 and use &'" analysis to create the design for the new oven. The Whirlpool ,-P . is a 655%watt microwave oven with the cavity%ceiling -uart( grill option. Controls are mechanical *pushbuttons and dials+, which are preferred in the !uropean mar et over touchpads and digital displays. They include seven presets, a twenty%four%hour cloc , and a ninety%minute timer. The -uart( grill allows for the grilling of meat in the oven. In 7668 the 2I3 45 represented nearly one%third of Whirlpool Swedens total oven production. The overall assembly of the 2I3 45 shares characteristics common to most microwave ovens. The outer chassis is bent and clinched sheet metal. The sheet metal coo ing cavity, fitted snugly to the chassis, reflects the microwaves during coo ing. " hinged door, either side%opening or drop%down, includes a perforated steel wall that reflects microwaves but allows users to view the food or beverage being coo ed. The coo ing cavity includes a lamp for observation. (ost o' the o!en components are mounted in the area behind the control panel, in the poc et between the coo ing cavity sidewall and the chassis sidewall. The microwave source is a magnetron, which in turn receives power from a transformer. Screws and other fasteners hold

components in place. Cabling connects the components, nearly all of which are electrical, and fasteners guide the cabling and hold it in place. /edesign o' a microwa!e o!en presents a num0er o' design and assembly challenges. To save itchen counter space, the footprint of a microwave oven is as small as possible, but a small footprint reduces the available component space. Inside the oven, the spatial relationship of some components must be maintained. $ecause the magnetron can reach 4559C during operation, air from a fan must flow across the magnetron and the transformer that powers it. 'inally, the fastening and wiring of each component can re-uire inserting tools and hands into this small component space. "s more components are installed during assembly, there is less room for tools and hands to maneuver. #nal"sis Tools D$(# so'tware was not the onl" tool a!aila0le to the D$# teams. To benchmar the present assembly, they reviewed videotape of the 2I3 45 assembly line, noting any aw ward operations and assembly reorientation. To review proposed design revisions, they used a :& product modeling program, 3ro;!<GI<!!,. They employed stereo lithography for physical prototype e#amination. They also created laser%cut steel sheets, which were then folded to the e#act shape and si(e of components. This allowed the designers to physically assess component arrangement and fit. 1ut it was the D$(# so'tware that focused discussion and analysis. Wohnhas says, .&'" software facilitates communication within cross%functional teams, providing fact%based data that is easy for everyone to understand and verify.0 This communication resulted in discussions that were e"e-opening 'or the design engineers. .The early involvement of the production engineers was new and very valuable,0 says =ohan &ahm, a mechanical engineer in the development department at Whirlpool Sweden. .We discovered that, before their involvement, we ran the ris of designing assembly problems into the oven even in the concept phase. <ow, the production engineers help us to eliminate assembly problems before the design is finali(ed.0 $or each assem0l" workstation* the D$# teams prepared a per'ormance matri# that evaluated each assembly operation for ease or aw wardness. Is the assembler ta ing advantage of gravity or fighting it> Is assembly conducted in the open, or in a constricted area> &oes an operation re-uire reorienting the assembly> 1ow much assembler time is spent holding components and fastening them in place> $rom the e!aluations came simple changes to sa!e assem0l" time. In the original design, for e#ample, the torsion spring for the drop%down door was fastened to the bottom of the door, underneath the chassis. In order to fasten the spring in place, the wor er had to turn the chassis over, fasten the spring, then turn the chassis bac over for the ne#t operation. This slowed the assembly line. )oving the spring fastening point so that it was accessible from the front of the oven eliminated the need to reorient the chassis. The rest o' the door assem0l" was a target for parts reduction. &ahm says, .'ormerly, fi#ing the door hinge to the oven chassis re-uired fasteners. <ow we use the line where the cavity and chassis fit together as a fastener that automatically holds the hinge in place.0 The new design also reduced the tolerance build%up between the fasteners, the chassis, the cavity and the hinge. In the long run this will reduce wear and improve product -uality. In this and in other instances, the data from the &'" enabled the team to ma e decisions which simplified assembly. Gradually a new oven design too shape. &ahm says, .The main advantage of the &')" software is that you can structure a bill of material and easily see the number and type of parts, how they are assembled and in what order. ?ou get a good picture of the product you are building before it is even a prototype.0 2pen #ssem0l"* Lean Design 1ased on its D$(# anal"sis o' the ,-P . , the &'" teams developed an assembly strategy of .assembly in the open.0 'or instance, the fan and air guide for cooling the magnetron and transformer are assembled separately. They are then mounted along with all the other components, either on the outer oven chassis or on the oven cavity. These two large sub% assemblies are doc ed later in the assembly line. &ahm points out, .This gives technicians more wor space and accessibility, and we receive savings both in time and in product -uality.0

The design teams also identified unnecessary fasteners for the cabling, and reduced the number of parts still further by standardi(ing the cabling itself. @astly, they set a goal for future product models of having as few uni-ue components as possible, thereby reducing in%plant inventory and ),3 costs. /esults The proposed design 'or the new o!en was leaner than that of the 2I3 45 despite adding a forced convection feature. Whereas the 2I3 45 had 7A5 parts in its original design, the new oven has only 75B, a 46 percent part reduction. That alone would reduce assembly time, but because many of the eliminated parts were fasteners, assembly operations were further reduced. In addition to the lean design, the open%assembly strategy and the elimination of reorientations will lower assembly time an estimated 4B per cent when the product line comes out in late 7666. The Norrkping plant won&t ha!e to wait to see cost benefits. It has already implemented the standardi(ation of cables on present product lines. " secondary benefit of the &'" sessions was the standardi(ation of chassis on the different product lines. Improved assembly methods and parts reduction have thus far produced savings greatly e#ceeding e#pectations. "t that rate, paybac time for the entire training pro/ect was si# months. Whirlpool Sweden also ended up with two trained D$# teams, ready to underta e new design programs. &ahm says, .I thin we may ta e advantage of the cost%reducing feature of $oothroyd%&ewhursts &esign for )anufacture software on the ne#t pro/ect, now that we are familiar with the &')" software. We also hope to focus on weight reduction, which will reduce shipping and transportation costs.0

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