Case Studies

Company Background

Castle Lead Works (CLW) is a leading manufacturer of lead products in South Africa. Founded almost a century ago in 1933, CLW has positioned itself as one of the most prominent and celebrated lead-product manufacturers in the country, producing a wide array of products like lead anodes, sheeting, extrusions, wire etc.

Project Scope

• This project involved the redesign and re-layout of the horizontal press division at Castle Lead Works.
• It consisted of removing a walled section of the plant, optimising forklift routing, instantiating one-piece flow between the workstations, removing various forms of waste as well as some additional environmental and safety goals.

Project Outcomes

• A steel partition within the facility was removed, availing 72 square metres of floor space. 9.5 tonnes of steel have been recycled to fund the removal process. An increase in natural light and ventilation has made the environment more pleasurable to work in.
• Due to the increase in space, it was possible to rearrange the workstations to promote a one-piece flow system. Forklifts are no longer required within the process itself – only to deliver raw materials and to evacuate finished goods. Parts now travelled on rollers between workstations, thus eliminating motion, transport and waiting waste. Forklift travel distance has decreased by 350m per day.
• Safety has been promoted as the entire process is now visible from any point within the building, there is a reduction in motion, as well as segregating operators from all forklifts, which reduces a top risk within the plant. Overall exposure to lead has been reduced within the department.
• Operators non-value adding time is reduced from 225 minutes to 20 minutes by removing offloading, forklift waiting time as well as walking to workstation time. This, coupled with the one-piece flow initiative has significantly increased throughput capacity.
• All relevant machines, stock and workstations have been demarcated on the floor, all walls have been painted and cleaned as well as all necessary Visual Management boards and best practises have been implemented making the building a model area for LEAN implementation.

Impacts

Due to the removal and recycling of the steel partition, the initiative was largely a self-funded exercise. A major impact was made on the working conditions within the facility, as well as promoting safety. Prominent wastes have been eliminated and capacity was greatly increased. LEAN best practices were since implemented, and a simple re-layout project has completely shifted the company culture towards LEAN and its value in the business.

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