DecTek is a progressive manufacturer of polyurethane resin domed badges (often referred to as domed labels or domed stickers) which are used extensively for product branding and corporate badging. There were a number of issues identified by all areas of production as common causes for non-conformance

• Wasted time looking for information/product/stock
• Short lead time; late availability of information or stock, or quick orders cause disruption to the work schedule
• Re-print of short run; due to quality problems or more frequently administrative issues on order numbers or incorrect counting
• Breakdown; the cost of maintenance is a burden, but less than that associated with unexpected repair (which often shortens the machine life), and much less costly than the lack of availability of machine time, which is perceived to be a frequent issue
• Stock not in; when unexpected stock-outs occur due to high demand or unusual requests

These are natural stumbling points for every manufacturing company. Proposals for action to reduce the cost of non-conformance include:

• Waste removal exercises, considering lean manufacturing tools such as single piece work flow, continuous improvement (5S) and standard operating procedures (SOP’s). In this case, just the appropriate application of information management will achieve this.
• Total preventative maintenance – organisation of machine first line maintenance, cleaning lubrication calibration etc… to reduce the level of unexpected breakdown
• Orderbook analysis to determine appropriate ‘safety’ stock levels
• Key performance indicator monitoring – time/quantity recordings to calculate the target over-run quantity that would prevent the need for the majority of re-prints due to poor quality
• Information management to reduce the time required to plan daily work and collate all the order information required