Wire Processing: Lean Manufacturing of Cable Assemblies
Lean manufacturing concepts helped Arrow Electronics improve its assembly processes. But, progress was often short-lived. Read how this cable and wire harness assembler took lean manufacturing to the next level.
In the past, Arrow's manufacturing processes lacked control, structure and standardization. About 2 years ago, the company began incorporating lean manufacturing principles into its operations. However, Arrow's management thought that simply scheduling kaizen events, which are a part of lean manufacturing, would solve all or most of the company's manufacturing dilemmas. However, it learned that kaizen events alone would not provide needed results. Although improvements could be seen after each kaizen event, breakthroughs and improvements would slowly vanish. And the employees would return to their old processing habits.