Scrap erodes profitability through wasted materials, labor, and energy that don’t result in saleable finished products. Guidewheel helps you identify periods of poor quality so you can make changes to get back on track. It helps you keep machines running at optimal speed to prevent the spikes and stops that can lead to scrap. Finally, Guidewheel allows operators to track scrap in real-time throughout their shift so you have an accurate view of scrap rates by machine, operator, part and shift.
Key Guidewheel features:
Scoreboard
| Alerts
| Production
 |
Track production speed in Guidewheel
How to do it
Identify periods of poor quality and underlying root causes
Create Tags for “Quality” and “Leading to Defects.”
Have your team tag downtime issues that are the result of scrap (machines shut down due to poor quality) or that result in scrap (machines produce bad parts after coming back online).
Ask the 5 whys to identify patterns and root causes. For example, was it a mechanical issue? A tooling issue? An issue with prep, cleaning, or setup? Do operators need additional coaching?
Make a plan to address underlying issues and assign owners and timelines. Track improvement in weekly management meetings.
Accurately record scrap
Note - this feature requires a Premium tier subscription. If you’d like to get access to this feature, contact your Customer Success Manager, or email us at [email protected].
Equip operators with tablets so they can track performance throughout their shift using Sidekick.
Navigate to the Production page and click into a machine on the list to open details.
Click into the “Waste” box and enter the amount of scrap.
Address machine issues before they impact quality
Set up Alerts to be notified when a machine is overloaded or any other condition that can lead to periods of poor quality. If you’re collecting data from speed sensors in Guidewheel, you can also set up Alerts to be notified when a machine is running at the wrong speed.
Have your team respond quickly to Alerts to get the machine back to optimal performance.
Keep machines running at optimal performance
Note - this feature requires a Premium tier subscription. If you’d like to get access to this feature, contact your Customer Success Manager, or email us at [email protected].
Display Cycles on the Guidewheel Scoreboard by selecting Metric > Cycle Time at the top of the page.
When cycles deviate from standard and turn from green to yellow or red on the Scoreboard, click into Cycles details from the Scoreboard or navigate to the Cycles page and click into that machine for more detail.
Work with operators to understand what took place during the period of non-standard cycles.
Make a plan to address underlying issues whether due to maintenance, setups/changeovers, etc.