Comments on: Fasteners Can Consume 20-50% of Assembly Labor http://www.shipulski.com/2010/02/03/fasteners-can-consume-20-50-of-assembly-labor/ Innovation, Product Development, Design Mon, 30 Jan 2012 19:15:39 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: John Yater http://www.shipulski.com/2010/02/03/fasteners-can-consume-20-50-of-assembly-labor/comment-page-1/#comment-157 John Yater Sun, 14 Feb 2010 06:44:18 +0000 http://www.shipulski.com/?p=496#comment-157 I totally agree with the notion that hardware is often overlooked in designs because its potential cost savings may be seen as insignificant. But when coupled with labor saving the potential cost cutting benefits start to show. For example lets say that you manufacture a product in which you sell approximately 320 a month with a cycle time of about thirty minutes. On that product you have sixteen connections that require a hex head cap screw, flat washer, lock washer, and a nut. What if your design allowed you to replace your washers and nut with a serrated flanged locknut? The flange takes place of the flat washer, while the serrations take place of the lock washer. Let’s say that with the change you could save 1 cent per connection or 16 cents per part. Not bad considering that would add up to over $600 a year. Now consider that the reduction of parts would save you 4 seconds per connection or 64 seconds per product. That would equate to 17 minutes a day and 85 minutes a week which would allow you to produce approximately 3 more parts per week. At a rate of $60 per hour you would save $4400 in a year by not handling the 120,000 washers. Who would have though that you could save over $5,400 in a year by replacing a couple of washers? I totally agree with the notion that hardware is often overlooked in designs because its potential cost savings may be seen as insignificant. But when coupled with labor saving the potential cost cutting benefits start to show. For example lets say that you manufacture a product in which you sell approximately 320 a month with a cycle time of about thirty minutes. On that product you have sixteen connections that require a hex head cap screw, flat washer, lock washer, and a nut.

What if your design allowed you to replace your washers and nut with a serrated flanged locknut? The flange takes place of the flat washer, while the serrations take place of the lock washer. Let’s say that with the change you could save 1 cent per connection or 16 cents per part. Not bad considering that would add up to over $600 a year.

Now consider that the reduction of parts would save you 4 seconds per connection or 64 seconds per product. That would equate to 17 minutes a day and 85 minutes a week which would allow you to produce approximately 3 more parts per week. At a rate of $60 per hour you would save $4400 in a year by not handling the 120,000 washers.

Who would have though that you could save over $5,400 in a year by replacing a couple of washers?

]]> By: Steve Amos http://www.shipulski.com/2010/02/03/fasteners-can-consume-20-50-of-assembly-labor/comment-page-1/#comment-155 Steve Amos Sun, 14 Feb 2010 04:45:50 +0000 http://www.shipulski.com/?p=496#comment-155 Hi Mike, Glad to see a design engineering leader who understands production and true cost savings. The next step is to talk about eliminating fasteners and saving assembly costs by designing with less total parts. How much can you save when 4 sku's replace 22 sku's? Steve Hi Mike,
Glad to see a design engineering leader who understands production and true cost savings. The next step is to talk about eliminating fasteners and saving assembly costs by designing with less total parts. How much can you save when 4 sku’s replace 22 sku’s?
Steve

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