A group had taken over a forging company that was threatened with insolvency. The plant with 138 employees was now to be integrated, the process landscape adapted and internal processes restructured. The interim manager was tasked with driving forward the post-merger integration.
The situation after the takeover was volatile. Only 3 months remained for certification in accordance with ISO/TS 16949. This was one of the requirements of the Group's automotive customers. In addition, the acquisition had to be integrated into the enterprise resource planning system (ERP system). Furthermore, the production processes had to be designed and secured in such a way that deliveries to the automotive and commercial vehicle OEMs could be restarted after just 8 weeks.
Ramping up maintenance and production - determining cycle and throughput times
One of the particular challenges was to get the old systems into a condition that would enable reliable production with as little downtime as possible. One of the interim manager's first tasks was therefore to plan and monitor a number of maintenance tasks.
In order to achieve the targeted production volumes, the interim manager had to plan and control production completely manually. This also included checking and reworking the tools as far as possible as well as creating and training set-up and work instructions. In addition, the employees who were taken over had to be retrained and motivated.
In addition to improving the utilization time of the machines, the interim manager focused on determining the cycle and throughput times for the calculation. To do this, he used the optimized machine production times and post-calculations from the sales department.
Successful integration of an in-house ERP and CAQ system
Other major challenges included restructuring the management processes, defining key figures and targets and integrating the in-house ERP system and a computer-aided quality system (CAQ system) in the new plant. The interim manager identified suitable process owners in the teams and qualified these employees. He also coordinated the key figures and expanded the management system in accordance with the requirements of ISO/TS 16949. He used classic automotive industry methods and tools such as turtle process descriptions, system and process audits in accordance with VDA 6.3 and 8D methods, including the use of the core tools FMEA, MSA, SPC and APQP.
Acting on the threat of a line break and restoring delivery capability
The interim manager remodelled the processes together with the management and the plant's new executives. He created measurable key figures with which the processes could be controlled. Production was secured after 3 months. The plant was able to deliver, there was no longer any threat of line stoppages and the customers were satisfied with the new owner.
Successful recertification in accordance with DIN EN ISO 9001 and ISO/TS 16949
The utilization time of the forging presses was increased from around 50 percent to more than 70 percent during the interim mandate. The plant passed the recertification of quality management in accordance with DIN EN ISO 9001 and ISO/TS 16949 with only a few minor deviations.
