Laundry clothes - example for PFM
Process description:
Dirty clothes should be washed and ironed so we can wear them again.
The process operations:
- Load the clothes into the washing machine
- Wash the clothes
- Spin the clothes
- Rinse the clothes
- Spin the clothes
- Dry the clothes
- Iron the clothes
1 Inspection of clothes
OE 3.4
2 Loading clothes to WM
OE 2.4
3 Wash clothes
OE 1.52
4 Spin washed clothes
OE 1.27
5 Rinse washed clothes
OE 1.32
6 Spin rinsed clothes
OE 1.28
7 Unloading clothes from WM
OE 1.67
8 Dry rinsed clothes
OE 1.92
9 Iron washed and dried clothes
OE 2.52
Productive operations effectiveness
Effective
Ineffective
Operation types breakdown
Productive
Providing
Corrective
Metrology
| Operation Type | Does it increase cost? | Does it increase product value? | Recommendation |
|---|---|---|---|
Productive | Yes | Yes | Improve |
Providing | Yes | No | Eliminate |
Corrective | Yes | No | Eliminate |
Metrology | Yes | No | Eliminate |
| Operation | Type | Merit | Recommendation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Inspection of clothes | Metrology | OE 3.4 | Consider the necessity of the information and eliminate it when possible |
| 2 Loading clothes to WM | Providing | OE 2.4 | Consider eliminating |
| 3 Wash clothes | Productive | OE 1.52 | Consider improving |
| 4 Spin washed clothes | Corrective | OE 1.27 | Do nothing and eliminate it when possible |
| 5 Rinse washed clothes | Corrective | OE 1.32 | Do nothing and eliminate it when possible |
| 6 Spin rinsed clothes | Corrective | OE 1.28 | Do nothing and eliminate it when possible |
| 7 Unloading clothes from WM | Providing | OE 1.67 | Consider eliminating |
| 8 Dry rinsed clothes | Corrective | OE 1.92 | Do nothing and eliminate it when possible |
| 9 Iron washed and dried clothes | Productive | OE 2.52 | Consider improving |
Total - 9 operations
Operation types:
Productive - 2 operations - 22%
Providing - 2 operations - 22%
Corrective - 4 operations - 44%
Metrology - 1 operation - 12%
To wet, contaminate, rinse, dry, and iron seems to be an unreasonable process.
Ironing operation shows the highest functionality. Why not use only ironing: Iron - contains all required features and performs all necessary functions: heating, wetting, straightening, etc. Why not add a washing function to the iron?
Think about how to modify IRON to use for clothes cleaning:
For instance, use two types of holes for water (steam) to clean the clothes and for suction to collect the water with dirt.
Add the pump to an Iron and use it for cleaning.
Operation: Inspection of clothes
The purpose of the operation: to separate "white" clothes from "colored" clothes to avoid joint laundry and prevent "coloring" of the clothes
The product of the operation: Information
Operational Effectiveness – OE
Effective
Ineffective
OE 3.4
Operational Perfectness - OP
Basic functions
Components
Supersystems
OP 0.29
Clothes | 10 |
Person | 8 |
Dirt | 6 10 |
Light | 6 |
Color | 4 |
Metrology operations should be eliminated
Operation: Loading clothes into the washing machine (WM)
Purpose: Place the clothes into the chamber
Product: Clothes
Operational Effectiveness – OE
Effective
Ineffective
OE 2.4
Operational Perfectness - OP
Basic functions
Components
Supersystems
OP 0.43
Light | 10 |
Person | 10 |
Detergents etc. | 4 10 |
Operation: Wash clothes
Purpose: Wash the loaded clothes with water and detergent to dissolve dirt
Product: Dirt
Operational Effectiveness – OE
Effective
Ineffective
OE 1.52
Operational Perfectness - OP
Basic functions
Components
Supersystems
OP 0.22
Water | 10 10 |
Solid dirt | 4.4 |
Detergent | 3.3 |
WM chamber | 2.2 3 |
Clothes | 2.2 3 |
Heater | 2.2 |
Operation: Spin Washed Clothes
Purpose: Remove the contaminated water together with detergent and dissolved dirt
Product: Water after wasing
Operational Effectiveness – OE
Effective
Ineffective
OE 1.27
Operational Perfectness - OP
Basic functions
Components
Supersystems
OP 0.27
WM dram | 10 10 |
Pump | 5 |
Water | 5 |
Clothes | 2.5 |
Motor | 2.5 |
Detergent | 6.7 |
Dissolved dirt | 3 |
Operation: Rinse washed clothes
Operation description: Add water and rinse the clothes
Purpose: to replace the washed water residue with pure water
Product: Pure water within clothes
Operational Effectiveness – OE
Effective
Ineffective
OE 1.32
Operational Perfectness - OP
Basic functions
Components
Supersystems
OP 0.26
WM drum | 10 5 |
Clothes | 7.5 |
Water | 7.5 10 |
Motor | 1.3 |
Washing residue | 5 |
Operation: Spin Rinsed Clothes
Purpose: Remove the rinsing water from the clothes
Product: Water after rinsing
Operational Effectiveness – OE
Effective
Ineffective
OE 1.28
Operational Perfectness - OP
Basic functions
Components
Supersystems
OP 0.25
Clothes | 10 4.4 |
Water within clothes | 5 |
WM drum | 5 10 |
Motor | 1.3 |
Detergent residue | 2.2 |
Operation: Unloading clothes into the washing machine (WM)
Purpose: Remove the clothes from the WM drum and prepare them for grying
Product: Wet clothes
Operational Effectiveness – OE
Effective
Ineffective
OE 1.67
Operational Perfectness - OP
Basic functions
Components
Supersystems
OP 0.5
Person | 10 |
WM drum | 6.7 |
Rinsing water residue | 10 |
Operation: Dry rinsed clothes
Purpose: to dry the clean clothes after washing, rinsing, and spinning - remove moisture
Product: Water separated from clothes
Operational Effectiveness – OE
Effective
Ineffective
OE 1.92
Operational Perfectness - OP
Basic functions
Components
Supersystems
OP 0.23
Clothes | 10 10 |
Water | 8 |
Drying drum | 6 3.8 |
Air | 6 2.9 |
Motor | 2 |
Operation: Iron a washed and dried clothes
Purpose: Straighten the clothes one by one with iron
Product: Straightened clothes
Operational Effectiveness – OE
Effective
Ineffective
OE 2.52
Operational Perfectness - OP
Basic functions
Components
Supersystems
OP 0.34
Person | 10 |
Iron | 7 10 |
Dried clothes | 5 |
Steam | 3 |
Water | 2 |
Air | 0.7 |
Similar projects
A good example of how to use 40 Inventive Principles for ideas generation.
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This project aims to find better ways for solar energy harvesting, storage and usage - in a non electric ways, which will offer more versatile usable energy.
