This is a sample. Corvane Power Systems is not a real company, and all names and numbers are made up.
Case studiesSample report
Corvane Power Systems
Corvane Power Systems builds switchgear: tall steel cabinets full of breakers and wiring. 210 people, two shifts, more orders than it can finish. Cobalt filmed the plant for five months.
Data collected
- cameras in 11 work areas
- 38
- hours of video
- 63,800
- months, day and night shift
- 5
Metrics measured
- cabinets finished per week
- 46
- working days from start to shipping
- 23
- of cabinets pass their first electrical test
- 71%
Process improvements
- changes found, ranked by value
- 6
- total one-time cost
- $71k
- new hires needed
- 0
Impact
- cabinets finished per week
- 46 → 58
- more profit per year
- $3.9M
- working days from start to shipping
- 23 → 18
1
Best week: 61 cabinets. Average week: 46.
Same people, same equipment. The video shows where the other 15 went, worth $4.8M a year.
Cabinets finished per week
Top bar: the best 5 working days in a row. Bottom bar: the average week. Each red bar is the number of cabinets lost to one cause.
2
A cabinet spends 23 days in the plant. It is worked on for 11 hours.
The rest of the time it waits. Every failed test adds 3 days.
8 cabinets, from start to shipping
Each row is one cabinet. A colored block means the cabinet is at a work area. A gray line means it is waiting.
- Metal cutting and painting
- Frame and copper bars
- Wiring
- Electrical test
- Fixing after a failed test
- Packing
3
Cabinets pile up in front of wiring.
The map comes from the camera views. One cabinet was moved 17 times and traveled 1,940 feet.
Map of the plant
Percent of working time that someone is working in each area.
4
The fastest wiring bench takes 212 minutes. The typical bench takes 318.
The difference is getting ready. Cobalt writes the fastest bench's method into instructions every bench can use.
Minutes to wire one standard cabinet, step by step
Fastest bench compared with the typical bench, across 470 cabinets.
- Fastest bench (Bench 4)
- Typical bench
3Connect the wire ends and tighten the screwsTarget 100 minutes
A. Connect each wire to the spot printed on its label. Spot X2-14 is the one most often missed.
B. Tighten each screw with the preset screwdriver, then mark it with paint.
- Work down the connector strip from top to bottom.
- Check each label against the drawing before connecting it.
- Tighten each screw right after connecting it.
- Put a paint mark on every screw you tighten.
Most common mistake
A screw that was not tightened. It caused 104 of the 290 failed tests. A screw with no paint mark has not been tightened.
5
29% of cabinets fail their first electrical test.
Most failures are loose screws and wires in the wrong spot.
Why cabinets failed their first electrical test
290 failures out of 1,000 cabinets tested. Each failure was traced on video to the step where the mistake was made.
Each failed cabinet takes about 3 hours to fix and adds about 3 working days before it ships.
6
Three kinds of cabinet are priced below what they cost to build: $553k a year.
The cameras measured the real hours. The prices assume fewer.
Labor hours per cabinet, estimated compared with measured
Estimated: the hours used to set the price. Measured: the hours recorded on video.
- Estimated
- Measured, more than estimated
- Measured, less than estimated
7
Six changes: +12 cabinets a week, $3.9M a year.
Together they cost $71k once and need no new hires. Click a change to see what it adds.
Click a change to turn it on or off.
- Cabinets finished per week
- 58.2
- now 46
- Profit added per year
- $3.9M
- now $0
- Working days from start to shipping
- 18.2
- now 23
- One-time cost
- $71k
- no new hires
- 1
Deliver a full parts kit to each wiring bench
- Cabinets added per week
- +4.1
- Profit added per year
- $1.3M
- One-time cost
- $38k
- Pays for itself in
- 2 weeks
Walking at the benches cut about in half - 2
Tighten screws with a preset tool, and check the work before testing
- Cabinets added per week
- +3
- Profit added per year
- $960k
- One-time cost
- $9k
- Pays for itself in
- Under a week
Cabinets passing their first test: from 71% to about 88% - 3
Have every bench wire the way the fastest bench does
- Cabinets added per week
- +2
- Profit added per year
- $640k
- One-time cost
- $0
- Pays for itself in
- Nothing to pay back
- 4
Stagger breaks in the test area so testing never stops
- Cabinets added per week
- +1.6
- Profit added per year
- $512k
- One-time cost
- $0
- Pays for itself in
- Nothing to pay back
- 5
Keep the most-used parts next to the wiring benches
- Cabinets added per week
- +1.1
- Profit added per year
- $352k
- One-time cost
- $24k
- Pays for itself in
- 4 weeks
- 6
Stop design changes once wiring has started
- Cabinets added per week
- +0.4
- Profit added per year
- $128k
- One-time cost
- $0
- Pays for itself in
- Nothing to pay back
8
The cameras keep measuring after the report.
The plant sees whether each change worked, and can ask questions answered from the video.
Cabinets finished per week, before and after the changes
An example of what tracking looks like, not a forecast. Each change is marked in the week it started.
Why did we finish only 7 cabinets on Thursday?
Three reasons, largest first:
- Test station 1 was down for 3 hours 10 minutes while its test equipment was replaced. That cost about 2 cabinets.
- Two motor control cabinets failed the test because of loose screws and went back to wiring. That cost about 1 cabinet.
- Four wiring benches waited a total of 2 hours 40 minutes for parts kits after 1pm.
11 video clips attached.
Setup takes one week. The first report arrives in week two.
This report is for a made-up plant. Cobalt makes the same report for a real plant, using the plant's own cameras or cameras Cobalt installs.