Lean Kaizen in Electric & Electronic Industry - Industrial Cables

Cable plants rely on a series of critical machines: rod breakdown, intermediate / fine wire drawing, bunchers, stranders, extruders, armouring and sheathing lines. When any one of these is unstable, the whole flow suffers.

Lean Kaizen and TPM help to:

• Identify chronic breakdown and minor stoppage machines using downtime and OEE data.
• Apply Autonomous Maintenance (AM) to restore and maintain basic conditions—cleaning, lubrication, tightening and visual inspection of capstans, pulleys, dancer systems, haul-offs and cooling troughs.
• Design simple jigs and devices to make inspections easier (belt tension indicators, oil level gauges, wear indicators).
• Develop standard checklists and frequencies for bearings, gearboxes, motors, heaters, temperature controllers and pressure gauges.
• Use Root Cause Analysis (Why-Why, Fishbone) for recurring faults such as wire breaks, insulation surface defects, frequent jointing, or drive/alarm failures.

Copper and polymers are the largest cost elements in cable manufacturing. Even small improvements in scrap% and over-usage generate significant savings. Lean Kaizen addresses material losses by:

• Mapping scrap and rework by process, product family and cause (wire breaks, diameter out of spec, insulation voids, colour shade, printing, length variation, failed tests).
• Conducting process capability and control on key parameters: conductor diameter, concentricity, insulation thickness, sheathing thickness, and spark-test performance.
• Tightening set-up and centreline standards for extrusion and drawing (temperature profiles, screw speed, line speed, cooling, lubrication).
• Standardising start-up and shutdown practices to minimise purging and off-spec start-up lengths.
• Improving cutting, coiling and packing routines to avoid length and cut-end scrap.

This results in lower copper and compound usage per kilometre, less rework, and more saleable cable from the same input.

Many cable factories run below true potential because of speed losses, micro-stoppages and changeover inefficiencies, not just breakdowns.

Lean Kaizen improves OEE by:

• Measuring OEE on bottleneck lines (typically key drawing, insulation, armouring, sheathing or high-speed lines).
• Visualising losses in clear categories: breakdown, set-up/changeover, speed loss, minor stoppages, quality loss.
• Running focused Kobetsu Kaizen events to eliminate top loss causes (e.g., bobbin change delays, material availability issues, frequent threading problems).
• Optimising logistics of bobbin / reel preparation and feeding so lines don’t starve for material.
• Re-balancing upstream/downstream capacities and adjusting planning so bottleneck lines run as close as possible to “flow mode” instead of “stop-start mode.”

This results in higher output per shift, better utilisation of existing assets, and reduced overtime / weekend running.

Cable manufacturing plants manage a wide variety of sizes, constructions, colours, drum lengths, and customer-specific requirements. Ineffective production planning often results in unnecessary changeovers, prolonged setup times, and elevated work-in-process (WIP) levels.

Applying SMED and Flow concepts results in shorter changeovers, fewer unplanned stoppages for adjustments, and more productive running time. Following key activities help in reduction of changeover times

• Map current changeover steps on drawing and extrusion lines, separating internal vs external activities.
• Standardise and pre-stage tools, guides, dies, colours and documentation so they are ready before the line stops.
• Introduce quick-change practices for dies, guides, pay-offs and take-ups, with clear visual settings.
• Work with planning teams to sequence orders smartly (by conductor size, insulation type, colour) to minimise changeovers and cleaning.
• Use simple heijunka / mix-leveling and visual planning boards to smooth workloads while protecting delivery performance.

Customer expectations around electrical performance, mechanical strength, visual finish, and complete documentation are uncompromising. Any failure—whether at final testing or at the customer’s site—results in costly rework, potential claims, and significant reputational risk. Lean Kaizen strengthens quality, improves higher first-time-right and reduced cost of poor quality by:

• Clarifying “critical to quality” characteristics for each product family and connecting them to process parameters at drawing, bunching, extrusion and sheathing.
• Using TQM and problem-solving to tackle repeated test failures (insulation resistance, high-voltage, elongation, cold bend, spark, etc.).
• Standardising in-process checks and reaction plans—what operators do when they see a trend towards out-of-spec.
• Introducing mistake-proofing (Poka-Yoke) for identification, printing direction, drum marking, core sequence and paperwork to avoid mix-ups.
• Building robust traceability practices so defects can be traced back to specific machines, shifts and parameters.

Cable manufacturing involves heavy drums and reels, hot extrusion zones, moving capstans and high-voltage testing. Poor housekeeping and layout increase safety risk and reduce productivity. Lean 5S and safety-focused kaizens help and results in a cleaner, safer, more efficient workplace where abnormalities are visible at a glance by 

• Organise tooling, guides, dies and spares near point of use with labelled storage and shadow boards.
• Simplify floor marking and material lanes to reduce forklift / pallet jack conflicts and searching.
• Eliminate trip hazards, scrap piles, oil leaks and unsafe stacking of drums and reels.
• Improve ergonomics at pay-offs, take-ups and packing stations to reduce strain and micro-injuries.
• Integrate safety checks into AM checklists, making safety part of daily routine, not a separate activity.

Sustainable performance in cable plants comes from people capability and routines, not one-time projects. Lean Kaizen for capability result in a shopfloor that continuously improves, instead of relying only on engineers or external consultants.:

• Develop standard work for operators on critical lines, including start-up, running, changeover and shut-down.
• Build skill matrices and targeted training plans by machine and process (drawing, extrusion, armouring, testing).
• Implement Daily Work Management (DWM) at line / shift level—short meetings to review safety, quality, delivery, cost and improvement actions.
• Use small-group kaizen and suggestion systems so operators can raise and implement ideas on MUDA elimination and safety.