Japanese philosophy works for a German-American molder.

Improving efficiency became a make-or-break proposition this year for fast-growing Alfmeier Corp., a Greenville, S.C., molder of automotive engine valves and fuel-system components. Lured here from Germany three years ago to serve a new BMW assembly plant, Alfmeier's U.S. business more than quadrupled with orders not just for BMW, but also Mercedes-Benz and domestic car makers, says executive v.p. Sam Konduros.

To handle the ballooning volume of just-in-time business while adding just the right amount of injection molding capacity, the company proclaimed 1998 its "Year of Efficiency." Konduros says the plant reduced molding cycle times, slashed in-process inventory, cut labor requirements, and saved floor space. "Instead of buying new stuff, we've been very creative in eliminating waste and making better use of what we have," adds plant manager Dean Davidson.

How did Alfmeier do it? In a word, "kaizen." This Japanese term stands for a set of methods for continuous improvement. Kaizen played a limited role in Alfmeier's operation until this August, when the company intensified its focus with help from the Kaizen Institute of America

During a three-day, hands-on seminar, Alfmeier engineers and participants from other companies tore down and then revamped two of the plant's 10 production lines in a quest to stamp out every sort of waste.

The make-over process

Following kaizen principles, Alfmeier started by studying the two production lines from the molding machine to assembly operations. "We were trying to bring to light waste in motion and material flow," says Davidson. Alfmeier engineers observed the production lines and made "spaghetti diagrams" that trace the steps of the workers in the line. Time-and-motion studies at each station calculated how often workers needed to start building a new assembly in order to meet customer demand.

With information from these studies, Alfmeier engineers established new work procedures and physically rearranged assembly lines to cut wasted movement and idle time. One assembly line was rearranged from an "L" to a "U" shape and the assembly stations were combined, allowing four people to run the line instead of five. The reconfiguration also saved about 275 sq ft of floor space, which will be used for a new line. The savings from re-engineering another assembly line allowed three workers to accomplish what previously took five people - and they do so in 500 sq ft less space.

At the molding machines, kaizen helped Alfmeier establish new tooling changeover procedures, bringing average mold-change times down to 50 minutes from about 2.5 hours. "The improvement in set-up time adds up to three weeks of extra production for that press and didn't cost us any money," Davidson reports.

Time freed up by speedier tool changes will allow the company to put off some press purchases. "If you looked at the business we've booked, we would have to add seven presses by the year 2000," Davidson says. With the set-up-time reduction, he doubts they will need more than four."

Davidson says kaizen afforded "incredible" gains in other measurable ways. On the BMW line, for example, in-process inventory has been cut from 19,000 pieces to 3000 pieces, and cycle-time reductions have driven output up by 20%.

Early indications point to quality benefits, too. Davidson points out that smaller in-process inventory means that "there's no place for rejects to hide. "Any quality problems "bring production to a halt and are addressed immediately."

It takes 100% commitment

Despite its benefits, kaizen-style re-engineering is not without its risks: It may require some lost production time for re-engineering. And some workers will view efficiency gains as lost jobs. For these reasons, says Konduros, "Kaizen needs top-down support. It won't fly if everyone in the company isn't for it."