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46 ISE Magazine | www.iise.org/ISEmagazine There's a method to this engineering thing a large, curved surface. Before that could happen, employees would soak the ve- neer in water to make it soft, as it is a very thin and expensive material. Glue would then be sprayed on the outside surface of the curved part, which looked like a shell. After gluing down the veneer, work- ers put weights on top to make sure the gluing remained uniform and left no air pockets. This was left for eight hours before the weights were removed and checked to make sure the process worked. Working with a tooling engineer, an ISE developed a bonding tool that glued the parts together. The shell was held by the tool and sprayed with glue. The ve- neer was spread over the shell and locked in place using a specially designed tool to ensure good bonding, cutting the cycle time from eight to three hours. In another case, workers installed a piece of furniture that included a coffee maker, food warmer and other gadgets. This piece of furniture has a decorative piece on top between the furniture and a cover. It is called a headliner, and is similar to a piece that is installed in au- tomobiles. In an automobile, the piece is located above the driver's head and runs from the front to the back in the interior of the vehicle. During installation, the decorative piece must be trimmed to the correct height to match the curved contour of the headliner. To do this, the technician placed the decorative piece on top of the furniture inside the aircraft and trans- ferred the contour of the headliner on to it before bringing it outside the aircraft for trimming. This process involved lots of guesswork and skill and often had to be repeated, which took time. To improve this process, an ISE devel- oped a simple tool that first determines the contour of the headliner inside the aircraft. This information was brought out of the aircraft and transferred to the decorative piece, which allowed the technician to trim the edge as close as possible. The final trimming was done easily and eliminated all guesswork in the process. This also saved time. Generally, the furniture that goes in- side an aircraft is built without paint for pre-fitting inside the plane. The furni- ture then is taken inside and installed to ensure that it matches the interior con- figuration and is acceptable cosmetically. Later, the furniture is removed and dis- assembled for painting. After painting, the pieces are reassembled and installed inside the aircraft. This additional step obviously has an impact on cycle time. It was possible through simplification and standardiza- tion to eliminate this additional step and cut down on cycle time by 15 percent. This is more relevant in cases where cy- cle time is spread over three months or more for a product. Another case involves an assembly plant, where a gasket was used in sealing a door that was assembled on a product. The gaskets came in on rolls from a vendor before they were issued to the operators. The roll was placed on the floor. The operator removed paper back- ing from the roll and placed the gasket on the door. This process created prob- lems, and it was difficult for employees to handle the roll. A fixture with a guide was designed, which allowed workers to mount the roll and easily unwind it. The entire contraption was attached to a work table, which eliminated all the handling problems associated with the process. Another example involved assem- bling electrical components on a sheet metal plate. The operator had to visu- ally check and locate components on the plate and then install fasteners. This was very difficult for any operator and required good hand-eye coordination. This time, the industrial improvement came from a special self-locating jig de- signed by an ISE, who worked along with the tool room. This allowed all the components to be placed and assembled together without the need for effort to align them during the assembly process. Another gasket case involved gluing the gasket to a component. This com- ponent was a casting mounted on a housing, and it acted as a door. To pre- vent water from entering the housing, employees placed a square gasket along a grooved edge in the door. Glue was applied along the groove, and then the gasket was placed in it for bonding. Developing a simple fixture allowed employees to place the gasket in the fixture. Glue was applied along the gasket inside the surface. The hous- ing was placed on the gasket to ensure good bonding by taking advantage of the weight of the door. It also reduced bonding time by half and ensured con- sistency in bonding the gasket to the component. A payback to this method Using methods engineering to im- prove processes has a positive impact on throughput and productivity. There are myriad ways to improve processes, all depending on cost and benefit con- siderations. Methods engineering forms an integral part of every type of process improvement, including lean manufac- turing philosophy. This should become part of your organizational DNA, and everyone in the enterprise should be encouraged to think and be part of the change process. Methods engineering, if wisely used with value engineering and other im- provement tools, will significantly im- prove throughput and reduce the cost of manufactured products. Payback is greatest in cases of labor-intensive pro- cesses. Raj Sa e is a dustrial e gi eer with more tha 0 years of experie ce i a ufactur- i g i volved i peratio al improveme ts i differe t sectors. He has worked as a i dus- trial a d mecha ical e gi eer i erospace a d automotive compa ies. He spe t more tha 5 years co sulti g about productivity improveme ts i usi esses i dia. He has bachelor's degrees i math, physics, chemistry a d i dustrial e gi eeri g from u iversities i I dia. He is worki g o is MBA.