Case Studies > Greater efficiency, less scrap, and happier customers for Baldor Electric Company

Greater efficiency, less scrap, and happier customers for Baldor Electric Company

Company Size

1,000+

Region

America

Country

United States

Product

InfinityQS ProFicient

Tech Stack

Statistical Process Control (SPC)

Implementation Scale

Enterprise-wide Deployment

Impact Metrics

Cost Savings
Customer Satisfaction
Productivity Improvements

Technology Category

Analytics & Modeling - Predictive Analytics
Functional Applications - Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES)

Applicable Industries

Equipment & Machinery

Applicable Functions

Process Manufacturing
Quality Assurance

Use Cases

Machine Condition Monitoring
Predictive Maintenance

Services

Software Design & Engineering Services
System Integration

About The Customer

Baldor Electric Company, a leading manufacturer of industrial electric motors, drives, and mechanical power transmission products, is committed to delivering high-quality products to its customers. The company operates multiple production facilities and employs a large workforce dedicated to maintaining high standards of quality and efficiency. Baldor's management places a strong emphasis on both product quality and production quantity, believing that customer satisfaction is paramount. To achieve this, Baldor has implemented various quality initiatives and policies aimed at continuous improvement and reliability. The company leverages advanced technologies and data-driven methodologies to enhance its manufacturing processes and ensure that its products meet the highest standards of excellence.

The Challenge

At Baldor, management believes in product quality just as much as production quantity. To ensure a high level of quality, Baldor decided to institute a policy dedicated to customer satisfaction. The policy would involve continuous quality and reliability improvements, with each employee playing a specific role. With the new quality initiatives, Baldor’s objectives were to: Improve gauging and measurement accuracy, Decrease production cycle times, Lower the cost of scrap, Make inspections faster and more accurate. To achieve these goals, Baldor needed to monitor quality data around the clock and use data analysis to make process adjustments when necessary. The solution also needed to be intuitive for the production and quality teams to quickly adopt as part of their job responsibilities. With the new quality policy, Baldor instituted the methodology of Statistical Process Control (SPC) into the corporate culture with quality personnel, engineers, and managers all using data to improve processes.

The Solution

Baldor implemented InfinityQS® ProFicient™ SPC software in inner-ring machining, inner-ring grinding, outer-ring grinding, ring roller, and face grinding cells, with plans to expand the application to induction heat treating, conventional heat treating, and cast iron housing machining. To meet the data analysis challenge, Baldor created an enterprise-wide mandate for quality improvement. Using ProFicient software, Baldor now creates SPC monitor charts and capability charts and makes them available to all employees with a shared responsibility for data analysis. A strategic group conducts regular meetings to share successful SPC techniques and make data-driven quality decisions based on ProFicient’s analysis tools. On the shop floor, Baldor evaluated gauging and made updates throughout its production facilities. In addition to its user-friendly interface, ProFicient gives operators the framework for easier gauging methods with finer resolution gauges and better inspection tools and methods. The improved inspection tools and methods have eliminated secondary gauges and handwritten charts and log books, producing faster, more accurate inspections that generate a substantial cost savings. InfinityQS software streamlined quality initiatives on the shop floor, and all operators are using the ProFicient database for check sheets.

Operational Impact

As a result of its commitment to quality, Baldor was able to measure quality improvements throughout its manufacturing processes. The application of ProFicient’s process-defined control limits led to a reduction in product variation. The company was able to limit unnecessary machine adjustments by relying on actual data instead of personal preference when making adjustments.
By using InfinityQS in the inner-ring machining department, Dodge reduced the amount of leftover stock in the bores for grinding. This stock reduction decreased cycle times by an average of 15% per piece, yielding yearly savings of approximately 2511 production hours. The process now produces less variation in machined inner rings (±.0002” vs. ±.002”).
Baldor recorded significant cost savings as a result of the first phase of the InfinityQS implementation. The company reported 66% annual dollar savings from reduced scrap for internal customers and 63% annual dollar savings from reduced scrap in InfinityQS work centers. The figures added up to a 13% reduction in overall scrap costs.
Baldor’s customers are on the winning end of the quality improvements as Baldor reports a 48% reduction in warranty claims. Baldor expects to see further savings as the InfinityQS implementation rolls out.

Quantitative Benefit