Introduction: Scaling Up for Manufacturing Success
ZX Lidars is a UK-based company, which delivers remote wind-sensing devices – known as Lidar. Since releasing the first commercial wind Lidar 15 years ago, ZX Lidars’ measurement systems have been used in 80 countries worldwide. In response to the continued, increasing demand for more accurate wind measurements in the development, construction and operation of wind farms worldwide, we needed a step change in our manufacturing capability and facilities to prepare the company for its next stage of growth.
In 2017, we officially opened the largest dedicated Wind Lidar Production Centre in Europe. The Centre is complete with electronics and optical assembly clean rooms for producing, testing and servicing laser-based Lidar units. Our purpose-redeveloped site also features new research and development studios and is part of a wider facility that includes the first Remote Sensing Test Site in the UK, located near Pershore, Worcestershire.
This paper will discuss the development of our new Wind Lidar Production Centre. We will reveal our initial goals for the project, which include incorporating a new manufacturing facility and philosophy while increasing our production capacity by a factor of three. We will introduce the management consultancy firm NAGA Consultancy, who we worked closely with to achieve these goals through their expertise across all aspects of manufacturing and the lean principles of operations.
We will take you through the design process for the facility, explain the lean manufacturing ethos we adopted to drive productivity gains and discuss the challenges we faced throughout the lifecycle of the facility’s development and deployment.
We will reveal the benefits of the Wind Lidar Production Centre to both ZX Lidars’ business and our customers and how it allows us to scale with the growing wind industry and contribute to the UK economy for many years to come.
Developing the New Centre
The development of the Wind Lidar Production Centre was a staged process. It started with identifying a series of primary goals for this project, including the establishment a new manufacturing philosophy across ZX Lidars. This philosophy should ensure that we have the right skill sets, right infrastructure and right tooling to satisfy our clients’ requirements.
In order to understand the requirements, an initial consultation between ZX Lidars’ business leaders took place to understand the scope, timeline and budget requirements. The current state of the value stream was investigated, and any wasted activity identified to help envisage and improve the future value stream. Nevertheless, a degree of flexibility had to be incorporated during this evaluation stage as ZX Lidars was in the process of creating a new product stream.
Design and Iteration
Schematics of the ideal production flow were created and the proposed floor plan was laid out in the open, unfurnished factory space using temporary signage and with the proposed materials to visualise the atheistic and ergonomic layout. From here, changes were incorporated into the final design and workstations and fixed furniture committed to.
The aesthetics of the facility were to be minimalistic and flexible, and hot desking solutions were also sought. Visual meeting rooms were designed and the manufacturing flow (from part assembly, through to testing and then to final assembly and testing) was created.
A range of other considerations had to be taken into account at this stage. For example, action was taken to increase the levels of cleanliness as the product flows through the facility and a containment-free working environment was, consequently, included in the design.
The design of the Centre was also future proofed by incorporating flexible design practices, for example; the power and communication requirements. This adaptability of the space enables the future growth and expansion of ZX Lidars’ production facility.
Finally, the 5S lean manufacturing system was introduced from the onset of the facility’s conception.
As a first step toward our move to lean manufacturing, only the required materials, tooling and products were transferred to the new facility and work benches with specific tooling requirements were identified and established.
A Seamless Transition to the New Centre
The Wind Lidar Production Centre was officially opened in 2017. However, as with any change to a business, the development and introduction of our new manufacturing facility presented a range of challenges to ZX Lidars.
Aside from budget controls normal to a project, the main challenge was the seamless transfer from the old facility to the new facility without stopping operations and customer support activities. To overcome this issue, minimum buffer stocks were strategically built to lessen the impact on the build activity during this period. A transitional move was then made with the support of our production team. This move was completed over a period of just three days and no manufacturing section was stopped for more than two hours at a given point in time.
A full site preparation for an ISO Audit Transition was also necessary to ensure that the new facility and manufacturing approach met our existing quality management system (QMS). Using the existing framework for ZX Lidars’ QMS, we ensured we remained fully compliant.
Once opened, the new facility has greatly enhanced the cleanliness of our manufacturing environment. We now operate a clean room policy with check points to minimise the risk of particulates entering the facility. There are three separate sectioned off zones, including a final zone where the testing and integration of Lidars is completed in a positive pressure environment in order to further reduce particulate ingress.
Overcoats, clean room shoes and hairnets are also used to further enhance the facility’s cleanliness.
Finally all cardboard- and paper-based component packaging is removed at the point of entry.
The building itself also incorporates a lot of natural light and the lighting systems were carefully designed to maximise the visibility and flexibility of the facility.
A Lean, Flexible Solution
The Wind Lidar Production Centre has embraced the fundamental building blocks of the lean philosophy and, as a result, this ethos has become part of the wider company culture.
Consequently, the new Centre is a self-contained facility, adopting a clean visual approach. It embraces concepts of lean thinking and adds value at its core.
This lean culture is clearly demonstrated in the layout of the Wind Lidar Production Centre, which was designed with flexibility at its heart. As a result, this will enable ZX Lidars to adapt, grow and introduce new products and services in the future, without the need to increase the facility’s footprint or complete another redesign of the manufacturing space. For example, dynamic point-of-use storage solutions, modular benches and build stations have been used, which allow the build sequence and the infrastructure to be readily adapted. This means you can easily change the layout of the manufacturing space to match the production needs of a new product within a couple of hours. The adaptable build process has enabled the product to flow in an improved manner, greatly reducing the waste, walk-in rates and build process times.
Savings across the board
Since the new facility came on line, we have realised significant reduction in build time and a matched improvement in output in new build activity. Product support has been able to double the number of units being serviced.
All of this was achieved with no increase to the company’s headcount and with less than one year of manufacturing at the new facility. We expect this success to continue and grow in the years ahead.
Everything Under One Roof
The production and product support teams, which were previously split across several areas, have combined into one functioning team. This brings a wealth of skills and knowledge into one space, and this also greatly enhances the client experience. All of our expertise is now available on tap thanks to the new layout.
The new facility also incorporates the supply chain team and procurement teams, which brings an agility to the availability of parts used in the manufacturing process.
It’s not just that the teams are working in one environment. From part supply through to the build process, testing and finally packaging ready to ship, the whole manufacturing process is now located under one roof and this has allowed us to scale up our production rates.
As a result, the reduced manufacturing time for new builds has enabled our commercial teams to offer vastly improved lead times. This is thanks to the ability to increase the skill base by joining valuable team members under one roof. As a result, we can respond to client needs in a far more timely fashion.
The Right Expertise Gets the Best Result
This change programme has been instrumental in helping our teams to embrace new manufacturing principles and the wider lean philosophy. For example, once the Centre opened, our staff had to move from building Lidar units in batches, to singular unit builds as the primary method of production. Mindset and cultural changes needed to be overcome to embrace this new way of thinking and the new production philosophy.
This challenge was approached by coaching and working both with individuals and within ZX Lidars’ teams. This helped to ensure everyone understood the concept of lean thinking and the wider goals of adding value through the continuous improvement of the manufacturing environment.
Practical examples of the 5S methodology and process improvement were often used to demonstrate these benefits. We also worked with the suppliers to find avenues to improve their methods using lean manufacturing principles and our processes were revised to identify further ways to remove waste and add value. Tackling and resolving supplier issues at the root and better utilisation of resources were key activities.
By engaging with the right people at the right time, the best knowledge was applied to overcome any identified issues. Not only did this further optimise our manufacturing processes, it also provided ownership for individuals and teams using the new Centre.
Conclusion
The Wind Lidar Production Centre will cater for existing ZX Lidars product models, future products and creates a step change in manufacturing capacity – the Centre positions the company for its next stage of growth. Using lean manufacturing principles and industry expertise, the facility has enabled ZX Lidars to realise a significant reduction in build time and matched improvement in output in new build activity.
From a wider perspective, the Centre is testament to ZX Lidars’ commitment to investment in the UK’s supply chain and we also expect to further contribute to the UK economy through new job creation. Our increased production capacity now allows us to scale alongside the wind industry as it too continues to scale.