This Lean case study details problem solving methods applied to improve quality,
as applied to an Electronics Manufacturer.

BACKGROUND
This manufacturing company is a world leader in the development and production of high performance quartz crystal components used for timing reference and frequency control in demanding.

From its head office and manufacturing facility in Auckland, New Zealand, it produces a range of crystals and oscillators for its global customer base which includes many of the world's leading manufacturers of recreational, commercial and military/aerospace GPS products, mobile phones and other communications products.

This organisation is a publicly listed company on the New Zealand Stock Exchange (NZX) and has manufacturing facilities in Auckland, England, France, Chain and India.

SITUATION
This organization has been practicing 5S to a large extent and all of their staff are trained internally. Though a lot of middle management staff have undergone training on Lean methodologies and also have completed their graduate Diploma in Business which also has some papers on Lean, the concepts were not applied on the shop floor. In Oct / Nov 2008 nearly 30 of their managers and team leaders underwent training in 2 day Introduction to Operational Excellence conducted by PSL, where in they were exposed to world-class practices to achieve operational excellence. Following on from their it was decided to form teams and work on some improvement projects.

One of the opportunities identified was, the 1st pass yield in the IT Oscillator section was not at the satisfactory level and had to be retested more than once to get a good yield.

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