Lean Tek components are reusable and interchangeable

Space savings of 33%
November 8th 2006

Boiler manufacturer Baxi Heating UK has reduced the floor space occupied by two of its assembly lines by 33% by switching to modular Lean Tek workstations and lineside storage supplied by the Tube & Bracket Company.

The Tube & Bracket Company devised a prototype workstation using its modular Lean Tek system of tubes, brackets, wheels and other components. Baxi trialled the workstation before deciding that the modular approach would provide an ideal solution for its lean manufacturing assembly lines, replacing existing fabricated workbenches.

The two assembly lines are identical, each comprising twelve unique workstations designed and configured for a specific task. The workstations are on wheels so that they can be repositioned easily if a change in assembly line configuration is required.

A static "parts supermarket" has been built with Lean Tek alongside the assembly lines to hold boiler components until they are needed for production. Stock is replenished from the main warehouse when it falls to predetermined levels, which helps ensure that components are always available but the space used to store them at the lineside is minimised.

Using Lean Tek ensures that facilities can be built to precise dimensions to occupy the optimum floor space, no more, no less. This has resulted in a 33 per cent reduction in overall floor space required for the two new assembly lines. Lean Tek components are also reusable and interchangeable which means that modifications can be made at any time to make incremental improvements to overall assembly performance and accommodate changes in a specific process.

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