ICC In Providing Innovative
Solution For Superior And
Quality Products
By Mazuin Dahlan
Fujitsu Component (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd (FCM) was
founded in October 1980 and is a Malaysian based
subsidiary of Fujitsu Component Limited, Japan. FCM is
located in Johor with a total area of 78,000m 2 and a
built up premise size of 27,700m2. FCM specialises in
producing two key areas of electromechanical
components including relays and keyboards. Not only
that, it also manufactures dies and assembly machines
for the electronic products. All these products are
marketed through a worldwide network of Fujitsu
Component sales offices.
The company is committed in implementing modern
technologies and industry practices to provide the
clients with the solutions needed for success in today’s
marketplace. With a payable capital of more than
RM200 million, FCM has manifested continuous
technology investment in machineries that supports
the
vision
of
being
a
global
leader
in
electromechanical component parts. FCM places great
emphasis on its relationship with various clients and
prides itself on the ability to respond to the clients
requirements in an efficient and cost effective way.
FCM employs approximately 1,464
employees who are committed to
provide innovative, superior goods
and services to the customers. In
the quest of quality improvement,
FCM complies with ISO 14001:2004
and ISO 9001:2008 certification for
Keyboard and Power Relay and TS
16949:2009 certification for
Automotive Relay. This is to
maintain the quality of products
and at the same time to ensure
they meet the expectations of
customers.
High Rate Of Customer Claims In Twin Relay
Components
As a producer of electromechanical component parts,
FCM is particular in providing products that are of high
of quality. One of the parts supplied by FCM is known
as
electromagnetic
relay
coil.
It
is
an
electromechanical component which is used to operate
the switch electrically. Relay is used to change an
electrical signal to a mechanical movement. Most of
the relays are used in automotive vehicle or home
appliances. In the automotive vehicle, it is applied in
Engine Control Unit (ECU), fog lamp, wiper and door
lock. Meanwhile in the home appliances, it is used in
televisions, washing machines and refrigerators.
Among some of the most prominent customers at FCM
are Toyota, Lexus, Honda, Nissan, Isuzu, Hyundai/Kia,
General Motors (GM), Sony, Samsung, LG and others
end users.
Safety is considered as the most crucial aspects of any
relay produced at FCM. This is because any defects in
relay could jeopardize a human life and may cause
application in the vehicle fail in operations. In
addition to that,
accidents
or
breakdowns
could happen and this will significantly affect FCM’s
reputation and increase the number of customer
dissatisfaction rate. A high customer claim which
contributed to 2.755ppm for twin relay products (high
power twin relay use for automotive application) was
recorded in 2013. It was recorded as the top defect
relay among the FCM relay products and the customer
claims were mainly on defect due to broken wires,
Polybutylene Terephthalate Dust (PBT) and wire
defect.
Executing Innovative Solutions Towards Problem
Solving
The problem of high defect in relays led to an
Innovative and Creative Circle (ICC) team to take
immediate actions in improvement. The team known
as New Avengers which had 10 members laid down
their ideas. They believed in innovation as new ideas
implemented in any work processes will boost
efficiency and cost reduction. As a start, New
Avengers came up with a project known as “Twin relay
spoilage improvement on wire defect reject”. The
group set their target of 30 percent reduction in twin
relay wire defect cases. This target was based on the
FCM management feedback and it was within the
capability of the team. Members of the team also
aimed to provide high
quality products to the
customers and reduced waste that will impact the
environment in a positive manner.
There are two types of twin relay namely the
complete and semi complete relay parts. The semi
complete relay part is a component that is used to
produce other finish products such as coil part, break
terminal, core part and base mould part. There are 16
processes involved in twin relay assembly production
flow.
The defects are identified at
Coil Winding Resistance
checkpoint, Middle Scope
checkpoint and Final
Electrical & Running Test
Inspection. The complete and semi
complete relay parts are rejected
when coil or lead wire surface is
scratched or dented or even
broken that eventually leads to
the relay functional failure. It
came to surface that the monthly
spoilage cost was RM2,970.
In resolving the problem, brainstorming sessions were
conducted regularly which allowed the team to
identify root causes of the problem and simultaneously
generate ideas for solutions. They started with
Fishbone analysis of 4M1E (man, method, material,
machine and environment) categorisation,
and found that there were five causes contributing to high defects in twin relay wire
which included:
1. Rough surface of winding magazine entrance
area at the magazine transfer jig during the
coil winding inspection.
2. B pressing supporter at the B terminal pressing
had sharp edge.
3. Imperfect pick and place handling process at
the final assembly as well lack of standard
quantity needed to be put in a relay box that
caused relay slant and wire scratch or broken.
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4. Unavailability
of barricades at the final
assembly of part feeder guider.
5. Gap in between part feeder joint area at
terminal insertion process.
The findings gave a clearer picture to New Avengers in
generating more ideas for solution. They used the
Advantage versus Disadvantage analysis and Others
Impact Consideration in coming up with five best
solutions for each of the root cause. The table below
shows the root causes, proposed solution and the
action taken to resolve the issue in relations with twin
relay wire defect cases.
Root Cause
This ICC project resolved the problem of high defect
cases in producing twin relay and ultimately the team
was able to achieve all the targeted goals. Following
these developments and innovation, New Avengers was
recognised for their effort and success. The team was
rewarded as a champion on the 19 th FCM in-house QCD
convention and received rewards amounting RM1,500
cash from the management at FCM, a gratitude shown
by FCM towards dedicated staff. New Avengers also
obtained recognition from internal stakeholder during
monthly quality department meeting as well as e-mail
recognition from the management at FCM for their
success. The email also indicated the improvement in
the twin relay wire defect and process spoilage as well
as customer claims.
Proposed Solution
Action Taken
Rough surface of winding To place barricade at magazine
magazine entrance area entrance area for avoiding coil touch
at the magazine transfer the rough surface
jig during the coil
winding inspection
1. Insert chamfer at supporter edge area to
prevent coil surface dented, scratch or
damage.
B pressing supporter at
the B terminal pressing
had sharp edge
To place barrier that create big gap
between coil and supporter
2. Make radius at the edge of coil supporter
Imperfect pick and place
handling process at the
final assembly as well as
lack of standard
quantity needed to be
put in a relay box
To revise existing Standard Operating 3. a) Revise the quantity pick and place
Procedure (SOP), instruction manual &
into relay box to piece-by-piece pick
PFMEA (Process Failure Mode and
from feeder into box.
Effect Analysis) of five or more
b) It was found that operators were still
pieces/time picked from feeder into
using the old method. The new
box
preventive solution:
 Change Sensor position to prevent from relay drop if operator
did not immediately pick up the
relay into relay box
Unavailability of
barricades at the final
assembly of part feeder
guider
To place barricade at the part feeder
guider
Gap in between part
feeder joint area at
terminal insertion
process
Review the handling method as well as 6. Insert supporter guider to close the gap.
design new tools for part feeder
 It was found that parts were still
supporter guider
stuck in between the gap area when
the terminal insertion conveyor belt
had stopped operation. The new
preventive solution:
 Re-Design new part feeder
supporting guider
 In-house tooling and installed in
between core yoke riveting and
terminal insertion part feeder
5. Create radius at the feeder guider
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ICC SOLUTIONS
1. Insert chamfer at supporter edge area to prevent coil
surface dented, scratch or damage
3. b) Change Sensor position to prevent from relay drop
if operator did not immediately pick up the relay into
relay box
2. Make radius at the edge of coil supporter
5. Create radius at the feeder guider
3. a) Revise the quantity pick and place into relay box
to piece-by-piece pick from feeder into box
6. Insert supporter guider to close the gap (In-house
tooling and installed in between core yoke
riveting and terminal insertion part feeder)
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Analysis Of ICC Project In FCM
The project successfully achieved its target of 30
percent reduction in twin relay customer claims and
improved process spoilage on wire defect reject. After
the ICC project, the twin relay customer claim reduced
to 0.702 ppm as compared to 2.755 ppm previously.
Consequently, the twin relay customer claim cases
have reduced to only one case. The team achieved
below the targeted value of 1.928 ppm.
This is supported by the reduction in wire defect
quantity from 12,002 pieces to 1,916 pieces. Before
the ICC project, FCM has to bare a total cost of
RM6,984 for these defects, amounting to a saving of
RM5,864 per month. The annual total of spoilage cost
before the implementation of ICC project was
RM57,321. After these improvements, FCM managed to
save RM34,019 amounting to 59 percent improvement
until today.
The Management at FCM was proud to share and report
the new improvement initiatives at Fujitsu Japan. It
was a delightful moment for all parties at FCM when
the team received recognition on these new initiatives.
FCM was also audited by one of the automotive
customers with full system audit and managed to get
an overall 96 percent score. This project was
extremely helpful in the reduction of waste produced
by high relay spoilage and led to a cleaner and
healthier environment.
COMPARISON BEFORE AND AFTER ICC IMPLEMENTATION
Customer claim :
Before : 2.755ppm
After : 0.702ppm
Spoilage cost :
Before : RM57,321.55/year
After : RM23,302.10/year
Twin relay customer claim cases :
Before : 2
After : 1
Twin relay wire scratch reject:
Before : RM6,984.50/month
After : RM1,119.97 /month
Wire defect quantity:
Before : 12,002 pieces
After : 1,916 pieces
Cost saving per year:
Before : 0
After : RM35,969.64
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