Servicing 20-tonne pulverisers that crush coal for a power station is a mammoth task requiring significant time and resources. NRG Gladstone managed to reduce average pulveriser rotor rebuild time by 10%, saving 12.6 hours on each job, simply by implementing 5S principles. Now they have a cleaner Pulveriser Overhaul Workshop with happier staff and a great model to inspire other workgroups to take up 5S.

NRG Gladstone Operating Services Pty Ltd (NRG GOS) is the Operator of the Gladstone Power Station Joint Venture (GPS). NRG is also a part owner of GPS. Operating under a sophisticated business model that is tied to government regulations and the National Electricity Market, Gladstone Power Station's generation capacity is fully contracted.

Set on 80 hectares, the power station currently has 255 fulltime employees and 30 apprentices. In peak periods, up to 80 'specific task employees' can be engaged for up to two months.

Due to the severe drought in south-east Queensland, which has reduced the amount of cooling water available to operate the base load stations in that region, Gladstone Power Station in Central Queensland has seen an increase in electricity generation over the last six months, and anticipates further increases in 2008.

"Now, more than ever, NRG GOS must be a reliable and efficient generator," says Interim General Manager Jeff Mahoney. "In order to be as efficient as possible, and provide a safe environment for our employees, we adopt a philosophy of continual improvement."

5S Housekeeping had been on the company radar for some time. Several independent attempts to implement 5S practices in various areas of the business had been made without significant headway.

"Then when co-owner Rio Tinto shared their commitment to 5S , it gave us the impetus to get serious about embracing it," says Mahoney. "Rio Tinto saw 5S as a key component in their improvement system and a way to improve safety and better organise the workplace while at the same time increasing efficiency, productivity and staff morale."

"The first step was to up-skill," says Mahoney. The local officers at Department of State Development provided an introduction to QMI Solutions. "In March 2006 we sent along one department manager and two front-line managers to QMI's ProEdge Manufacturing Excellence five-day workshop, then in June 2006 we trialed introducing 5S in our Mills Workshop."

The Pulveriser Overhaul Workshop, more commonly referred to as the Mills Workshop, is responsible for rebuilding coal pulverisers, which are taken out of service and overhauled on a regular basis. "On average we have six pulverisers either being rebuilt or waiting in the queue at any one time," says John Donohoe, a Planner Coordinator for the Mills Workshop.

John and co-worker Rod Brown are both Planner Coordinators in the Mills Workshop and have the same roles and responsibilities as workshop foremen. In their leadership roles, they became pivotal in the successful introduction and maintenance of 5S Housekeeping into the 18-man, 1000m2 workshop.

"When QMI came in to do the 5S Housekeeping training we had some enthusiasts and some cynics in the group," says Brown. "But the nature of the training itself really brought people on board. Every single employee was not only involved in the training, but consulted in the implementation."

A couple of hours were spent on the theory of 5S Housekeeping – a structured, systematised approach to housekeeping and a cornerstone of any world class manufacturing operation.

Caption: Shadowboards were wall-mounted and demarcation lines painted. Also rotor blades are now located on a mobile, height extendable trolley to allow more space and ease of installation.

"We decided to focus on one of the three rotor bays, so we could get through the whole process. As we multi-skill staff in all workshop activities, we planned to later expand into the other bays, then the stores area and the middle of the workshop, where engineering and fabrication takes place," says Brown.

In the rotor bay area, each 12-tonne rotor is lifted by crane into one of the bays, where it is then stripped down for servicing, removing auxiliaries such as the caging, feeder, and fan and hammer covers. All extra materials and components needed are brought in on a half-crate (a steel pallet with shallow caging). Depending on the state of the rotor, each rebuild can take three weeks, during which time six tonnes of bolted-on plates and components are stripped by hand from the machine.

"So we could track our progress, we benchmarked our rotor bay operations against QMI's 5S 'best practice' criteria. Scoring 29% in this initial audit, we could see we had plenty of room for improvement, and what areas to focus on. We displayed the audit sheet and 'before' photos of the area on a cork board. Later we would post subsequent audits and 'after' photos," says Brown.

It has been proven that the use of visual performance measurements like these are effective in driving changes in behaviour, as the whole workplace can see exactly what is being measured.

"Then it was straight into the first step 'sorting'," says Donohoe. Simply put, this is getting rid of excess material and equipment lying around gathering dust and taking up space.

"We tagged everything in the rotor bay, listed it all, then took everything out and had an auction. Everyone in the workshop voted on what should stay and what should go. For every item, we asked ourselves why it was there, what it was used for and how often it was used. Items to be thrown out were red-tagged. Some things were moved straight into the storage area, and others we were unsure of were put aside. If we hadn't used it six months later we would throw it out," says Donohoe.

"You should see the huge pile of rubbish we had," adds Brown. "We were pretty amazed by how much useless stuff was cluttering up our workplace."

The next step 'set in order' is to ensure that all materials, tools and equipment have a designated location and that all such locations are easy to find.

"Once we had moved everything out of the rotor bay, it was clear that we really did need to set things in order," says Brown.

The benches and shelving underneath had been totally cluttered making it hard to find tools or even a place to work. So the team decided to remove all but one bench and move all the tools up onto shadow boards on the walls.

It was identified that tools were the main things that needed to be kept in the rotor bays. By 'sorting', the team had removed the unnecessary tools, and could see which tools needed to be added. Some frequently used tools were moved in from the storage area 30 metres away.

"With the shadow boards all the tools are clearly visible. When you take a tool away, there is a clearly visible shape. This, along with the fact that there was no bench space anymore, encourages workers to put tools straight back up,' says Brown. "We already knew that not being able to find tools because they had been stuck under something or on a shelf or bench was a major source of frustration, slowing down jobs, affecting morale and attracting unconstructive criticism. Now that it's easy to find and replace tools, workers can easily identify when a tool is missing or broken. They take personal responsibility for maintaining the system and are proactive about reporting issues they have."

Fixed benches proved to be unnecessary as the components and materials needed for each job were being brought in on a half pallet. Mobile trolleys were introduced instead. Anything in current use can be put on a trolley, which has a designated spot to be parked at the end of the day. The auxiliaries that have to be removed from the rotor before the rebuild, such as the caging, feeder, and fan and hammer cover, can also go on a trolley. At the end of the job any left-over components and materials are put back in the half pallet and taken away.

"Now that the bay is totally clear with nothing left over at the end of a job, guys can easily find the auxiliaries that need to go back onto the rotor, instead of spending time looking for them and finding them in a bucket somewhere," says Brown.

The clutter-free environment also makes for a smoother transition when a job is handed over. Up to five people can work on a rotor rebuild, and each needs to be able to easily pick up where the last person left off.

Demarcation lines have been painted on the floor to indicate where everything should be, including equipment, bins and the mobile trolleys. Clear walkway areas are also painted.

'Shine', the third step in 5S Housekeeping, emphasises the removal of dirt, grime and dust, and its purpose includes improving morale and ensuring that when someone needs to use an item it is in good condition and ready for use.

Due to the grimy nature of the work conducted in NRG GOS' Mills Workshop, the rotor bays are hosed out whenever necessary throughout a job, and also on a weekly basis. But, because of clutter, workers were finding themselves hosing around things, making it much less effective.

"Now that the bays are clear, a hose-out results in a much cleaner, safer, more pleasant environment to work in," says Donohoe. "We have also brightened things up by painting walls and benches.

'Standardise', step four, is to establish standards to be regularly applied to the workplace that will help maintain the first three steps.

By focusing on one rotor bay the team created a model for the other two bays. For a week or so they tweaked elements such as the placement of line-markings and shadow boards, and then duplicated the setup. Now workers know exactly where everything is regardless of which bay they are working in.

This standardisation makes housekeeping rules simple and easy to follow. Everybody cleans up after themselves as they go along. When the bay becomes too greasy, it is hosed out. When a tool is finished with, it is replaced on the shadow board. At the end of the day, everything is put into its marked-out location. Missing or broken tools are reported by the worker who identifies them.

"Everyone in the workshop undertook the training and contributed to our improvements," says Donohoe. "We had many arguments, discussions and debates, but what has come out is a sense of ownership. We all created this system and we all want to see it work."

Workers are encouraged to maintain the 5S systems as they go, and are not worried that they will be castigated for taking the necessary time to do this. There is also a centralised 'hotlist' of ongoing things to do, noting the person responsible and the deadline.

"We are repeating the 5S audits every six months to track our progress against 5S best practice criteria," says Donohoe. "In the rotor bay area we improved from 29% before introducing 5S to 65% after six months, and are just about to conduct another audit. We are working towards making the audits monthly. We are also continuing to implement our hotlist in order to further standardise systems. For example, we just put new hose reels in the rotor bay area so they are easier to access when a hose down is needed during a job."

Finally, it is important to 'sustain' the new processes, to maintaining the momentum of the previous four steps.

NRG GOS made a good start by engaging all workers early on in the process. Time for 5S activities has been built into the job, and staff are seeing benefits now that they have been using the system for 12 months.

"Generally speaking, the guys are much more enthusiastic about future plans," says Brown. "We're keeping the momentum going by introducing 5S throughout the workshop. After four months, we started on the store area and five months later, the middle of the workshop. The benefits of 5S really become clear once you've been using it for a while. The guys are pretty sold on it now."

A great help in sustaining 5S systems is reward and recognition. "There has been a constant stream of managers and people from other areas of NRG GOS through the workshop, and they are amazed at the transformation. The workers here are really proud of that," says Brown. "People keep asking us to 'do their area'. We tell them we're happy to help them but they have to do it themselves, because doing it yourself as a team is what makes it work."

It seems that management at NRG GOS is of the same opinion. When asked about their future plans involving 5S Housekeeping, Interim General Manager Jeff Mahoney says "Four other workgroups have already undertaken the in-house 5S workshop facilitated by QMI Solutions. But at this stage we are not implementing 5S across the site. We want workgroups to come to us and tell us that they want to do 5S rather than impose it upon them. We are confident that over time more work groups will want to take on 5S, particularly as they see the productivity improvements and lift in morale in areas such as the Pulveriser Overhaul Workshop."