Statistical process control ensures product consistency and quality, improving customer satisfaction

Improved quality management systems increase growth

PLZ Aeroscience is North America’s largest custom aerosol manufacturer and packager. They produce their own private brand products and custom formulations and provide contract filling for other customers. PLZ has been in business for over 100 years and has undergone significant growth in the last six years. Recently, they realized that their legacy paper-based data management systems also needed to change to effectively manage

that growth.

‍

PLZ had grown through the acquisition and expansion of privately owned brands. As they combined smaller operating entities, each with their own legacy processes and systems, they needed to consolidate these legacy information systems and improve operating efficiencies. They began by implementing a common ERP system, improving their ability to schedule and track orders across all the plants in the enterprise. While that new system showed promise, there was even more riding on the company’s reputation for quality. Thus, quality data systems quickly became a focus for improvement opportunities.

‍

As the new Corporate Quality Engineer, Douglas Niemeyer realized that while the legacy quality systems had helped individual companies maintain control, there was a great opportunity for improvement by creating a more efficient corporate-wide system. Niemeyer had spent the formative years of his career in the electronics industry, where access to clean, timely data was taken for granted. At PLZ, inspectors on the shop floor wrote down quality numbers on paper, just as the individual companies had always done before. Quality team members periodically audited the floor, reviewing the data collected on paper and double-checking the line controls.

Identifying challenges and areas for improvement

While it wasn’t difficult to see if any of the numbers were out of specification, it was more challenging to understand how the product was running against the target. And it was very difficult to compare how different machines or tooling performed. Niemeyer said, “With the increasing number of products that we were trying to manage with the current level of personnel, it was very challenging to ensure everything was just being held in control.”

‍

Another big problem was that the information was stuck on the factory floor. Problems were hidden and out of sight, and Niemeyer’s team had little time to improve operations proactively. Quality staff spent a considerable amount of time managing rework when processes were out of specification. With an increased demand for transparency across all the company’s facilities, the practice of shoe-leather-based research proved to be inadequate.

‍

Using SPC to tackle rising costs, customer complaints, and poor efficiencies

On top of these inefficiencies, the PLZ quality team faced a challenge to bring staff costs in line with new corporate expectations. “We were challenged to reduce our headcount while at the same time improving our quality and productivity,” Niemeyer said. “There is no way we could achieve those conflicting demands while continuing to use our legacy systems and practices.”

‍

Rising staffing costs, customer complaints, poor efficiencies, and high inventory carrying costs impacted profitability. Quality staff spent many hours chasing last week’s problems. Meanwhile, business performance suffered as the company could not leverage economies of scale through standardization across the diverse, legacy manufacturing plants.

‍

Caught between high corporate expectations, the current reality of operating performance, and inefficient supporting data systems, something had to give.

‍

Statistical process control was key to providing timely, accurate data, leading to improved performance

PLZ decided to replace its manual, paper-based quality tracking processes with a single, state-of-the-art computerized system. With immediate access to timely, accurate quality data, it believed it could address a number of performance issues.

‍

One of the legacy plants had successfully used Hertzler Systems’s GainSeeker Suite for several years, but the corporate search team wanted due diligence to select the best solution. After a thorough competitive search, the team selected GainSeeker because they were confident it had the flexibility to handle the volume and diversity of products the company manufactured.

‍

PLZ sees immediate gains through reduction costs going automated

Implementing first on two lines at their Pacific and St. Clair, Missouri facilities, the company began to see immediate payback

from their efforts.

‍

Hertzler worked with the PLZ team to implement a custom- configured deployment of the GainSeeker Suite to match PLZ’s specific processes. Together, they set up a system to collect data on the production lines and the quality lab. Several dozen measurements were automatically collected from digital gaging equipment or posted manually using a computer keyboard. These included a variety of pre-fill and post-fill weights, pressures, container dimensions, and other measurements. In addition, operators also were given limited ability to enter key performance attributes for spray patterns, visual appearance, and so forth.

Data is now logged automatically into a single database from wherever the test is performed, either on the production floor or in a quality lab. When they enter data, operators see their data plotted on a chart. These are typically plotted separately by key variables such as filler head. This makes it very easy to see how close individual filler heads are running to target and to see (and react to) trends before they become problems.

‍

Real-time data empowers significant performance improvement

With real-time data visible and available for making better business decisions, PLZ has been able to drive significant improvements in company performance. These improvements include:

With more timely and accurate data, the company has reduced the variation in key fill weights, resulting in reduced material costs and a more consistent product.

‍

Niemeyer said, “When you have it charted, it makes it very clear what heads are functioning very well versus others with a little bit more fluctuation than what we are comfortable with. That helps draw attention from the line mechanics to looking at the specific heads needing attention so we can correct the problem sooner.”

‍

More consistent products, along with more timely information about problems, have reduced the amount of product placed on hold. Reducing products on hold means that orders are filled faster, which in turn helps cash flow. On top of that, better control of the fill process means that the company can hit its production targets more consistently, thereby reducing its dependency on warehouse inventory to meet customer order demands. This translates into reduced inventory and lower raw material costs.