Zero Waste, TPM, and 5S

Manufacturing Meet Up

Zero Waste, TPM, and 5S

Sep 11, 2024
32.26 Min Listen

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Ed and Alvaro welcome their first-ever guest to the show: David Ballina!
David is a 15+ year veteran of manufacturing, and his resume includes roles with PepsiCo, Keurig Dr. Pepper, and PCA. He is currently the general manager of Operational Excellence Consulting.

Ed and Alvaro kick off the episode by covering the creative ways businesses are reducing waste and contributing to the circular economy. Then, they interview David to hear his insights and learn about his experiences rolling out TPM and 5S on the plant floor.

Full Transcript

Ed Ballina: Well, hello there. I’m Ed Ballina.
Alvaro Cuba: How are you guys? Alvaro Cuba here.
Ed Ballina: And today we’re coming to you with a special guest speaker that just happens to have the same last name as me, David Ballina, who happens to be one of my general managers, Operational Excellence Consulting, and also happens to be my son. So David, welcome to your first Manufacturing Meet Up podcast.
Alvaro Cuba: Thanks for having you on board.
David Ballina: Thanks for the invite. It’s a pleasure for sure.
Ed Ballina: Terrific. So I think, you know, we’re going to have a really fun-filled episode for you. We have our news as always. Alvaro has kind of put together some really cool stuff focused on waste and we’ve got a couple of comments and then we’re going to dive into the topics of, you know, integrated work systems, etc. So welcome to Manufacturing Meet Up Team. This is a podcast. It’s a show where we kick back, we relax, we talk about our downtime and our efficiencies on the shop floor. And hopefully, we learned something from you, you’ll learn something from us. So welcome Manufacturing Meet Up buddies.

Alvaro Cuba: Thank you Ed. So as you were mentioning guys, we came coincidentally in the week around three different news on waste. And on the first one, it’s a restaurant in London where they are thinking, zero waste. We are not going to throw anything away. So they decided they put the bins out of the door. They call it for the case of animals, nose to tail. And for vegetables and fruits, they call it root to tip. So everything. For example, they pick a pumpkin and what they do is the guts go into the sauce, the peel goes into a marmalade, an extra peel goes in seasoning, and the pulp is the main dish. So they combine all these with other elements. The entire pumpkin, zero waste.

The second news is something similar, but in a completely different industry is the fashion industry. A pioneer on environmental fashion is Gabriella Hearst. She believes in not throwing away anything, but repurposing.

Additionally, Ed will bring one more idea which involves reverse engineering. When we talk about waste in manufacturing, we need to consider reducing bad quality materials or materials that waste time on the line. An example involves a gum line crew that took TPM seriously and discovered they could replace talc (a pollutant) with edible oil, improving productivity and reducing contamination significantly.

Ed Ballina: Those are great points.
Alvaro Cuba: Let’s also consider 3D printing as a potential solution to waste. It has environmental benefits and has the potential to reduce costs. For example, companies are printing homes and materials using waste. This leads to faster construction and sustainable practices.

David Ballina: Yes, I think 3D printing is a great tool. We experienced that firsthand when we had to print a critical replacement part on-site.

Alvaro Cuba: We have the power to reverse engineering in our plants, and the new generations are passionate about sustainability and waste reduction.

David Ballina: Correct. To roll out TPM, it’s essential to first assess the current status, engage management and provide training. A significant barrier I've encountered is resistance to change from tenured employees who are hesitant because they’ve seen initiatives fail.

The benefits of TPM can be significant, such as improved cleanliness and morale among operators, allowing them to detect issues more efficiently. The key is creating an organized environment where operators can inspect for defects easily.

Ed Ballina: Absolutely. This ties back to how the foundational principles are crucial in manufacturing. We should not rush into adopting new technologies without having solid basic processes in place first.

Alvaro Cuba: It’s a sequence: production first, then quality, people involvement, establishment of systems, and finally technology like Industry 4.0.

David Ballina: Exactly. Each step builds on the last, ensuring you are not just making problems worse with advanced technologies without the basics in place.