Newspapers / Fotofax (Brevard, N.C.) / June 1, 1988, edition 1 / Page 9
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Page 9 Summer, 1988 FOTOFAX QIT #2 Receives Accomplishment Award QIT (Quality Improvement Team) #2 was a team assembled to work with the Shearcut operation which was producing a “hair” type defect on NOT (Non- Destructive Testing) material. The hair problem resulted in customer complaints, a reduced machine capacity and very fre quent blade changes. The original team had two additional members, Vivian Hwang who was trans ferred to another location and Gary Trot ter who accepted VTI. The team decided the PURPOSE for their existence was to improve the qual ity of shearcut film IN A WAY THAT per mitted operations to increase machine capacity without hair defects SO THAT customer complaints would be eliminated, and capacity could increase with costs reduced. The team started analyzing the prob lem. The shearcut knife would cut smaller quantities of film but not the necessary thickness for optimum production. They found records showing there had been seventy-nine blade changes the previous year. It seemed all evidence pointed to the blade design being the culprit. “We were lucky,” said Charles Sweat, “we had a problem which was solvable. The team started out by defining the prob lem and collecting samples. At first we didn’t know if the hair defect was base, emulsion or a combination of both. There had been some previous work on the 'LA "if/ QIT #2 was presented an accomplishment award May 5, 1988. Team mem bers pictured (L-R) are: Glenn Ryder, Jasper Cornett, James Dahle, Steve Praytor and Charles Sweat. problem before we organized as a team. However, the information from the previ ous investigations was confusing: one study said it was base only and another study said it was emulsion only. Actually it was both. “We took all the blades, studied each one, checked the geometry and metal composition, analyzed how each was sharpened and how each performed. We Mammography Film Introduction T?«m Roc**'”*** Accomplishment Award Editor’s note: The new product entered controlled sales in June, 1987 and has already made significant contributions to company earnings. 1987 sales were 12% of the domestic market. The 1988 goal is 28% of the domestic market. SITUATION PRIOR TO THE ACCOMPLISHMENT: even looked at different ways of cutting film. The method in use is to bring the knife’s edge into full length contact with the film and pressure-mash it through a stack of film. Knowing something about knives, it seemed to the team, a knife with sliding action would work better. On that count we were wrong. Our thinking, we found out, was outdated. Newer technol ogy proves the mashing type knife to be Charlie Sweat, Brevard-Process Engineer, took the initiative tp_ go beyond his assign ment and seek out methods to over come the occur rence of whitetails in the backing. His extra efforts have helped to assure A !- / In 1982, the American Cancer Society published the results of its National Task Force on Breast Cancer Control, which emphasized the potential life-saving value of mam mography. The Society subsequently revised their recommendations on the frequency women should receive mammograms, resulting in a significant increase in the mam mography film market size. DuPont films were not competitive in this growing market, and the sales volume of Lo-dose film was eroding at the rate of 15% per year. World wide 1983 sales were only 7% of the market share. THE ACCOMPLISHMENT: The accomplishment is successful development and scale- up of the new DuPont Mammography Film. Lee Kitts, Brevard-R&D Research associ ate, had been scouting new technology to achieve optimum performance for this appli cation. When Lee was assigned to this project, half-time, he drove the technology to a successful demonstration that actually exceeded goal performance. This technology however. Is only profitable when it can be used to provide a product that meets the customer’s need. The entire team has fueled this new product introduction with the individual efforts required to rapidly scale-up and commercialize DuPont Mammogra phy Film. The individual areas of contribution are: Lee Kitts, in addi- tion to his formula tion and team leader responsibili ties, took the initia- tive to develop a I fundamental under standing of mam mography and the customer needs. This involved numerous field visits, conference attendances, and direct interaction with nationally recognized experts and opinion makers. This extra effort contributed to not only a success ful product design, but also a successful and rapid new product introduction. Jim White, Bre vard-Process Engi neer, guided the production area in defining the coating and drying condi tions required to demonstrate manufacturability. This involved a con- / siderable amount of extra time and off- hours participation in the early produc tions for controlled sale. The result of this effort is seen in the high combined yields and low cost of manufacture. product flow to the customer. Gene Sanders, Brevard-Product Analyst, established the emulsion sen sitization and sen- sitometric test procedures that are used in each production. During the scale-up pro gram, this required a considerable amount of extra time during weekends and off-hours. This resulted in a consis tent sensitometric uniformity in the early stages of scale-up. Ed Smith, Bre vard-Process Engi neer, designed and implemented the slitting, chopping and finishing inspection proce dures that assure good yields and consistent finished ,, product quality. This ^ c ! required an extra effort that resulted in an improved inspec tion system, supporting routine manufac ture. Most of this work was done during evenings and weekends. the required design.” “I know this is going to sound odd,” Sweat continued, “but we found having a slightly dull edge on the knife was one key in eliminating the defect. Stumbling onto this was a unique experience: Some times a knife would perform well and sometimes it didn’t do so good. Some times a new knife would produce the defect and an old one would not. Some times a recently sharpened knife would produce the defect and sometimes it would not. We really had to be close observers.” James Dahle added, “In addition to blade geometry there were several other changes, made by our team, which led to improvement in the process. Among those were the selection of a fine grain carbide tip blade and reduction of speed which improved the cutting life. It was not easy determining the best way to go. When you think about it, the possibilities were endless. The very first thing we did was to determine the Cost of Quality. How much was this defect costing us? Once this was established we then had a basis, some idea of where to start.” In the final analysis, with the changes made by QIT #2 In place, the defect is gone and the blade life has been greatly extended. Editor’s note: Having met their GOAL/ PURPOSE, QIT #2 disbanded. Jim Woodroffe, Brevard-R&D Research Physicist, designed a sensito metric and image quality test method that is based on customer use con ditions. This required selection and installation of a mammographic ex posure unit, followed by fabrication of spe cial test equipment and methods. This method is now standard for testing of experimental and competitive mammo graphic film/screen systems. Gary Owenby, Brevard-R&D Tech nician, carried out the image quality testing that assured final product quality. Qver a three year period, this involved several hundred detailed, time- consuming proce dures, which were all run carefully and completely. The result was high quality data that kept product performance aimed at the customer’s need. h Qther members of the team also receiv ing awards were: Jim Foyles, Product Manager, Medical Products Dept., Mar keting Division, Wilmington, Del.; Russ Holland, Technical Associate, Medical Products Dept., Marketing Divison, Wil mington, Del.; Dottle Andrews, Sr. Tech nical Service Representative, Medical Products Dept., Marketing Division, Wil mington, Del.; Gordon Nitsch, Sr. Tech nical Associate, Imaging Systems Dept., Manufacturing Division, Rochester, N.Y.
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June 1, 1988, edition 1
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