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For over 25 years, Rypos has continued to innovate and adapt its unique self-cleaning particulate filter technology, which eliminates up to 95% of black carbon typically released into the environment by diesel engines. The manufacturing and technology company builds DPF (Diesel Particulate Filters), which are electrically activated emission control systems that capture little particles of soot that come from diesel engine exhausts and are harmful to the environment. The system collects these particles, then heats them to high temperatures to burn them off before releasing the exhaust into the air. Their products literally turn exhaust into cleaner air and keep customers’ businesses within target range for EPA Tier, CARB Level, and AQMD (Air Quality Management District) scores and greatly improve their Environmental ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) scores. This results in reduced impact on health, diesel equipment and machinery that operate longer and cleaner, and improved air quality and airtight compliance in buildings. Their filters are used in generators, reefer units and marine engines, by hospitals, data centers, cold chain fleets (cryogenics and temperature-controlled transport), in power generation, TRUs (Transformer Rectifier Units), Marine, Ports, and in custom emission Control Systems. The company is constantly improving product operation and design to reduce their customers’ impact on the environment.

Potential for New Opportunities

Their two-year grant focused on learning to apply continuous improvement tools and concepts, starting with a Lean training in July 2024 and finishing with a Toyota Kata Problem Solving Class this Spring. Between these were several different Kaizen events, including 6S, Standard Work, Visual Factory/Scheduling and Cellular Flow. Value Stream Mapping and Building a Successful Lean Team training were also part of the roster.

6S Projects – Sort, Shine, Set-in-Order, Standardize, Sustain and Safety

6S Projects in the Cartridge Area, Module Area, UPS Station and ECU (electronic control unit) Area addressed production delays caused by waste and clutter. The objective of these classes was to remove waste from and improve the functionality, safety, and output in the areas and provide sustainment measures and tracking. They also allowed the participants to learn about Kaizen tools and processes so they could perform Kaizen events at Rypos on their own. For each improvement event, an Action Items list was created and assignments given to team members. Regular meetings were scheduled to review action items and continue to make improvements.

Standard Work Kaizen

Creating standards spread to other areas of the process. Revised work instructions were created for the work kits used for the production of Solenoids. The current SOPs were outdated, inaccurate, or didn’t exist, wasting time while employees tried to figure out what should be done and resulting in lost production. Standard work for the solenoid processes needed to be defined. The area must produce to customer demand.

The team did four trials to improve the process. They utilized the work instruction concept from the initial Lean training event, which introduced the team to many Lean tools and concepts. They re-created materials like BOM’s with larger font sizes, clear photos, and pictures to identify parts. They clearly defined processes in sequence, using letters to identify sub-assemblies and combined some process steps where it made sense to do so. Then this process was repeated on SOPs for other processes, resulting in significant improvement to those as well.

Problem Solving

To help with problem solving, the teams had a class in Systematic Root Cause Analysis taught by MassMEP’s Mike Green. Participants commented, “We are using the training now to help with our current issues and hope to apply it to our future issues!” Another offered, RCA is applicable almost anywhere whenever you run into a problem or issue and are unsure of what the source is.”

Visual Factory Scheduling Kaizen – Making it Visual

John Grover worked with the group who began by mapping out the workflow and processes in the Stockroom area. A spaghetti diagram was done to show the travel waste that was taking place. Then the group brainstormed potential solutions and ideas for improvement. The ideas were prioritized, and implementation began.

By the end of the event, The Future State of the area was in progress. Plans were made for what the visual displays would look like. The idea of a weekly Responsibility Board appealed to the team so much that while they waited for their whiteboards to come in, the Responsibility Board was drawn out on brown paper and hung against racks so they could start using it right away. KPI’s will also be posted visually so the team can see what is going on and where they stand in reference to their goals. “I can’t think of anything I would change about this training,” said one participant. “This has been the most beneficial training we have had so far. We have already put it to use. Visually laying out tasks for our area has been beneficial for my entire team. The boards are already up in the Stockroom, and the guys are updating them and making changes as needed!

The Cellular Flow Kaizen – A Very Important Project

Additional opportunities for Rypos systems to be used on Data Centers could be coming. The incentive for much of this work was aimed toward that goal. Leadership knew it would be a huge opportunity for the company and that they may need to expand their operation and training to accomplish this.

Rypos’ manufacturing has three major processes: Solenoids, Assembly, and Testing. These three areas were spread across the facility, resulting in a lot of extra motion and travel by people and materials between processes. It also made simple communication difficult. By mapping out the current state and doing studies on how long it was taking them to produce filter cartridges, the product quality, travel distance, and other related data, they began to look at creating a better workflow. As they walked through the current assembly process, some inefficiencies became apparent.

Assembly Process – Current State

• Receive cartridges from suppliers in crates of thirty-six pieces.
• Take them out of the box individually.
• Scan them.
• Document serial number and resistance.
• Repackage them in the crate to send to the floor for assembly.
• Assembly unpacks thirty-six cartridges on the floor.
• Cartridges are stacked based on resistance,
  • They must be paired with another cartridge within a set of ranges.
• Forty-eight cartridges needed for a set of three assemblies.
  • They lay out eight cartridges and then create another stack that pairs in height and resistance, so there are two stacks of eight per unit.
  • To build these, assembly operators had to take twelve additional cartridges from a second crate to get the forty-eight they needed.
  • They have to mix and match to try to get the correct resistance ranges.
  • This was very time-consuming but necessary before the cartridge stacks were assembled.
• Cartridge stacks are wired and glued together.
  • If they are not paired correctly and the resistances are not aligned, the part fails – these are all glued with a ceramic cement and wired, so cannot be re-worked..
    • Failure is costly.

Assembly Process- Future State. Just Ask!

Based on information shared in one of the trainings, Paul Castano, Rypos’ Director of Operations, had the excellent idea of working with their supplier to make process improvements.

• Paul arranged for their supplier to ship cartridges in cases of forty-eight rather than thirty-six!
  • Such a simple idea with such a dramatic effect, which would not have happened if he hadn’t asked.
• Assembly no longer has to take additional cartridges from other crates and try to mix and match to get the paired resistances they need.
• The supplier now puts a QR code on each crate, which is scanned to provide the serial numbers and resistance numbers for the cartridges inside without having to unpack them!
• The crate goes directly to assembly, where they scan a barcode, and the program for assembly pops up on a screen and gives the assembler proper pairing for which cartridges go into which slot. Cartridges now arrive paired correctly for the assembly process.

These improvements had a huge impact on quality, accuracy, and speed of assembly.

Improvement at the Cellular Level

After cleaning and organizing the various production areas and improving the way they are receiving the cartridges from their supplier, the team began working with Grover to look at cellular flow and moving operations closer together in a cellular layout for their production processes. Three work cells were created, which take up a significantly smaller footprint on the shop floor and free up space for other uses and opportunities. In the new cellular layout, product moves from the Solenoid process to the Assembly Process and then flows to the Testing Process, which are aligned side-by-side as joined work cells.  Fixtures are pulled to assembly and assembled. Testing has been moved from the back of the facility into the cell, eliminating all that extra motion and travel. Additionally, the configured cartridge assembly is now tested by being put into a box that mimics the housing it will be installed in. This was another terrific time-saving idea that also helps avoid quality issues.

“Before implementing the work cells,” says Gover, “there was so much material on the floor around them and the different production areas were spread out across the facility, so they had to do a lot of traveling to find and put the correct components on whichever system they went with. Now everything is close by and accessible; people can communicate easily!” The cellular layout has saved Rypos a lot of time, transportation, and rework. Plus, the new process with their supplier saves a significant amount of time and provides built-in error proofing.

A few months ago, Rypos reported that the new layout improved process efficiency and throughput by nearly 80% before all the work on the cell area was even completed. Everything for the three processes has been moved to the work cells, and some testers are being built that will result in even greater efficiency. Rypos is building more filters today, in a smaller space!

After the Cell Flow Kaizen, one employee commented, “We will apply this process to other areas of the company. This has greatly helped us go through our production and show us where we could improve and update our procedures and flow.  Everything we’ve learned has turned into improvement projects.”

Breathing Easier

Rypos is located in a fairly small building. One objective of the training was to get things organized and clean and straighten the facility to prepare for potential growth and expansion. They have changed their footprint to improve their efficiency, which also freed up space in their building and means they can stay where they are for now. With thoughts of future opportunities, Rypos can take what they have learned and apply it in new spaces to create work cells, good flow, and high-functioning processes to take them into their next chapter.

The Rypos team became very comfortable with John Grover and the other MassMEP project managers who came here to teach us and work with us over the past two years. We got used to each other’s styles and worked well together to create several successful projects! Bernie Murphy, Rypos Production Manager.