LOGIN

  "The goal is to transform data into information, and information into insight." Carly Fiona

Aluminum can companies have what may be the most efficient high speed, precision production process of any industry.  A plant operation with tolerances of 1/10,000" that is producing thousands of pieces of quality product per minute, with acceptable costs, will naturally be risk adverse, and change brings risk.  That is the challenge to Chemtool as they entered the market as a supplier to the Aluminum Can Industry.  

Chemtool, Inc.'s Container Technology Group was in the fortunate position of bringing a revolutionary new technology to the market place.  The problem, after the initial reluctance of most organizations to change and being approved for a trial, is proving the actual value of the new product.  Six Sigma provides the answer:  Collect and present the requisite information for "data driven" customer decisions.

CTG's revolutionary NuSol cupper lube technology has shown marked reduction in tear-off rates in nearly all trials.  Tear-offs, or "short cans", are caused by failure of the boundary lubricant during the can ironing process, resulting in metal-to-metal contact that cause the metal of the can sidewall to tear.  Today's bodymakers (can forming machines) run at rates of 240 to 550 cans per minute.  Time to clear and re-set a bodymaker (B/M) after a tear-off varies on average by plant, but is usually 3-6 minutes.  This results in a minimal production loss of 720 cans to a maximum of 3,300 cans per tear-off incident.  The container industry operates high speed 24/7 plant production, and any loss of running time significantly impacts productivity.  Tear-offs also decrease B/M tooling life (rings and punches), with the accompanying increased cost.  Plants that have converted to CTG cupper lube have seen measurable increases in production, as well as decreased B/M tool usages. 

The customer in this particular trial had seen a marked (35%) reduction in tear-offs on the initial trial, but felt possible "outside influences" had positively impacted the evaluation, so a retrial was scheduled.  Standard Six Sigma DMAIC procedure was followed:

Define:  A successful cupper lube trial would be defined as a significant reduction in the plant tear-off rate over a week (seven day) run, with any other factors being equal or improved over the performance of the competitive material.

Measure:  All data is automatically collected in the customer plant, so baselines were available for analysis of any issues.

Analyze:  The tear-off data for the previous week (competitive material) was 0.147/10,000, and during the trial it was 0.128/10,000.

Data was made available for everything before and during the trial.

Improve:  The improvement was solely due to the cupper lube trialed, as the "outside influences" during this trial would usually have negatively impacted (increased) tear-offs.

Control:  The control plan would be to convert to CTG NuSol 177M, and maintain it within the cup lube weight specifications.

 The trial results were impressive:

 1)     Tear-off rates for 7 days - preceding the trial – 0.147/10,000 – during the 7 day trial – 0.128/10,000 - a 12.5% "statistically significant" improvement.

 2)     Coolant pH level was "more stable and capable" (Cpk 0.80 vs. 0.44)

 3)     The percentages of tramp oil and cupper lube changed during the trial, although the total oil remained the same.  The customer added bodymaker gear oil to the coolant system to maintain a "safe" tramp oil level.  Analysis by the Chemtool Lab in Crystal Lake, IL showed the tramp oil % HAD NOT CHANGED.  It was determined that the existing test procedure gave inaccurate results.  A new test procedure was developed and rolled out to the customer that eliminated the previous inaccuracy and inconsistency.

 4)     The NuSol 177M cup lube weights were more consistent, but on site CTG personnel were able to identify mechanical issues with the lubricant application (which impacted the competition), and institute corrective actions (which made the CTG lube look more in control).

 5)     Top wall concentricity (a measurement of thickness control) was "statistically similar".

 The Six Sigma data as presented to the customer left no doubt that CTG cup lube was superior and had improved the operation during the trial in spite of detrimental issues (too much tramp oil after addition, simultaneous metal trial).

 "LIFE AND DEATH ARE TWO SIDES OF THE SAME COIN, AND IT IS NOT REALLY IMPORTANT WHICH SIDE COMES UP.  WHAT'S REALLY IMPORTANT IS HOW MANY CANS YOU MAKE!"  Anonymous Process Engineer

Any questions, comments or need for additional information - please contact me:

           Bill Roetling 815-459-1250 or broetling@chemtool.com