While medical device manufacturing has fared slightly better than many broad industries in terms of maintaining and growing jobs, the growth could be moving even more rapidly if not for challenges in attracting and hiring skilled workers while unemployment remains near 3.7% nationally.
From an employer perspective, we can no longer assume competitive pay alone will be enough to attract and retain the level of quality employees we need to move our businesses forward. We need to think about the day-to-day work and experience our team will have in their career. This concern is important at all levels of the workforce, ranging from newer, less experienced inspectors through to highly-skilled programmers and engineers. At Lowell, we have made significant shifts in working to create the best possible experience and environment for our team by leveraging technology to enhance their experience while also identifying better efficiency and savings in the production of quality components for our customers.
Reducing Inspection Time Through Automation
As an example, one critical area that has driven important employee opportunities is the implementation of automation tools in reducing the time and costs of inspection. Rather than requiring 100 percent manual inspection of every piece, leveraging camera systems with optical character recognition can help reduce significant staff time. Given the ability to capture every required detail needed for an inspection, automated solutions provide significant advantages versus traditional hand inspection.Less Human Inspection Time
One of the most critical benefits of advancing inspection techniques via technology is that we can free up time for our inspectors to continue to focus on other lots while basic functionality can be automated. As an example, if an employee can program and utilize the Vision Engineering inspection system rather than checking each bone screw with a caliper by hand, there are no repetitive stress injuries over time, and we see a time savings of approximately one and a half hours per lot of five hundred screws.
In my experience, I’ve observed that by automating the most mundane manual inspections, we have reduced the throughput time needed for final inspection, curtailed human errors, and decreased the risk of repetitive strain injuries. This allows our inspectors to focus on critical features and to focus on the more exciting work of programming the equipment, which all adds to associate satisfaction and retention.
Greater Accuracy Versus Manual Inspection
Over time, anyone can miss a point of data as part of a visual inspection. By using technology that simply captures information differently than humans do, we are able to increase the consistency and confidence of an inspection process.
Higher Employee Satisfaction and Improved Company Results
By allowing our team to move away from some of the more mundane aspects of their role, they have expressed greater satisfaction with their jobs, which is a critical factor in the retention of quality employees. The costs associated with finding, training, and ramping up staff are always significant and even more disruptive right now given the job market factors outlined previously.
We have also been able to elevate our team thanks to this approach by using time saved on routine efforts to help train them to be able to perform more advanced tasks such as learning the programming of new machines and tools. By training and supporting a more advanced staff, a company can save significant costs with a high-performing, multi-talented team rather than hiring a large number of baseline inspectors who are limited to basic hand inspection tasks.
Software’s Role
Another opportunity to consider in streamlining inspection processes is utilizing software advances to more quickly get to market.
3D Model-Based Definition (3D MBD)
MBD allows the design engineer to relate part GD&T (geometric dimensioning and tolerancing) to the manufacturer through CAD instead of multiple pages of prints. We can then leverage those callouts while programming PC-DMIS and SmartProfile projects, thus reducing the time it takes to program and eliminating misunderstanding the dimensioning of specific features.
Saving Time with Automated Macros
Automated macros can save critical time in analyzing enormous amounts of data at one time. Macros can be created for a range of analysis programs such as JMP or Minitab, which are commonly used by medical device manufacturers. In using scripts and macros, an involved process that might have required up to a thousand clicks can be streamlined to a few dozen. Lowell built PQ-it, an automated data analysis macro that has allowed us to shave hours of analysis time from complex devices while enhancing our accuracy.
Profile Tolerancing Utilizing SmartProfile Scripting Processes
Many medical companies require profile dimensioning, so we collect the point cloud using the CMM or VMS systems and import those into SmartProfile software. We have written Python scripts to automatically process that data set and compare the point cloud to the CAD model with the given profile tolerances. The script opens the project, imports the point cloud, aligns it to the CAD model, processes to the given GD&T callouts, and saves each project with the part number, job number, and even serial number of each part all autonomously.
Automation and Innovation: Hand-in-Hand
The economic road ahead is still uncertain, and manufacturing will continue to be a critical area of focus for our industry and country. By acting now to identify and address the challenges your employees face in their ongoing quality processes, you can make your business stronger and more efficient. Automation technology exists to make a tremendous difference in customer delivery, employee retention and satisfaction, and your bottom line.
Reference
Brad Traczyk is the orthopedic quality manager at Lowell Inc., a leading contract manufacturer of complex orthopedic and cardiovascular implants. Traczyk started at Lowell in 2000, after six years as a night shift machinist. Showing interest in the CMM machines, he was trained to be a CMM programmer. While in the CMM lab, Traczyk helped implement a robot to tend the CMMs while he programmed PC-DMIS offline and designed fixturing utilizing 3D printing technology. In 2019, Traczyk accepted his current role, which has allowed him to continue his work in developing and integrating technology that better utilizes Lowell’s inspection equipment and associate’s skill sets.