Metals & Mining

Steel and primary metals industries face high fixed operating costs, expensive maintenance, capital-intensive equipments costs, complex distribution networks, fluctuating market conditions, and global competition. Several of these factors are outside their immediate span of control making it even more challenging to manage their business.

One metals producer needed to significantly improve operating costs in order to fund its capital expansion needs. By embracing a LeanSigma approach, they achieved the following results:

• Significantly reduced rolling mill changeover time increasing capacity by more than 15 percent.
• Improved process capability by reducing edge scrap by at least 50 percent resulting in improved profits of more than $1 million per month.
• Reduced set-up times and increased flexibility on secondary operations improved lead time to market by 80 percent. In turn, they were able to secure a short lead-time premium that added bottom line profits exceeding $1 million per month.
• Implemented new demand planning, shop planning, and operations scheduling logic that eliminated more than 30 days of inventory and reduced unscheduled overtime and premium freight by more than $500,000 per year.
• Implemented operator-driven equipment maintenance and reduced unscheduled downtime by more than 50 percent creating more than $1 million in annualized savings.

According to one senior executive, "We have elevated the emphasis on LeanSigma within our organization and look to continue our transformation over the next several years. We’ll be able to do more with less as we eliminate waste from the value stream with the objective of providing superior value to our customers."