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Resolving a sustained crisis

Client

The client company has good experience and reputation in the production of automotive safety products. The Hungarian subsidiary manufactures the products developed at the client's headquarters with the equipment of a supplier selected by the parent company.

Problem

The Hungarian subsidiary has experienced problems with the quantity and quality of production and other anomalies:

  • Communication between the parent company and the subsidiary was not smooth,
  • the technical condition and availability of the production equipment raised serious issues, which affected both production and maintenance,
  • production discipline was questionable.

Consequently, the delays and lack of quality service to customers reached such proportions that the headquarters commissioned Interim Ltd. to identify the faults and to improve the OEE, or Overall Equipment Effectiveness.

The rapid assessment carried out by Interim led to the following results:

  • There was insufficient knowledge at company level about the essence and measurement of OEE,
  • the capability and reliability of production equipment was below the level required by the industry,
  • maintenance (including TPM, i.e. Total Productive Maintenance) in the Hungarian subsidiary was inadequate or non-existent,
  • The (middle and top) managers of the Hungarian subsidiary were demotivated, spending more energy on discussions with headquarters than on improving the company's performance.

Solution

The Interim concluded that the main causes of the problems were mainly in operations (production, maintenance), so the following changes were implemented:

  • Improve the capability of production equipment by involving the supplier,
  • improving all three factors of OEE,
  • clarification and enforcement of work instructions,
  • redefining and enforcing the maintenance basics.

In addition, the Interim identified major challenges, such as the introduction of a management accountability system, motivating staff and improving cooperation between headquarters and the subsidiary. These also needed to be improved and changed.

Results

Interim Ltd. immediately put in place a programme to improve efficiency, and through daily monitoring and various measures, production efficiency has been steadily improved.

One of the two plant managers "bought-in" to the programme and the plant achieved spectacular and lasting results, with the manager still working there today. The other plant manager only appeared to support the programme, with relatively little result, and left the company shortly afterwards, leading to further efficiency gains.