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Lexington Quality Program
FOCUS ON QUALITY
As an OEM supplier, Lexington takes very seriously the responsibility for making products or components that carry the names of our customers into the marketplace.
We believe that when a company awards us with their work they are entitled to know that we can ensure the quality of the parts we produce for them.
The goal of this portion of the Lexington web site is to let customers and prospects know that behind our claims of “quality” is a culture, a commitment and an infrastructure that supports those claims.
Quality training is part of the curriculum for new employees as well as our veteran staff. The Quality Department together with our Process Improvement Team is responsible for conducting quality audits and Kaizan events as well as educating employees regarding the principles of “Lean Manufacturing”.
When you tour Lexington you will see throughout our two plants the visual management and tracking tools that are used to provide employees with “real time” feedback regarding quality. And, in our quarterly all-company meetings we discuss quality audits, discrepant material and progress against 5S goals right along with the financial data.
This makes perfect sense to us because we know that quality and financial performance are inextricably linked.
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1. EMPLOYEE TRAINING
Every employee at Lexington is required to attend 6 basic training courses within their first 90 days of employment including one that specifically addresses quality and is taught by Lexington’s Quality Assurance Engineer.
In these sessions Lexington’s expectations regarding quality are communicated along with the appropriate training related to our quality processes and procedures.
Currently, all employees are also trained in the principles of “Lean Manufacturing”.
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2. DOCUMENTATION OF PROCEDURES
Every procedure that we employ at Lexington is documented and controlled through our Standard Operating Procedures manuals. These documents outline our actions both in the office and on the plant floor.
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3. PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE
All key pieces of equipment are routinely scheduled for maintenance checks and calibration so that tolerances and dimensional consistency can be maintained.
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4. CONTROL AND CALIBRATION OF MEASURING DEVICES
All monitoring and measuring devices are calibrated at specified intervals throughout the year to ensure accuracy. The results are documented and kept in a log book for reference.
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5. CONTROL OF NON-CONFORMING MATERIAL
Nonconforming material may be identified at any point along the production stream, from incoming inspection to packaging.
When found, nonconforming material is tagged with a specific color for easy identification and then quarantined so that it does not mistakenly get back into the production flow.
Disposition of the material is then made based upon discussions with the customer, the material vendor, quality personnel or production personnel.
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6. DOCUMENT CONTROL
Lexington’s document control system provides a means of maintaining updated product drawings and material specifications.
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7. CORRECTIVE ACTION
If defective parts or nonconforming material is found, employees are trained to stop production and to solicit the appropriate help to work back up the production stream to locate the source of the problem.
Once the root cause of the defect is identified, corrective action is taken to prevent recurrence.
Corrective action may include, but is not limited to the following:
- material improvements, material storage, material handling
- machine calibration or adjustment
- process improvements
- operator education
- the development of checking jigs or fixtures
- tooling improvements
- packaging improvements
- drawing revisions
- specification changes
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8. IN-PROCESS INSPECTIONS
Every dimension of every part is checked regularly by two separate trained operators throughout the course of a run. This is done more often if volume has an impact on tool wear and consequently, dimensional variation.
At a minimum there are first piece, work-in-process and last piece inspections for each job.
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9. LOT TRACEABILITY
For certain projects produced in our wrap area we are able to perform lot traceability.
For these projects we stamp the manufacturing date, the production shift and the machine on every part.
If a quality issue were to arise we can use this information to review the production records, inspection sheets and setup sheets. We can also link a particular job to the components purchased for that job such as glue, vinyl, veneer and core material.
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10. QUALITY AUDITS
Internal quality auditors perform random, plant-wide audits on a weekly basis to monitor the compliance of production staff to quality procedures. Audit results are posted and tracked.
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11. STATISTICAL PROCESS CONTROL (SPC)
Eight SPC stations have been deployed and more are planned. Over
600 critical dimensions are currently being monitored online.
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12. IMPLEMENTATION OF “LEAN” CONCEPTS
Lexington has designated a “Lean Team” that is responsible for spearheading the development of “Lean” principles within Lexington.
Based on the success of the 5S effort we have been able to implement pull systems, employ more visual management tools and conduct Kaizen events.
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13. TEST PROCEDURES
A number of different tests are employed to help determine the structural integrity, bond strength, durability and compliance of both incoming and outgoing material.
These tests include:
- Moisture content
- Vacuum pressure
- Adhesive peel
- Gloss level
- Paint viscosity
- Wet film thickness
- Glue spread rate
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