The value-analytical development of a generation of textile machines - The importance of having a methodological approach, even during the implementation phase of a value-

摘要

MAHLO GmbH & Co. KG is a medium-sized company headquartered in Saal (Donau) in Lower Bavaria, Germany. With approximately 250 employees, MAHLO has developed, produced and marketed straightening, processing and quality-control systems for web- or sheet-form media, such as textiles and nonwovens, for a wide range of customer requirements. The company has been active for 70 years now. MAHLO's management decided to use value analysis for re-engineering the RVMC line of straightening systems in order to systematically ensure the product's future viability and competitiveness. Alongside aiming to significantly reduce production costs, an important project goal was to develop a new generation of machines whose properties will correspond to customer requirements over the next ten years. In the process, the interrelationships of the assemblies being used throughout the whole MAHLO spectrum of products had to be taken into account. The project scope had to also account for overcoming the substantial expenses associated with implementing the new product line. The implementation phase encompassed the following steps: 1. Implementing technical measures identified in the design phase while taking into account both target cost and customer requirements. 2. Managing projects and capacity, scheduling 3. Introducing an "interim generation" in order to achieve initial cost reductions and establish new technologies in the market 4. Managing the goods-in and goods-out processes for the products in the line. Both in the design and implementation phases, the approach taken followed value-analysis methodology: 1. Working in interdisciplinary teams with periodic support from specialists 2. Collecting and analyzing customer-relevant requirements 3. Compiling and evaluating information on the competition 4. Surveying specialists 5. Performing functional and functional cost analyses, in part to prioritize idea generation (cost-driver functions) 6. Searching for ideas in the functions 7. Evaluating ideas and converting them into measures 8. Combining measures with new designs accepted by the customer 9. Implementing measures to support the project, to the extent possible In the design phase nearly 250 individual measures were developed. Of these measures, two designs for a multistage implementation of the new machine generation were developed and proposed for implementation. Within the framework of overall project management, a milestone plan was put in place. This also supports the actions necessary for implementing this new machine generation. Particular focus was placed on testing new technologies in field tests for selected customers. In introducing the new machine generation, all other corporate functions were systematically integrated into a special implementation plan. Management evaluated the project very positively, not only with respect to cost savings but also in relation to how an interdisciplinary project would affect the corporate culture. Here, too, the project work resulted in a building block for safeguarding the company's future success. It will certainly not be the last of its kind at MAHLO.