john crane uk limited

John Crane UK LimitedThe CAD-CAM LINK

Group 7, Section A

About John Crane UK Limited

• European Arm of John Crane International• Owned by TI Group, an international engineering

group• Manages the EMA region, generates 30% of JCI’s

revenue• Market leader- manufactures 64% of the seals in EMA

region• Manufactures Mechanical seals• Basic function of the product- Barrier between two

regions through which a common shaft rotates

Customers:

Three clear categories of customers:• Projects : Building large scale plants, few

projects, highly competitive, future sale of spare parts. Eg. Oil rig, chemical plant

• Original Equipment Manufacturers: For installing in equipment for sale, reliable delivery required, large and stable volumes, competitive market, discounts, replacement. Eg. Pump manufacturers

• End User: Largest fraction. For manufacturing plants, swimming pool filtration pump, sale of seals and replacement, large users- reliability, small users – Prompt replacement. Eg. MNCs

Competitors

• Sealing solution providers : Companies like John Crane

• Low variety, high volume producers : Limited product range, can not serve customers with varied demand

• Local Market competitors : Companies which began as seal servicing companies

• Imitators/ Fakes : Sell sub standard products as a Crane genuine

Plants

• Reading Factory : Made for Stock component machining

• Slough Factory : Made to Order component machining

• Havant Factory : Closed in 1982

Manufacturing Type:

Overall : Assembled to Order Firm

Component Machining Process

Reading Factory : Manufacturing Process 1981-82

• High volume components produced• Machines arranged functionally• Components had to visit different departments• Flow of components very complicated• Very long lead times: 3months in Made-to-stock and

6months in Made-to-order“8-12 weeks of WIP sitting before any machine”• Shop loading aimed at maximising utilisation• Rush orders meant resetting machines and thus loss of

productive time

Reading Factory : Changes in Manufacturing Process 1982-83• Havant’s production transferred to Reading• Division into

– Stock shop: MTS components– Non stock shop: MTO components

• Increased visibility of MTO work because of dedicated shop• Grouping components within the factory“Lead time for non stock components was reduced from 26weeks to

12weeks”• Flexibilty introduced by labour training to operate multiple

machines• Workers employed as setter-operator rather than one or the other

Impact at Reading: Some learnings

• Lead time for non stock components was reduced from 26weeks to 12weeks

• CAN-Q model showed the effect of changes in the system

• Loading work onto the shop was a big problem• Training provided to labourers to increase

flexibility reduced lead time for MTS to 6weeks

Computer Integrated Manufacturing

• Integrating information to be used by various parts of the company

• Better control by top level through information flow and a holistic view

• CIM became the central theme at Crane• Eight foundation projects recommended to implement

CIM and achieve desired ends• Eg. Expert system – AI technique to embody expertise of

sales engineer. Analyzed user requirements to suggest seals according to standard methods

CIM Foundation Projects

Computer Aided Design

• Traditional design office – boards with pencils and erasers• Problems – drawings were a bottleneck and better response

to customer demands was required due to increased competition

• CADAM introduced in 1983 – Benefits available

The CAD- CAM link

• Production engineers formed the link between the tool diagram generated through CAD, and the final product produced at machine.

• CADAMTM upgrade => turning centers with on-machine programming facilities.•However, programming language mismatch- hence, production engineers trained in ‘online’ programming.

• New software- production engineer could programme directly onto CNC machine controller, using CAD drawing.

CAD-CAM link established

*Software testing underway; completed for one type of CNC turning center.

Till 1987

1988

1990*

Conclusion: Should John Crane adopt CAD-CAM?