Thread Number: 23103
Production Lines 		[Down to Last]

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Post# 360651   6/30/2009 at 14:39 (5,406 days old) by drewz (Alexandria, Virginia)        

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Does anyone know how the production lines work at Whirlpool for example; is Whirlpool, Kenmore, Kirkland, and other brands coming from the same factory, is every other machine a different brand or model?




Post# 360806 , Reply# 1   7/1/2009 at 03:33 (5,406 days old) by alr2903 (TN)        

drewz, they probably run a small army of each, s/s tubs, porcelain tubs, and the correct consoles for each, and the top with the right logo and instructions. would imagine everything else is pretty generic. I heard somewhere they really only run what is ordered by the wholesalers, based on retail sales. whirly prides itself on a pretty tight ship.

Post# 360891 , Reply# 2   7/1/2009 at 12:28 (5,405 days old) by revvinkevin (Tinseltown - Shakey Town - La-La Land)        
I don't know anything about the prouction lines, but....

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.... As for brand names of laundry equiptment under the Whirlpool "umbrella"...

There is Amana, Whirlpool, Maytag, Admiral, Roper, Kenmore and Kirkland, plus others that may or may not do laundry equipment too.

CLICK HERE TO GO TO revvinkevin's LINK
Post# 360907 , Reply# 3   7/1/2009 at 13:27 (5,405 days old) by thomasortega (El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora de Los Angeles de Porciúncula)        

I know absolutelly everything about a production line as I spent half of my life working on them.

What exactly do you want to know? About your first question, it deppends on the model, sales, schedule and system the line uses

Machines like the Insight family (Electrolux in some countries, AEG others and Zanussi in others) have one or more lines exclusive for it. the changes are only in parts of the line that makes a lot of a model and a lot of other model.

To change a model, the line has to be stopped for a few seconds or minutes according to the model on it's beginning.
it will give time to emply the line and change tools, reset the robots and reconfigure other hardware and the layout. On a complex KANBAN line, a 30 seconds stop on the start means almost 30 minutes delay on the finish. If a single pneumatic screwdriver fails, the disaster is done and the whole line will take a loooooooooooooooooong time to find it's pace again.

in a JIT-FIFO line, 12 seconds stopped on the start means 12 seconds delay on the finish. this system is used to make very different machines, for example produce a lot of Affinity and after that, a lot of Gallery. in case of emergency or if a failure is detected, any operator can just hit the stop button and the whole line stops at the same time. this system is also useful because it's 100% based on time. According to the sales, we can just increase or reduce the speed, respecting the human limits or technical timing (like time to dry paints or inks). it can also be flexible and have paralel sub lines to produce many different models without any problem. For example make wave touch machine, but 50% red and the other 50% blue.
until the machines reache the part which the color difference is relevant, two lines work 50% slower. after the color is defined, the machines go to a single line, working on normal speed (50% + 50% = 100%) it also have the same disvantage. if a single position fails, the whole line (and in some cases the whole plant) stops. but it's much easier to sinchronize and find the pace again.

The most funny way to control a pace in a line is with music (I mentioned it other day, in other posting). all lines has a chief of the shift. The chief is usually the most "popular" or the "coolest" guy chosen by the colleagues. he thinks a song everybody likes and start working following the rythim of this song. In less than a minute the whole line is working on the same pitch, like robots. the "coreography" is also created to stretch and relax the muscles and minimize the injuries. and timing mistakes are intentionally included to give time to the operators to go to the bathroom, etc.
Efficiency on these lines can reach 100%

Post# 360951 , Reply# 4   7/1/2009 at 16:28 (5,405 days old) by gansky1 (Omaha, The Home of the TV Dinner!)        

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I haven't seen the Kirkland brand appliances in Costco lately - ours has all Whirlpool-branded stuff. Anyone else see this?


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