Line 9 Bottle Quality

Reduce Line 9 complaints for “dented base/will not stand” 50% by February 2017

DMAIC level: Basic

Project Leader: Kyle Worth

email: kyle.worth@waters.nestle.com
Market/Org.: NWNA – WF15

Sponsor:Dave Sommer
Coach: Mitch Plosz

Project Period: August 2016 - February 2017

i-nexus ID: xxxxx
 DEFINE: Define the Project

Goal
 Reduce Line 9 consumer
complaints for “dented
base/will not stand” 50% by
February 2017.
Output
 Between June and August
2016 Line 9 has averaged a
consumer complaint rate of
0.065 per 10,000 bottles.
During the same time Line
15 from NPL east has had a
complaint rate of .006.
 Definition

Describe the problem with

Problem
Scope and

5W1H and Is & Is not

IS IS NOT

What /  Costumer complaints for bottles that Sensory, cap quality, or foreign
which have dented bases or will not stand material complaints

Line 5 at Maddison or Line 15 at NPL

Where  Line 9 bottle bases
East

When Running 8.3 g Preforms N/A

Who All shifts N/A

How much
 39 consumer complaints in 2016
How many
 Definition

Current situation - Time series

Target

Line 9 PET Dented - Manufacture Date

1

0.9

0.8

Step What Value

1 Current average 0.33 0.7

2 Benchmark 0.03
0.6
3 Gap 0.31
4 % of GAP reduction 50.0%
Rate

0.5 Line 9 PET Dented

5 Target 0.18 Average
6 % of improvement/decrease 45.9% Bench Mark
0.4
Objective: Target

To decrease consumer complaints for unstable 0.3

bottles from 0.33 to 0.18 by February, 2017.
0.2
Automatic
To be filled 0.1

0
 benefits

Tangible Benefits
and quality
Financial, SHE

 Current
 Line 9 has averaged six consumer complaints a month since switching to the
8.3 g preform. For every one consumer complaint there are at least ten other
people who don’t complain but may not buy our product again.

 Target
 By February 2017 line 9 should be averaging three consumer complaints a
month based on the target to reduce consumer complaints by 50%.

 Gain
 By reducing the number of consumer complaints by three a month we are
potentially preventing thirty people from choosing a different brand every
month. That is 360 people every year that continue to purchase Nestle water.
 benefits

Tangible Benefits
and quality
Financial, SHE

 Building individual confidence and competence for problem

solving, critical thinking, and leading a team.
 By creating a stable bottle with the current preform weight there
wouldn’t be a need to increase the preform weight saving money
on each bottle sold and reducing the amount of plastic that needs
to be recycled after the bottle has been used by the consumer.
 Soft bottles fall in the compression section of the packer causing
down bottle faults that require frequent operator intervention. A
more stable bottle will allow the packer to run longer without
operator intervention make it a safer machine to operate.
 Intangible Benefits

 The Line 9 bottle quality DMAIC project is one of the first DMAIC
projects to be completed in Mecosta since going through the
Gate, it has the potential to show other employees the benefits of
using a DMAIC as a tool and encourage them to start their own.

 Poor bottle quality causes frustration with loyal customers and will
drive them to other options for healthy hydration.

 Demonstrates to the people inside and out of the Mecosta factory

our commitment to quality means more and that we are dedicated
to the goal of passionate quality control.
 Definition
Team

Team Charter

Project Member

Project Member

Resource
Project Resource
Project Member
Process Owner

Project
Shawn Robertson

Mark Bridges Nichole Geese Terry Baker Steve Baldwin

Resource
Project Resource
Project
Infinity and Quality Technical Lead and Blowmold Process
Project Sponsor

Lead Communications Lead Jeremiah Thompson

Project Member
Project Leader

Project Member
Project Member

Dave Sommer

Kyle Worth Mary Sanford Eric Spaugh

Project Coach

Sandya Kumar

Data Collection and Infinity, External Data

Collection, and DMAIC Consumer Complaint HACCP Expert and
Communication Lead Consumer Complaint
Team Communications
Mitch Plosz
 Time Planning
Time Planning
Time Plan
Template

Phase
Activities P/C W1 W2 W3 W4 W5 W6 W7 W8 W9 W10 W11 W12

Planned 23-Aug
1.1 Define Scope of problem
Current
Planned 23-Aug
1.2 Target definition
Current
DEFINE

Planned 1-Sep
1.3 Financial impact evaluation
Current
1.4 Team Definition
Planned 1-Sep
1.5 Competency Matrix
Current
Planned 1-Sep
1.6 Time Planning
Current
Planned 9-Sep
2.1 Stratification
Current
MEASURE

Planned 9-Sep
2.2 Check the data reliability
Current
2.3 Data collection Plan for stratification Planned 9-Sep
2.4 Use Historical Data for stratification Current
2.5 Data Analysis Planned 15-Sep
2.6 Focused Problem Statement Current
Planned 22-Sep
3.1 Restore the basic conditions
Current
Planned 22-Sep
ANALYZE

3.2 Identify possible causes for all focused problems (Brainstorming)

Current
Planned 30-Sep
3.3 Group possible causes for the problem
Current
Planned 7-Oct
3.4 Identify the root causes for each focused problem
Current
Planned 14-Oct
4.1 Identify solutions for the root causes
Current
Planned 14-Oct
IMPROVE

4.2 Prioritize the actions (Impact x Effort Matrix)

Current
4.4 Build the action plan Planned 14-Oct
(5W2H) Current
Planned 21-Oct
4.4 Execute the action plan
Current
Planned 28-Oct
5.1 Verify the achievement of the target
Current
Planned 4-Nov
5.2 Standardize Changes
CONTROL

Current
5.3 Communicate the new standards Planned 4-Nov
5.4 Evaluation of Financial, SHE and quality benefits Current
5.5 Elaborate control plan
Planned 11-Nov
5.6 Update the competency matrix
5.7 Replication Current
 Project charter
Business Case : Project Team :
The quality of our product ensures that costumers develop Dave Sommer Sponsor Kyle Worth Quality, Data Collection

Mitch Plosz Coach Steve Baldwin Blowmold Lead

brand loyalty with Nestle. When we present poor quality
Nichole Geese Infinity Lead Mary Sandford Consumer Complaints
product to the consumer they have no reason to continue Sandya Kumar Data collection, communication Eric Spaugh Consumer complaints,
buying our products. sensory

Terry Baker Technical Lead Jeremiah Thompson Process Expert

Problem Statement : Goal Statement :

Line 9 is averaging a complaint rate of .33 Reduce the amount of consumer complaints
per 10,000 bottles per month for “dented or from line 9 for “dented or rounded bottles that
rounded bottles that will not stand.” will not stand” by 50%.

Project Scope: Deliverables:

Determine the baseline for bottle quality for comparable
processes to Line 9, determine points in the Line 9 process Line 9 bottle quality will not be a driving
that are the biggest contributors to the continued poor bottle factor of consumer complaints.
quality, find solutions at those points, and ensure bottle
quality issues do not happen again.

Risk: Continued consumer complaints Stakeholders: QA Manager, Plant Manager,

customers/ consumers
Project Plan:
Completion: Define: 9/1; Measure: 9/15; Analyze: 10/7; Improve:10/21; Control: 11/11
 MEASURE: Measure the Current
Situation

Goal
 Focus the improvement
effort by gathering
information on the current
situation (historical data)

Output
 1 to 2 focused problem
statements
 Data reliability Is the data
reliable?

 Employees at the line have had proper training and the

collection of data and the entry of that data into Infinity.
 Employees have an annual proficiency training to find
and correct any inconsistent data collection.
 Calibration of equipment occurs by properly trained
employees or certified third parties, regularly at
predetermined intervals, and documented in Infinity or
certificate.
 For data that was collected without the use of
instrumentation simple Pass/Fail criteria was defined
and the same people were used for each collection.
 for stratification

Data Collection Plan collection plan

1. Create data

What questions do you want to answer with this data?

What to Measuring Where to Sample How to Why this data Person in

measure Unit measure (WHEN) collect is needed charge
(WHAT) (WHERE) (HOW) (WHY) (WHO)
KPI for measurement of bottle
Consumer Rate per Consumer Daily review Consumer quality issues experienced by the Mary
Complaints 10,000 Complaint complaint consumer. This is how are
determining if the project was
Bottles Data Base report successful.

Bottle Grams Section After process Bottle section Easier and potentially more
consistent method of
Mitch
Section weight cutter changes cutter determining plastic
Weights and Scale distribution in the bottle.

Bottle Inches AGR Infinity Once per shit AGR Current method of
determining plastic
Nichole
Thickness Project per blow distribution in the bottle and
station consistent process controls.

Stretch Pounds Palletizer Every 4 hours Force Tension Insures a secure pallet Sandya
for storage and
Wrap Infinity Load Pull Test transportation without
(Force To Project damaging product.
Load)

Bottle Lean N/A Inspect After process Inspection of Determining how successful
a change in process was in
Kyle
Finished changes Finished preventing damaged bottles.
Product Product Pallet
Top Load Pounds National Once per shift Top Load Ensures bottles are able to
be stored and transported
Nichole
Blowmold per blow without damage to the
Project station bottle.
 stratification

Stratification Criteria
for
historical data
2. Use

 Stratification 1
 The use of data collected from infinity to determine
the points in the process that are the most out of
control that have the potential to affect consumer
complaints.
 Stratification 2
 After determining the points in the process that are
the most out of control, use data collected from
infinity to determine the specific leading contributors
of the work centers.
 stratification

Stratification tree-1
for
historical data
2. Use

KPI

Consumer Complaint Rate

Common Complaints

Basic Description of Issue

Packagi Sensor Foreign

Location of Issue
ng y Material
 (stratification)

Pareto analysis
Data Analysis

Out of Specification Checks By Location

20 100.0

18 90.0

16 80.0

14 70.0

12 60.0
Percent of Checks OOS

Cumulative
10 50.0

8 40.0

6 30.0

4 20.0

2 10.0

0 0.0
Blow Molder Palletizer Husky Packer
% of Checks OOS 17.65 9.49 0.28 0.07
Cumulative Percentage 64.2 98.7 99.7 100.0
 stratification

Stratification tree-2
for
historical data
2. Use

Basic Description of Issue

Will Not Stand

Equipment

Specific Area

Palletizer Blow Molder

Quality Testing
 (stratification)

Pareto analysis
Data Analysis

Bottle Thickness Number of Checks out of Specification (OOS)

1100 100

1000 90

900
80

800
70

700
60
Number of Checks OOS

600

Percentage
50

500

40
400

30
300

20
200

100 10

0 0
Base Body Shoulder Panel Top Load Bottle Height
Out Of Spec. 1020 804 529 349 215 19
Cumulative % 35 62 80 92 99 100
 (stratification)

Pareto analysis
Data Analysis

Palletizer OOS Checks

600 100.0

99.9

500
99.8

99.7
400
Number of OOS Checks

99.6

Cummulative %
300 99.5

99.4

200
99.3

99.2
100

99.1

0 99.0
Force Load Retention Product Alignment Product Centering
Out Of Spec. 502 1 0
Cumulative % 99.8 100 100
 Mapping

Process Map
Process
Flowchart

Line 9 Process Flow To Consumer

Husky Blowmolder Filler Labeler Packer Palletizer Wearhouse Transportation Consumer

Resin Preform
Supplier Hopper

Oven
Process
Controls
Rail Car

Blowmolder
Oven Single
Stacked
Resin Pallets
Silo

Freight
Resin Filled Bottles Transpiration
Dryer

Barefoot Case
Blow Molder Cases Orientor
Mold
Distribution
Center
Water Labels

Data
Husky Injection
Collected Case
Molder In Infinity Compression
Section

Filler Labeler Packer

Slip
Bottles Sheets

Case Single Double

Data Stacker Stacked Stacked
Collected
Preforms In Infinity Film Pallets Pallets
AGR/
Data
Top
Collected
Load
In Infinity
Data
Collected
Storage In Infinity Data
Data Compression Collected
Section
Collected
In Infinity
In Infinity
Pallet Freight
Wrapper Transpiration

Bottle
Silo
Double
Retail
Finished Stacked
Store Consumer
Finished Pallet Pallets
Bottles

PIV
End
PIV
 Focused Problem(s) Statement
Statement
Problem
Focused

What What is happening? What is happening?

What
Base thickness Bottle damaged in pallet

How Describe how the problem is happening. Describe how the problem is happening.
How
Plastic distribution Leaning bottles

Which Which way does it go? (to the right, left, forward, backward, up Which way does it go? (to the right, left, forward, backward, up
or down, random?)
Which
or down, random?)
Too thin Too much leaning

When When did the problem occur? When did the problem occur?
When
Running 8.3g Preforms While the cases are in a pallet

Where Where specifically did the problem occur? Where specifically did the problem occur?
Where
When the bottle is blown

Who Does the problem vary by operator? Does the problem vary by operator?
Every shift
Who
Every shift

The base thickness of the bottles is The force retention load is too high
too thin because there is not from the stretch wrap application
enough plastic distribution to the while the pallet is being wrapped in
base of the bottle when the bottle is the stretch wrapper during every
being blown during every shift. shift.
Target Achievement Calculation
KPI
Overall Project
target

Common Complaints Reducing Consumer

Complaints
Basic Description of Issue

Location of Issue

Specific Area on Equipment

Packag Sensor Foreign
ing y Material
Related Quality Test

By decreasing the frequency of By decreasing the frequency of

bottles that are out of
specification for bottle thickness
to 0% the consumer complaint
rate for leaning bottles/ will not
stand has a potential to drop by
50%
pallets that have a force load
retention that is above
specification to 0% the
consumer complaint rate for
leaning bottles/ will not stand
has a potential to drop by 50%
 Analyze: Analyze to Identify
Causes

Goal
 Identify root causes and verify
them, using facts and data

Output
 A theory that has been tested
and verified
 problems
focused

List of possible causes – FPS1

causes for
List possible

 The base thickness of the bottles is too thin because

there is not enough plastic distribution to the base of
the bottle when the bottle is being blown during every
shift.

 Blowmolder off centerline

 Inconsistent environmental controls in filler room
 Husky off center line, poor preform quality
 Poor bottle processing
 AGR out of calibration
 Pre-blow too high
 Blowmolder Conditions
 Water Temp
 Husky Dryers
 problem
focused
causes for the

Cause & Effect – Bottle Thickness Group possible

Embedded Visio,
double click to édit

Man Material Method

Poor Bottle
Resin Supplier
Processing
Inconsistent Resin

AGR Out Of
Calibration
The base thickness of the
bottles is too thin because
there is not enough plastic
distribution to the base of
the bottle when the bottle is
being blown during every
shift.
Husky off Centerline Water Temperature

No Environmental
Controls In The
Blowmolder Off Centerline Filler Room
Husky Resin
Dryers

Measurement Environment Machine

 problem
focused

Selection of potential causes to be causes for the

Group possible

demonstrated – Bottle Thickness

High

Poor bottle
processing
Blowmolder Blowmolder
off centerline Conditions
Impact

AGR out of
calibration

Husky off center line, Inconsistent environmental

poor preform quality controls in filler room

Husky Dryers

Water Temp
Low

Easy Hard
How Controllable?
Key: Lower priority Causes to be verified
 List of possible causes – Bottle Damage From Wrapper

 The force retention load is too high from the stretch

wrap application while the pallet is being wrapped in
the stretch wrapper during every shift.
 Pack Size
 Stacking
 Pallet Pattern
 Incorrect Testing
 Water Freezing in Warehouse
 Stretch Wrapper Settings
 Stretch Wrap inconsistency
 problem
focused
causes for the

Cause & Effect – FPS2 Group possible

Embedded Visio,
double click to édit

Man Material Method

Stretch Wrap film Packaging Size

Incorrect Testing
inconsistencies

Pallet Pattern

The force retention load

is too high from the
stretch wrap application
while the pallet is being
wrapped in the stretch
wrapper during every
shift.

Stretch Wrapper Water Freezing in

Stacking
Settings Warehouse

Measurement Environment Machine

 problem
focused

Selection of potential causes to be causes for the

Group possible

demonstrated – FPS2
High

Stretch Wrapper
Settings
Incorrect Pallet Pattern
Impact

Testing
Packaging Size

Stacking
Water Freezing
In Warehouse

Stretch Wrap
Inconsistencies
Low

Easy Hard
How Controllable?
Key: Lower priority Causes to be verified
 problem
focused

5 Why – for all FPS 5 Why Template

causes for each
Detect the root

5 WHY ANALYSIS (Go deeper to find the root cause)

Yes/ Yes/ Yes/ Yes/
MAIN ROOT CAUSE WHY? No
WHY? No
WHY? No
WHY? No
WHY? Improvement idea
Because of
Blow m older is off operators are
NO
centerline changing the
centerline
Because there is no
Because of no one
AGR out of calibration check Daily AGR calibration check
checking the YES YES
calibration process entered into Infinity
calibration
implemented

The blow molder is

Because PMs are
in poor w orking NO
not being completed
condition

Because current Because the

Poor Bottle condition for a specifications for a Adjust process to
YES YES
Processing "good" bottle are "good" bottle have determ ine "good" bottle
insufficient not been determ ined
Because bottle
Because curent thickness doesn't Develop better m ethod for
YES testing method YES change enough YES determ ing passible
inseficent betw een good or bottles
bad bottles

Because operators
Husky off
are changing NO
centerline
settings

Employees are not

Because they w ere
testing Force to NO
not trained properly
Load correctly

Because there
Stretch Wrapper Work w ith maintenance to
hasn't been a focus
Settings are YES get force to load at the
to get force to load
Incorrect w rapper in spec.
in specification

Stacker causing Because it is not

NO
bottle damage functioning correctly

Packing sizes Because certain

causing bottle sizes are w orse NO
dam age than others

Because certain
Pallet pattern
patterns causing
causing bottle NO
m ore damage than
dam age
others
1. Start the Question with WHY , Start the answer with Because 3. Encircle verified root causes
2. Select YES - if cause is verified in the gemba, NO - if cause is
4. Label each root cause with 1, 2... to be used for Action
not confirmed in the gemba
 the root causes
Verification of

Plan for Cause Verification

Potential Causes Theory about impact
Xs
AGR out of calibration Out of specification bottles
passing on AGR causing
leaning bottles.
Poor Bottle Processing Bottle processing can be
improved to decrease leaning
bottles.
Stretch Wrapper When the Force to Load is too
Settings are Incorrect high, the extra pressure on
bottles causes them to learn.
How to verify the theory Status
(including Go See, data & tools)
Daily check to confirm AGR calibration, Completed,
data to be entered into infinity. not verified
Pallet breakdown after processing Completed,
changes to determine impact of verified
processing changes
Before and after pallet breakdown to Completed,
determine impact of Force to Load on not verified
bottles.
 IMPROVE: Implement Solutions & Evaluate
Results

Goal
 Develop, test and implement
solutions that address the identified
root causes
 Use data to evaluate the
implemented solutions

Outputs
 Implemented solutions which
eliminate or reduce the impact
of identified root causes
 A comparison of the planned to the
actual implementation
 causes

Generate the solutions for each verified

the root
solutions to
Identify

causes

 The process for the SBO 34 produces a passible bottle

for the current testing method and specifications for the
8.3g preform, but does not provide enough material in
the base of the bottle to not be damaged in a pallet.
 Reduce the timing of the pre-blow to allow more material in
the base of the bottle.
 The AGR through side wall thickness is not sufficient enough
to measure the increase of material in the base of the bottle.
 causes
the root
solutions to

Prioritization of (generated) solutions Identify

Timing of Pre-Blow
high
Impact

Section Cutter to replace AGR

low

low high
Effort
Key: Selected Solutions Not Selected
 action plan

Implementation Plan (5W2H)

Build the

How
ID What Why How Where Who much When Status
(e.g. Root cause)
(CHF)
To increase Enough to
Increase the time to pre- material in the Adjusting the Jeremiah increase the Next available PM
1 blow base of the process
Line 9 Blowmolder
Thompson material of window
Completed
bottles the base
AGR not
sufficient
enough to
Section Cutter to replaced determine if Buy a section 1 Section As soon as
2 AGR there is enough cutter and scale
QA Lab Mitch Plosz
Cutter possible
Completed
material in the
base of the
bottle
 action plan

Implementation
Execute the

 The production manager adjusted the process to increase the preblow delay. The
centerline project for the Line 9 blowmolder has been updated to reflect this
change and is can only be change by a member of the blowmold team or
production manager. By doing this the amount of material in the base of the bottle
has increased from averaging 1.19g to 1.35g. This is a 12.5% increase of material
in the base of the bottle.
 After increasing the time to pre-blow the average thickness of the base of the bottle
increased from 0.095mm to .099mm. This only represents an increase of 5%. With
such a small difference between a bottle that has potential to lean and one that
does not it was decided that a section cutter to measure weight is a better choice.
Initially the quality department will track the section weights of the bottles using a
Sidel section cutter and a calibrated scale while the blowmold operator continue
using the AGR method. After determining the effectiveness of the section cutter it
may completely replace the AGR.
 Effectiveness of the solutions - Results
Before & After

Leaning Bottles/ Bottles Unable to Stand Average Base Weight (g)

350 1.4

300 1.3

1.2
250
1.1
200
1
150
0.9
100
0.8
50 0.7

0 0.6
Original Process Delayed Pre-blow Original Process Delayed Pre-blow

Overall conclusion:
By increasing the material in the base of the bottle we have increased the
ability of those bottles to retain their shape and not begin to deflect under
the pressure of the pallet. The more stable and well formed the base of the
bottle is the higher quality of bottle the consumer will receive.
 Was the target
Have Project Goals been Met? achieved?

 After reducing the number of bottles that are leaning or unable to

stand in a pallet from an average of 286 bottles to and average of
82 bottles we have a 71% reduction of bottles that could lead to
consumer complaints.
 By creating a more stable base of the line 9 bottles the packer can
run longer without operator intervention for down bottle faults
making a safer machine to operate.
 Because of the lag of consumer complaints from when changes
are made it will be a while before any true results are available.
For the short term turn around there has only been one consumer
complaint made for leaning bottle/ will not stand after the process
changes were made to the blowmolder.
 CONTROL: Standardize and make future
plans
Goal
 Maintain the gains through
standardization of work methods and
processes
 Anticipate future improvements
and capture the lessons of this
project

Outputs
 Before and after data analysis which
shows the impact of the improvement
Standardization of improvements
 Training of new methods
 A control plan for ongoing monitoring
of results
 Documentation and communication of
results, learnings and
recommendations
 changes

Standardize and document Standardise

 Finalize update to Line 9 Blowmolder centerline project

 Create SOP for the Sidel Section Cutter, ensure that
the section cutter can be used safely on the factory
floor.
 Determine specification for each bottle section
 standards

Communication and Training

the new
Communicate

 Container Leadership to create OPL for finalized Line 9

Blowmolder centerline project and communicate the
change to blowmold team. No training needed.
 Quality department to create OPL and training module
for Sidel Section cutter for use by the quality
department.
 benefits

Tangible Benefits
Evaluate the

 Initial
 Between June and August 2016 Line 9 has averaged a
consumer complaint rate of 0.065 per 10,000 bottles.

 Target
 Reduce the consumer complaint rate to 0.032 per 10,000
bottles.

 After project
 benefits

Tangible Benefits
Evaluate the

 Building individual confidence and competence for problem

solving, critical thinking, and leading a team.
 By creating a stable bottle with the current preform weight there
wouldn’t be a need to increase the preform weight saving money
on each bottle sold and reducing the amount of plastic that needs
to be recycled after the bottle has been used by the consumer.
 Soft bottles fall in the compression section of the packer causing
down bottle faults that require frequent operator intervention. A
more stable bottle will allow the packer to run longer without
operator intervention make it a safer machine to operate.
 benefits

Intangible Benefits
Evaluate the

 Intangible Benefits
 The Line 9 bottle quality DMAIC project is one of the first
DMAIC projects to be completed in Mecosta since going
through the Gate, it has the potential to show other
employees the benefits of using a DMAIC as a tool and
encourage them to start their own.

 Poor bottle quality causes frustration with loyal customers and

will drive them to other options for healthy hydration.

 Demonstrates to the people inside and out of the Mecosta

factory our commitment to quality means more and that we
are dedicated to the goal of passionate quality control.