Welding workshop efficiency

[haks79]

I am not sure if this is the right forum to discuss this but no harm. We have an oilfield fabrication workshop and having difficulty in finding a magic number that would tell us our efficiency at any point in time. The end goal is to know at each point in time - depending on how many projects we have - how many welders do we need. Our projects vary in complexity and we do not want to rely on estimation to measure efficiency. That is already in place but who knows if estimation is efficient? We are trying workpacks to improve but it is not the answer we are looking for.

 

The best way would be a ratio of manhours spent per Kg but that is difficult to measure as mentioned each project is different in complexity. Another thing we are trying is to measure at the end of the month the cost of labour / revenue excluding material cost. This measure is not fast enough!

 

Any suggestions?

[Roostmonkey]

Theres no magic solution for your problem. With projects of varying complexity, comes varying turnaround times. If you made the same widget over and over, you would know how many welders it took to make X amount of parts in Y amount of time. Nearly every job is different in my shop. I maintain a set number of welders and vary the delivery times according to the present workload. Only when delivery's get unacceptable, do I bring in more help.

It sounds like your company needs a person to constantly manage that aspect and hire/layoff as needed. Good luck.

[BillZ260]

You could try to develop a standard set of processes with time standards by size or something like that, and apply those standards against each job that comes in.

 

Typically it is pretty difficult to set up standards in a job shop but I'm sure there are some folks that have a process. Check out some of the Lean forums, i'll bet you'll find some ideas there.

[MONGO510]

The bean counter should have an unfortunate fatal accident! LOL

[johnc]

For just weld time its:

 

WT = (linear feet * deposition rate) * fudge factor.

 

For preparation its:

 

PT = linear feet / (grinding feet per hour + cleaning fph)

 

For fabrication its:

 

FT = (estimation + wild ass guess) / (experience + luck)

[MAG58]

For fabrication its:

 

FT = (estimation + wild ass guess) / (experience + luck)

 

I don't think there have been wiser words stated by a fabricator.

[Dayz]

As Bill said, you should look into Lean / Six Sigma. We have done a few project, where the variables looked similar, the goal was to "standardize processes" in order to optimize a work week / efficiency.

 

I believe there is an answer to your question, and YES you can calculate it precisely...It just depends on the data that you have at the present time. PM me if you want more info.

 

Dayz

[johnc]

I've always questioned if the money spent on Six Sigma, ISO9000, and other standardized process improvement efforts pay off in comparison with just hiring and properly compensating really smart and hard working people. I feel this is especially true if the projects taken on by the company (fabrication, software development, etc.) are not repetitive. If everything being done is custom, then having smart and hard working people (and getting out of their way) will yield better results for the company and the customer.

 

There tends to be a lot of groupthink and waste around Six Sigma and the overhead costs are pretty high. My wife is going through Six Sigma training at her work and about 50% of her time in this training has nothing to do with her current or any future positions she might hold in the company. The rest she already knows and is performing as part of her natural inclination to the the job correctly. The training is wasting about 5% of her available work time each month and she is expected to make up that time difference on her own. Its building a lot of resentment within the company.

[MAG58]

As someone who's been through Six Sigma and ISO9K and all that jazz, I can tell you that in theory they're fantastic systems. So was communism, in theory. Unfortunately the majority of company leaders are incompetent enough to make them useless. They're hardly ever applied effectively and as you said, just hiring a few intelligent people and paying them what they're worth will get you much farther than trying to implement any of these new fad systems.

[Silver Mine Motors]

i'm minoring in systems operations managment. basically in order to be effiecient you need to be building the same wigets over and over again. if your going to be building many different things only once or a few times then you can't really be effient. base your effieicecy from experience. or start producing the same things.

 

right now it sounds like your running a shop that does individual jobs. these types of shops are known to be ineffient. ford assembly lines are a good example of being extrely efficient. they make the same parts constantly. they know exactley how long it takes to make every parts and they can measure basically everything with that information.

[Tony D]

You guys are discussing two different things: Production Welding, and Artisanship.

 

If it's from prints it's one thing.

If it's from a rough sketch and 'conceptual discussions' it's entirely another.

 

6 Sigma is good for meetings with Doughnuts. You can apply it to shop floor layout, and tooling so that the environment is as efficient as possible. That is probably the most you can hope for unless you are willing to invest heavily on skills training for TCN's which may or may not appreciate your investment in them, and leave at the end of contract to use all your nice efficiency training to great effect for your competitior. I see those ads in the paper all the time: "So-and-So has left the company with his passport in breach of his employment agreement, and is sponsored by So-and-So Company, anybody employing him is doing so illegally."

 

Like JohnC said: skilled fabricators are your best bet towards efficiency---if you get out of their way and give them a good working environment with proper setup areas, tooling, etc. they can be very effective.

 

Most inefficiencies in the stated country (or is that emirate...) can be traced to employment agencies not really screening their TCN's really well, so you get a guy that SAYS he is a welder (electrician?, mechanic?, yes yes yes, I can do it all yes yes yes!) but that meant he spent 2 years laying bead in a Bangalore Factory until a robotic welder replaced him. He never did any prepwork, never any setup, they just came by on jigs and he laid down the bead with his MIG or Sick. They can lay great beads, but ask them to set anything up, or use their better judgement if they see an area that may require an extra gussett or thicker fillet...FORGET IT!

 

Add to that a shop that isn't climate controlled (you think I'm joking?) and you have the formula for a job that will take forever. GM's assembly plant was AirConditioned out in Kansas. Beancounters really didn't like that idea, none of their other plants were A/C'd at the time. Found in short order that efficiency swings throughout the seasonal changes were MUCH more controllable, and that overall production efficiency was higher there than anywhere else. Most of it was attributed to the comfort zone on the floor and being the proper temperature.

 

I am constantly told to slow down in-country by TCN's who work at a much slower pace. They don't drink as much water as I do, either. Which do you want? A lower water bill, or work done quickly and efficiently? Don't overlook the importance of aven marginal improvements in working environment at your shop. Small things like water cooler stations on the production floor can greatly increase productivity.

 

I'm sure if Demming were alive, he could analyze your process and figure out a way to do what you want. But there is no shortcut. Catagorize the steps in the process (think macro, not micro), quantify them in terms of manpower and expected scheduling, then set goals and keep track on if you meet them or not. If not, why not? Eventually you will ask enough questions through the process to increase efficiency and workflow. And this comes back to what John C said earlier again: Skilled Fabricators need to be 'left alone'---during these questioning sessions, ASK THE PEOPLE ON THE FLOOR WHAT THEY NEED OR WOULD DO TO MAKE THE JOB GO FASTER. They know their jobs FAR better than most people think (managers, that is) and can be invaluable as a tool to improving workflows.

 

Nobody WANTS to do a bad job, if they feel they have input to give that will make a concrete improvement (and maybe make their life easier in the process) rest assured they will speak up. Workers being ignored and not given a chance to improve their environment is a sure blueprint for discontented and non-productive (or under-productive) workers. Most people want to take pride in the work they do, but if they don't feel they have any input towards making what they think may be abad product better...they withdraw and 'work to rule' and you get what you get.

 

Good Luck!

[haks79]

I came up with something interesting and started noticing improvement:

 

plotted a chart that shows: Labor cost / (Revenue - material cost x material margin)

 

since labor cost had a fixed and a variable part it is always changing with projects and taking the material cost and it's margin out of the equation showed the real return on labor. it doesn't really prove efficiency but may be effectiveness against proposals and estimation!

[Snailed]

If everything being done is custom, then having smart and hard working people (and getting out of their way) will yield better results for the company and the customer.

 

 

Why can't some business owners/managers realize this? It seems like logic but it's somewhat rare to find someone smart enough to let the people he hired, do what they do.

[johnc]

Why can't some business owners/managers realize this? It seems like logic but it's somewhat rare to find someone smart enough to let the people he hired, do what they do.

 

Its mentally risky for business owner to do this. In essence he is turning over control of the operations part of the company to his employees. Until a lot of trust develops (going both ways) its probably not going to happen. Its a big mental step to go from "Its MY company" to "Its OUR company."

[WizardBlack]

Its mentally risky for business owner to do this. In essence he is turning over control of the operations part of the company to his employees. Until a lot of trust develops (going both ways) its probably not going to happen. Its a big mental step to go from "Its MY company" to "Its OUR company."

The problem is, the foundation of a good business starts with owners who are smart and flexible. If the owner is rather limited in skills, then they will possibly try to limit the employees. I am an owner of several businesses (I am second generation) and I have been brought up in the businesses to be a jack of all trades. Learn skills quickly, understand how to talk to your people (and listen), be flexible, do whatever is needed to get the job done. I have done everything from estimating projects that span 3~5 years and gross seven figures per year to plunging toilets and everything in between. While a good book of business, nice software, good equipment, nice facilities, etc. really help out, I would rather lose all of that than lose some of my people. I am ALWAYS looking for people that are smart/adaptive/flexible/hard working.

To the OP, you need to find someone who understands a bit of the specific industry (welding in this case) and has an idea of how to estimate stuff. Basic formulae such as listed above would be intuitive to someone who has experience with estimating but only experience in another industry. Most of it is going to be part intuitive (same thing as "wild ass guess" factor about) unless you have past data to hone it down.