Cycle time gains

Lean Tool Continuous Flow/Cycle Time Gains... 

All of these examples support the fact that lean implementations drive safety improvement even when safety is not the primary objective. And, as described earlier in this chapter, safety improvement efforts that are undertaken using lean tools, like the kaizen blitz, drive lean or cycle time gains. 

Now, back to our kaizen team. After they observe the second pass or future state work process to determine the impact of their improvements, they will be very proud of the results. What is remarkable is that they will not only recognize the safety improvements they have made, but they will also comment on and be proud of the cycle time gains that have resulted from their safety event. In two recent such safety kaizen events I facilitated, the team reduced the labor content required for the work process by 50 percent. How is that possible By making safety improvements mainly related to improving or eliminating material... 

As I stated earlier, the kaizen blitz Is the most powerful people engagement, cultural Impact tool In a lean thinker s tool kit. I hope this kaizen overview that resulted In safety Improvements, cycle time gains, and people growth helped you better understand the power of this tool to drive change. Now, let s look at the application of all of the theory, philosophy, and benefits of the kaizen blitz In an actual kaizen event held In a small manufacturing plant. 

Kaizen blitz The kaizen blitz, or a rapid continuous improvement event, is the most powerful people-development and engagement tool in a lean thinker s toolbox. Use it to focus on safety improvement rather than cycle time gains. 

The use of high flow and fast gradient HPLC has gained a lot of popularity because of the ability to reduce LC/MS/MS cycle times during bioanalysis. In the case of fast gradient HPLC, peak shapes were improved and method development times were minimized, especially when multiple analytes with diverse functionalities had to be separated. Flows as high as 1.5 to 2 mL/min were achieved on a 2.1 x 30 mm Xterra C18 column.7 Details are discussed in a recent review.8... 

Ease of processing improved flow properties and processability lead to cycle time reductions and productivity gains. 

A chromatograph must be used to detect x . A continuous PI controller is used with a gain of 1000 and an integral time of 5 min. Calculate the response of x to a unit step change in setpoint for different chromatograph cycle times (5, 10, and 20 minutes). The sampling period T, is set equal to the chromatograph cycle time. 

Determine the parameters, K, T, and Tp, in PID controller by the ultimate gain method when the ultimate gain and the oscillation cycle time, T, are 4.0 and 30 s, respectively. 

Considering case (a) and (b) of Figure 12.9, the reduction in cycle time is around 10 min, leading to a significant gain in productivity but also a substantial reduction in eluent volume to be used during a cycle. 

The optimum gradient steepness is different for the less and the more retained component. It varies with the separation factor. For the less retained component, the production rate usually reaches a plateau without a maximum and, in most cases, there is no production rate gain above G = 0.4-0.6. Although the cycle time should decrease when the gradient steepness is increased, the optimum column efficiency increases with increasing gradient steepness and these two effects compensate each other, resulting in a nearly constant cycle time. 

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