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Innovate for speed and safety
Geoff Samuel, Production Technician, MPE explains how Multotec cultivates an innovative working environment.
The perfect recipe to cultivate an innovative working environment includes these three ingredients:
- Motivating an innovative culture. This replaces the fear of failure with the joy of learning and experimentation.
- Innovation should form part of an organisation’s culture by design and intent. Performance management and reward systems could be used to escalate the profile of innovation and problem-solving. Many innovations lie hidden in shortcomings. Innovations are often disguised as problems.
- Pressure can be created drive innovations in an organisation. A case in point is Google, where employees are required to spend 20 % of their work time developing innovations. With an openness to new ideas, at all levels, innovative culture is flexible, adaptable and experimental. Organisations with an innovative culture tend to be flat, less hierarchical, with less emphasis on titles and status.
Speed innovation: New welding jigs on assembly of 2 x 1 for GGV and 2 x 1 for Multotec Mozambique
Problem: Too much handling and turning of product and low speed throughput on their weld station.
Innovation: The welding manipulator. It features a hand brake for safety, ensuring the product does not fall onto the welder’s feet. It enables steering wheel type rotation for easy turning of product while it is hot, negating a pause to enable the welder to lift and turn the panel. The speed and quality of welding is much improved as the welder works smarter. Welder satisfaction is increased as his or her work is made lighter. Due to this improvement, the welder can easily weld an extra 15 panels a day.
Safety innovation: Splitting cage at preparation section
Problem: At the wedge wire preparation section, we split open cylinders to make other products. The splitting station is very dangerous, due to the grinder operation and the cylinders springing open when being cut. Here, we were still using an old cage for protection, which was broken and repaired many times.
Innovation: The redesign and re-enforcement of a stronger, safer cage to hold the cylinders. This cage has a slow-release system, and can also push the cylinders at the back, so that they do not spring open. The job has been completed and the operation is now safer.
