Measuring Cycle Times - Camera Advice

Hi Everyone. Long time lurker, first time poster

I've worked in several manufacturing environments and used cycle times to calculate costs and justify equipment, process changes etc. Those cycle times are usually in the range of seconds or minutes. Now I work in a fab shop where the cycle times are often in hours. I can't stand around for hours with a stopwatch in my hand, not even if I tried.

Have any of you used cameras to record process and document cycle times? I have a couple of Hubble baby-monitor-type cameras. Unfortunately, they aren't really capable of recording a significant amount of video. And they're super unreliable so I'll often miss several hours of footage. And the video they do capture takes an extremely long time to download. Again, none of us has hours to spend standing around with a stopwatch. Neither do we have time to keep clicking and waiting for lots of 10 second video clips to download.

Any suggestions for other cameras that actually work well for capturing cycle times?

Thanks,
Brian

xrotaryguy said:

Hi Everyone. Long time lurker, first time poster

I've worked in several manufacturing environments and used cycle times to calculate costs and justify equipment, process changes etc. Those cycle times are usually in the range of seconds or minutes. Now I work in a fab shop where the cycle times are often in hours. I can't stand around for hours with a stopwatch in my hand, not even if I tried.

Have any of you used cameras to record process and document cycle times? I have a couple of Hubble baby-monitor-type cameras. Unfortunately, they aren't really capable of recording a significant amount of video. And they're super unreliable so I'll often miss several hours of footage. And the video they do capture takes an extremely long time to download. Again, none of us has hours to spend standing around with a stopwatch. Neither do we have time to keep clicking and waiting for lots of 10 second video clips to download.

Any suggestions for other cameras that actually work well for capturing cycle times?

Thanks,
Brian

Click to expand...

Does the shop use a router system for each job ?
When the worker punches in on the job, it starts the timer, and when they are done, the job is clocked out.

Digger,

Yes. We use NetSuite to track time. The workers all have assigned wifi-connected phones to enter time.

However, the workers aren't going to enter every beam they weld, ever channel they cut, etc. You can't really get granular detail from the time tracking.
The next issue is that you can't physically see how the worker is doing the job. He may be wasting time retrieving materials as as part of his process, there may be unnecessary moves, etc. It's possible to see those things standing on the production floor or by FFWDing through footage but not via clocking in or out.

When I worked for Doosan we used GoPro. A few of them, plus a very expensive pro level camera for video work outside the machine.

Why don't you put an M1 everywhere you want it to stop.
Turn on OSP
Record the cycle time at every stop.
You can calculate the times of each operation by the cycle elapsed time.

xrotaryguy said:

Digger,

Yes. We use NetSuite to track time. The workers all have assigned wifi-connected phones to enter time.

However, the workers aren't going to enter every beam they weld, ever channel they cut, etc. You can't really get granular detail from the time tracking.
The next issue is that you can't physically see how the worker is doing the job. He may be wasting time retrieving materials as as part of his process, there may be unnecessary moves, etc. It's possible to see those things standing on the production floor or by FFWDing through footage but not via clocking in or out.

Click to expand...

So you really are doing a time study. Not "floor-to-floor time" for the
one weld booth.

Many books have been written on how to doo it, most are from 1950-1970's.

Search for "piece work" or "Incentive work", IIRC Lincoln electric has a book or 2 on it, how to figure the cost of welding.
You'll need to add in your non-welding stuff (crane move, setting up, etc.)
With todays software, you could edit each part of the job, into a video, and get your times.

If the area empty for a long time I wonder about a ring doorbell type thing.
No recording when no motion.
Some low cost surveillance systems can also do such so need to waste time watching dead air.
$200 will get you into a multi camera surveillance system and over 24 hours of record.
Check amazon and E-yuk.
Be aware that employees do not like this at all. FIGURE THAT END OUT FIRST.
Do not do the hidden camera thing. Be upfront with all involved so it does not bite you in the ass.
Bob

+1 for the Gopro - its cheap, can get a waterproof case, will record for +8hrs w a good battery and only cost a couple hundred bucks.

Bah, big waste of time. Hire a mean nasty guy, give him a submachine gun. Have him walk around the floor, every time he sees someone he thinks is sluffing off, they can show off their dance steps. That'll quicken cycle times right up.

Dad had a way.
"If I go out out on the floor I want to see nothing but assholes and elbows"
"You can never be friends with the employees"
We did not see eye to eye on many things.

Me, the camera or stopwatch thing is fine.
Then one sits and talks to the people doing the work along with a timescale.
"Why can't we do better? Where is the lost time?" "Lets not work harder but smarter as to those lost seconds or minutes and use the slack time as down".
To me time studies are only the start. Dad had a different view.

Running production and a camera on my butt. Is there anyone that would like this for 6 months?
For sure a day or two and you can shine and be a star. Long term, we all have bad days.

My cycle times are short.
To evaluate I do three tests:
First I ask someone to go balls out for an hour. As fast as he or she can do it. we record than that number.
Now I ask for a medium pace, slow down and relax. We then add that number.
The I say super slow, as slow as you can possibly go. More checks, talk around, waste time, be as lazy as possible without going to sleep.
Do this with a few employees This gives me a range.
Bob

Here's a write up on such a piecework system, note the rules:
https://nonstopscaffolding.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Masonry-Bonus-System.pdf
"• Don't jack up their breakeven point to further increase your profit. The whole system will fall apart if
you’re not straightforward with them"

Most every company that had a piecework system did this (changed prices) to their demise.

Piece work theory goes a ways in a job shop, but you have big variables to add in as multipliers. Long beams take longer to cut than short beams, your crane time dramatically increases. If you are running slow conveyors then that adds to it also. Your cut time is easy to figure, you should know ipm averages. Wide beams you have the multiplier of wedging and/or pecking which has skill of operator as big factor. Heavy stuff takes longer than light stuff.
Channels you know max is conveyor speed, saw time is trival.
You can count parts after hour 1, 2, 3... and on. This gives you a good snapshot average. Hour one is going to be rough on a new job. You write that time off.

You put camera to monitor and productivity will go down. This has been studied.

You get a good idea of what each fitter can do in a day- same with welders. We have one fitter that can out run a cnc coper with a torch- but give him a stair and he spends days on it. Another who can’t use a torch worth anything but can make 5 stairs a day. Another who can get plates and stiffeners in beams as fast as you can shovel material at him. You can not price to their best skills- but the shop average (daily is good time frame). This adds in the inevitable time of one person having a bad daze.

Wow! Lots of great responses! Thanks everyone!

Emanuel, my shop foreman already walks around with a machine gun. He kills it every day!!

The trick in this shop is that many of the cycle times are hours long and they are only repeated maybe twice a month. We're manufacturing semi-custom heavy equipment.
Yes, we do piece work also. We have jigs for subassemblies, processes for the saws, etc. But the thing that's really good to get data on are those long, infrequent cycles.

The goal will be to develop simple fixtures, then more complex, edge closer to automated processes, more clamping, less warping, less fitting, more welding. Less custom drilled pieces, more plasma cut pieces, etc.

I agree about assholes and elbows. I agree you must approach friendship with employees carefully. But I also want the time studies and to develop more efficient ways to utilize all those assholes and elbows

Thanks for all the input everyone. I have a few action items now.

Why plasma when you can drill? Drilling is faster, better, stronger, cheaper. Punching is cheapest and fastest. Sawing slow, shearing fast, thermal is between the two- with exponentially longer clean up.

Yes we burn plates with holes, but raw speed and quality drill line runs circles around a coper. We have angle master (punch/shear) for flats and angles. You can drill a 13/16 hole in 1/2 faster than plasma can touch off and pierce.. clean up is near zero, hole is round.