Short Case

Flexibility helps JIT at LOral

LOral cosmetics is now the worlds largest toiletries and cosmetics group,
with a presence in over 140 different countries. In the U, the 4! 000 s"uare
metre purpose#$uilt facilit% in mid#&ales produces 1'00 product t%pes in a
spotlessl% clean environment, which is a(in to a pharmaceutical plant in terms
of h%giene, safet% and "ualit%. )he plant has !! production lines and 4!
different production processes, and the manufacturing s%stems emplo%ed are
of a fle*i$ilit% that allows them to run each of the 1'00 product t%pes ever%
two months + that means over 1!0 different products each wee(. ,ut the plant
was not alwa%s as fle*i$le as this. It has $een forced to enhance its fle*i$ilit%
$% the re"uirement to ship over -0 million items each %ear. )he sheer logistics
involved in purchasing, producing, storing and distri$uting the volume and
variet% of goods has led to its current focus on introducing .I) principles into
the manufacturing process.
)o help achieve its drive for fle*i$ilit% and for .I) production, LOral
organi/ed the site into three production centres, each autonomous and
focused within technical families of products. )heir processes and production
lines are then further focused within product su$#divisions. 0esponsi$le for all
the activities within his area, from pre#weighing to dispatch, is the 1roduction
2entre 3anager, whose role also encompasses staff development, training
and motivation. &ithin the focused production centres, improvement groups
have $een wor(ing on improving shop#floor fle*i$ilit%, "ualit% and efficienc%.
One of the pro4ects reduced the setup times on the line which produces hair
colourants from 5.! hours to onl% eight minutes. )hese new changeover times
mean that the compan% can now 4ustif% even smaller $atches, and ma% give
the compan% the fle*i$ilit% to meet mar(et needs 4ust#in#time. 1rior to the
change in setup time, $atch si/e was '0 000 units6 now $atches as small as
5000+ '000 units can $e produced cost#effectivel%.
Questions
1 &hat did LOral do to help it organi/e the process of setup reduction7
2 &hat do %ou thin( LOral gained from doing each of these things7
3 If we could halve all changeover times in the factor%, what effect would
this have on inventor%7