How Operational Improvements Deliver Better Customer Results
A new machine can expand what you're capable of doing but real capability comes from what happens around it.
It's the plan that determines how a job moves through the operation and the information that follows it from one department to the next. It is the checks that verify the work before it moves forward and the experienced people who recognize when something needs attention and know how to respond.
That's where many of the improvements happening at Integrity USA are coming together.
We're investing in new equipment and expanded capabilities, but we're also improving the system around the work. What matters to our customers isn't simply what a machine can do, it's how reliably the entire operation can deliver the result they need.
Getting It Right Earlier
A typical customer project can move through programming, machining, EDM, gun drilling, mold making, quality and other operations before it is complete.
What happens at each stage matters to everything that follows. “Each job will have its own steps that have to be completed to ensure that it's done right, done on time,” says Ivan K, Machinist. “Every waypoint has to be hit on the way to completion.”
If something is missed early, the impact doesn't necessarily stay at that operation. Work may need to return to a machine, creating rework and disrupting the schedule around it.
That's why we focus on verifying work throughout the process.
Probing systems allow teams to measure components while they're still in the machine and compare them against job requirements. Additional quality checks provide further validation before the work reaches mold makers and tool builders.
Mitch B, Advanced Planning Team Leader, describes it as a “double check and a triple check.”
The goal is straightforward: identify something that needs attention while there's still an opportunity to address it before the work moves downstream.
Ivan has seen the value of that discipline firsthand. His team recently followed a set of large aluminum blocks closely through machining, paying particular attention to the setup, pickup and checks throughout the process.
When the blocks came together for the next stage, they fit extremely well with no issues. That meant less time spent correcting upstream work and more time for the mold-making team to keep the project moving.
Keeping the Work Connected
Getting one operation right is important. So is what happens when the work leaves it.
Integrity uses Foundry and virtual plans to establish the order of operations and communicate job requirements through the process. Programmers can see the information they need to prepare the work and relay those requirements to machinists and operators performing the next steps and quality checks.
That creates a clearer path for the work from one operation to the next.
At the same time, manufacturing doesn't always happen exactly as planned. When something changes, experienced people still need to understand the situation and determine the best way forward.
Ivan describes programming, scheduling, machining, mold making and leadership working together before production to develop the plan and communicating across departments when adjustments are needed.
The process creates consistency. Our people provide the experience and judgment to adapt when necessary.
Greater Capability. Fewer Outside Handoffs.
The investments happening at our company are also expanding how much of that process can stay under one roof.
New large-format boring and high-precision finishing capabilities increase the types of operations the Tennessee team can perform in-house.Keeping more work in-house gives us greater visibility into where a job is, what's happening next and where adjustments may be needed. It can also mean fewer outside handoffs for the customer.
As Mitch describes it, the goal is to provide a more complete solution so a customer can bring work to us and rely on us to coordinate the operations required to complete it.
Finding Better Ways to Deliver the Same Quality
Operational excellence isn't about pursuing speed at the expense of quality.
It's about finding unnecessary time and effort in a process and asking whether there's a better way.
“We've got to keep an eye out on putting out the same quality of work, but perhaps doing it slightly different with better technology or better operations,” Ivan explains. “If you can do it faster and have it the exact same quality, then you're kind of winning in the end.”
That's where the individual improvements happening throughout Integrity USA begin to connect.
New technology expands capability and supports more efficient processing as facility improvements create better flow. 6S practices support organized, safe and efficient work areas and better planning keeps information connected. In-process verification creates opportunities to catch issues earlier.
The objective isn't simply to make one operation faster. It's to make the entire system work better without compromising the standard.
What Customers Are Seeing
Customers who have visited recently are already noticing the transformation. Dave B, Plant Manager, has described customers as being “blown away” by what they're seeing inside the building and by the people they're meeting.
They're seeing the visible changes: new technology, new capabilities and an evolving facility. They're also seeing what makes those investments valuable.
The programmers developing the plan, the machinists executing it, the quality checks protecting the next step, and the experienced people communicating across departments when something changes.
The capability isn't any one machine. It's what happens when the equipment, people, processes and information work together. That's how operational improvements become better customer results.
Come See How It All Connects
The best way to understand what's changing at Integrity USA is to see it working together.
Join us at our upcoming Integrity USA Open House to walk the operation, see our expanded capabilities and meet the people behind the work.
Don't just come tour the facility. If you're considering an upcoming project, working through a manufacturing challenge or want to better understand what's possible with the capabilities we have here in Tennessee, reserve a one-on-one conversation with one of our experts.
Come see what's changed and let's talk about what we can help make possible for you.
RSVP for the Open House: https://www.integritytn.com/open-house
Reserve a 1:1 with our experts: https://www.integritytn.com/open-house-meet-with-the-experts