DMG Mori

The Challenge

DMG MORI is a leading international manufacturer of machines and machine tools. Serving customers in over 42 industries and 79 countries, DMG MORI strives to be “Global One Company”—leveraging the best of their German and Japanese heritage in our modern interconnected world.

DMG MORI produces the spindles for many of their machines in-house. Each spindle is the product of a complex assembly. Spindles move through a single-piece flow process spanning over a dozen stations.

Every station includes highly variable picking procedures and quality checks. While operators have access to paper schematics and standard work requirements, existing quality measures were time consuming and prone to error.

Work was recorded on paper forms, making it difficult to track progress in real time. When defects arose, they were recorded on additional paper forms. Without real-time data, finding patterns in production data was slow and prone to error.

Finally, DMG MORI’s lines adhere to strict Takt times. Without visibility into the work performed at each station, the company lacked the ability to identify bottlenecks and properly balance lines. Current workflows made it difficult to track WiP through the line.

The Results

Spindle Assembly Apps

Their applications guide operators through each step of the assembly. Relevant Schematics are included at every step, ensuring that each operator has the information they need at their fingertips. At stations where operators must pick from a wide array of parts, pick-to-lights guide operators to the correct part.

DMG MORI’s spindle assembly applications eliminated paper forms from the line and provided feedback to the operators in real time.

Standard Work at Your Fingertips

For each step in the assembly, DMG MORI embedded the schematics necessary for operators to correctly understand and execute their work. Instead of paging through static, paper forms, operators can immediately access the correct drawings and instructions. Further, they are able to rotate, zoom, and expand instructions as necessary, improving the accuracy and speed of each step.

In App Defect Reporting

Should defects arise, each step of the application gives operators the option to create a defect report. These reports are customized to the specifics of the spindle line. When a defect is reported, a message is automatically sent to a shift supervisor, who is able to initiate the proper corrective action.

“Tulip helps us determine the root cause of problems with absolute certainty,” Musch reported.

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