AsseMec120_MAGGIU_2017

che parla
italiano
e variabili o per esigenze di riconfigurabilità.
Tenendo conto di questi aspetti, abbiamo sviluppato
una linea di soluzioni manuali e semiautomatiche
dove l’operatore è sicuramente al centro della soluzione,
senza però dimenticare che il nostro obiettivo
è quello di fornire ai nostri clienti soluzioni che siano
in grado di aumentare la produttività e la qualità dei
processi.
Uno dei principi fondamentali della Lean production è
l’attenzione all’aspetto dell’ergonomia degli operatori.
Nell’organizzazione della vostra produzione si tratta
effettivamente di un elemento importante?
Di fronte a riorganizzazioni di attività lavorative in ottica
Lean, l’interesse primario è perseguire il calcolo del
ritmo dell’operatore nel pieno rispetto delle “buone”
condizioni di lavoro. Infatti, il ritmo di lavoro dipende
dallo sforzo fisico, richiede accuratezza nei movimenti
e può essere alterato da fattori come la qualità dei
materiali e, ovviamente, dei macchinari.
Per ottenere ottimi risultati non sono necessari solo
processi snelli senza sprechi, ma anche posti di lavoro
configurati ergonomicamente che consentono ai dipendenti
di lavorare in modo efficiente.
n DIGITAL FACTORY
Mechatronics
Speaks Italian
In addition to being the founding partner and technical manager
of TMP Engineering, specializing in the design and manufacturing
of high-tech mechatronic automation systems, Michele Merola is
vicepresident of AIdAM, member of the Board of Directors and is
chairing the ISCP Italian-Serbian Cooperation Platform. We talked
with him about Lean manufacturing, digitization and the challenges
facing machine manufacturers during Industry 4.0.
Mr Merola, the reorganization of production
processes in a Lean perspective has led, in
recent years, to an increase in efficiency. What
has TMP Engineering done in this regard? What measures
have been taken?
Our company has always accompanied the
introduction of Lean manufacturing logics into our
customers’ manufacturing processes. There is a trend to
consider the Lean philosophy as antithesis to automation.
But we are convinced that Lean offers opportunities to
do automation in some contexts and on some processes
that, by size and production volumes, would not justify
the introduction of a heavy automation. It is not possible
to define a single case, but, in principle, it is important
not to forget that the basic elements to assess how much
industrial processes are automated are cycle time and
production volumes.
Special attention should be paid to those processes
in which the repeatability of quality standards is a key
parameter. Lean manufacturing solutions attack a range
of processes whose investments for a heavy automation
would not be justified, perhaps for very small and
variable batches or for reconfigurability needs.
Taking this into account, we have developed a line of
manual and semiautomatic solutions where the operator
is definitely the center of the solution, without forgetting
that our goal is to provide our customers with solutions
capable to increase productivity and process quality.
One of the key principles of Lean production is the
attention to the ergonomics of operators. Is this really
important to manage your production?
In the face of business reorganizations in a Lean
perspective, the primary interest is to calculate the
operator’s pace in full compliance with “good” working
conditions. In fact, the work pace depends on physical
effort, requires accuracy in movements and can be
altered by factors such as the quality of materials and, of
course, machinery. To achieve good results, there is no
PubliTec
MAY-JUNE 2017 83