Case study - IXL Metal Castings
Summary
IXL Metal Castings believes Life Cycle Management simply means
becoming more efficient and improving the way they work - across the
board. This commitment to continuous improvement enables them to build stronger customer relationships, deliver greater value and improve their operational efficiency.
"Life Cycle Management means best practice. It doesn't cost to do it, it costs not to
do it."
Company Overview
IXL Metal Castings is a Geelong based foundry that supports the metal refining industry and other local and interstate customers.
Proudly Australian owned and operated, IXL has been making products to meet the needs of Australians since 1858. With the family owned business now in its
fifth generation, IXL's commitment to innovation, development, high quality manufacturing and niche product sourcing has never been greater.
The broader Backwell IXL group produces over 150 product lines including heating, cooling, ventilation, stainless steel outdoor products and the market leading all-in-one bathroom heating IXL Tastic® range.
Key business drivers
- Meet the needs of customers and listen to their changing needs
- To be the best value producer, not necessarily the lowest cost producer
- Lower business costs from a commitment to continuous improvement
- Deliver on our promise - environmental responsibility, OHS best practice and quality first
Life Cycle Management = Smarter Business Practices
IXL Metal Castings consumes a significant amount of inputs a year -
4,000 tonnes steel, 30,000 kg paint and $20m in electrical components.
The company has a range of metal processing equipment including
high tonnage presses, seam and spot welders, component assembly
lines plus a range of foundry processes.
The company has found that lifecycle design has provided significant
advantages, assisting them in becoming genuinely more competitive
in what they do and build stronger customer relationships.
The challenges for the business are similar to many other Australian
manufacturers and include: cheap imports, globalisation, finding
greater efficiencies in material and labour processes and identifying
cost reductions to pass on to customers... all while maintaining the
profitability of the business.
David Sykes, General Manager at the foundry, explains that
progress has been incremental, not an overnight change.
"One of our big customers, a major local metal refining plant, exposed
us to the concept of Life Cycle Management, which to us means
becoming more efficient and improving the way we work - across the
board. Often we find that what we are doing is getting smarter in how
we work, we don't always put a label on it first, that comes later.
Working in close partnership with our customers is our number one priority.
So we have gradually developed improved work practices, from better
materials handling, to minimising waste, better recycling, reduced energy consumption, product re-engineering, improved OH&S - the list goes on.
"Yes, we use the Toyota Production System, benchmarking, 5S teams, KAN BAN, Life
Cycle Assessment but the label is irrelevant, best business practice is what counts. You can do all or some of it - we make it simple and if it works to help us be better at our business, then we make the change... and keep an open dialogue with our customers."
"For us, Life Cycle Management or environmental sustainability does not sit separately from our business - it is integrated from the ground up and we can clearly demonstrate that it makes good business sense. Ultimately, our objective is to provide the highest quality of service and lower the cost of ownership to our customers. The more efficient and innovative we become in managing processes and empowering our people to initiate change, the more competitive we are to deliver a product to our customers," David explains.
Key Benefits
- Significant waste reduction
- Improved product efficiency
- Enduring customer relationships
- Reduced absenteeism and dramatic improvements in OH&S
- Material yield improvements
- Inventory rates reduced
- Longer product life - direct value to the customer
What IXL Metal Castings has done
For IXL Metal Castings, materials efficiency is about "doing more with less."
It is about gaining more value from less input of materials, usually
with associated reductions in the use of energy, water and labour,
and reduced capital depreciation and waste per unit of product/value.
More efficient materials use means less waste, greater productivity,
better financials and more sustainable business practices.
David Sykes explains that Life Cycle Management translates into best
practice and encouraging everyone in the business to think about
small improvements every day.
"When it comes to 'best practice', it doesn't cost to do it, it costs not
to do it. We are one small part of a customers' supply chain but we
can't just supply a product, we need to supply a service. Part of Life Cycle Management is all about working in partnership with your
customers to identify how we can do it better - shorter delivery times,
managing their inventory, recovering castings from our customers to
recycle, producing castings that have a longer life - to name a few."
"Communication with our staff is key. Many important innovations come
from the shop floor. We give people the capability to suggest change,
to modify how they do things if it has a benefit. If we make changes,
we explain it to all employees, and target achievable actions."
"We have a system called 'pinkies'. These are little forms that everyone completes if they have found a corrective action in the areas of Quality, OH&S or Environment. They are a great visual cue and we know every pinkie needs to be actioned,
no matter how small it is. We provide feedback to the person who completed the form as well as the rest of the team so everyone knows what we have done... and the improvements we have achieved together."
"We share our KPIs and performance targets with everyone in the
business - there are graphs posted in the lunch room and we have regular team meetings. There is no way we could commit to total continuous improvement without the support and self-motivation of our people - we need to be confident that we are all pulling in the same direction to see results," David concludes.
"Many important innovations come from the shop floor"
"Life Cycle Management means best practice. It doesn't cost to do it, it costs not to do it"
"Target simple things, everything else comes in parallel"
David Sykes, IXL Metal Castings
Key Benefits
Summary of achievements over the last five years, measurable
outcomes for the Foundry Operation, per unit produced:
| Reductions: | |
|---|---|
| Electricity | 10% |
| Chemical binders | 20% |
| Waste disposal | 70% |
| Scrap | 50% |
| Improvements: | |
|---|---|
| Production efficiency | 10% |
| EH&S improvement | 100% |
Waste Management Improvements:
- Optimised sorting of waste products.
- Recycling of major waste streams: foundry sand, cardboard and steel
- Increase material yield
- Reducing waste to landfill
Process Change:
Reduced material handling and improved yields. This resulted in savings of $66,0000 per annum.
Life Cycle Assessment:
Improved service life of consumable component by factor of 3. This provided significant savings to the customer.
Handling Decisions:
Automation has lead to elimination of manual handling on a particular heavy product. This has resulted in considerable cost savings and safety improvements.
Future Priorities
The future priorities for the business are the ability to stay flexible and continually look for life cycle improvements that translate to direct value to the customer.
"We will be constantly challenged by a changing market place and new customer demands - our customers are large businesses that are on the cutting edge of innovation. We can't sit back and say they might go in this direction, or require us to do x, we need to ask ourselves what will our business look like in two years and how do we get it there? Life
Cycle Management is now integral to our business thinking and planning - and no business is too small to make it work for them," concludes David Sykes.
