Automation projects at Pratt & Whitney Component Solutions not only support UTC’s “Smart Factory” initiative, but are helping drive a culture of employee empowerment and inclusion, all in an effort to reduce cost, increase speed and improve quality and safety. The projects support the overhaul and repair of approximately 11,000 variable vane parts each month for several Pratt & Whitney engine models and include auto-engraving, auto-inspection and auto-machine loading. Each project began in the fourth quarter of 2018 as part of a broader effort to determine where automation could benefit the business in Singapore.
“These projects are helping to keep us ahead of the competition as a preferred supplier and allowing for further business growth and improved customer satisfaction through advanced technology initiatives,” said Joo-Liang Tan, manager, Quality Assurance.
“Equally important, our teams of cross-functional, salaried and hourly employees better understand the path that future factories will take having experienced these projects’ challenges and successes,” Tan said. “It’s been an opportunity for employees to upgrade their skills and knowledge by not only working with new operations systems, but also having their ideas around work flow incorporated into new processes. It’s a step-change from taking and implementing instructions to being highly participative in the change process by adopting new automation technology.”
The auto-machine loading initiative uses collaborative robot technology to automatically load and unload parts, thereby optimizing machine utilization, improving productivity and reducing ergonomic risk due to repetitive motion. The improvement came about when a cross-functional team attended an automation conference last year and found an opportunity to automate the machining process.
“The previous manual operation increased the chance of mistakes that could affect the quality of the product,” said Stanley Wee, manager, ACE. “And there was significant waiting time after the part is being loaded into the machine, a non-value-added activity. The automation has optimized work on the machine, which can now operate at night or on weekends without a person being there, resulting in a 10% increase in machine utilization, savings of 5,800 man-hours annually and better on-time delivery.”
To combat a recurring engraving problem with correct part and repair identification, a team from Quality, Engineering, IT and shop inspection collaborated on a system that uses SAP data to enable correct identification to be engraved automatically. “The biggest challenge has been the development of an in-house IT program,” Tan said. Shop inspectors and user experience also resulted in the added benefits of reducing noise and ergonomic hazards over manual engraving.
To reduce the laborious task and human error with inspection, a customized auto-inspection system was developed, consisting of a collaborative robot arm and an optical measuring unit using back-lighted illumination technology. This process eliminated the need for manual measurements, reducing multi-point measurement time by 80% and saving some 2,200 work hours annually, with no human error.
“This was a shop-floor driven initiative that generated very positive results,” Wee said. “The project team believes it has ownership in turning its ideas to reality, a main driver that motivated the team to push forward toward success.”
“The common denominator is that all three projects involved employees from the shop floor,” Wee said. “Empowerment and engagement have been the key and produced dramatic results. Utilizing automation across our operations not only results in better part quality and a higher output, it involves employees in team-based decisions and allows us to transfer some to higher-value work that better utilizes their skills. Our goal now is to push the envelope and explore other ways we can use automation to the benefit of the business.”