The company's shaver division needed to shorten its product development cycle and quickly reconfigure its assembly lines to accommodate new shaver models. One goal called for reducing assembly time per unit. To meet this challenge, the Wallduern plant set out to remake its shaver production process around a flexible assembly line that would deliver the needed manufacturing improvements.
One serious shortcoming in the former system was unacceptable downtime. This resulted from the custom-built fixed bowl feeders used to supply 60 different parts to the shaver line. The bowl feeders were constantly jamming or misfeeding, causing numerous stops.