Coinage production runs

WAYNEAS

I posted this on another thread somewhere but I figure that it will get more views here. Please feel free to let me know what you think.
Having been in the aerospace manufacturing / engineering industries for ( God I am old) for 4.5 decades, I will give you my history on Kaizen, lean manufacturing. The mint is a manufacturing entity. It must operate at a profit ( standard joke "they always make money"). In order to do this, they must produce product in the shortest time available. They cannot let "product" sit on shelves awaiting purchase. Space is a "COST", inventory is a "COST", equipment use is a "COST" especially "down time" for maintenance, product travel ( the actual distance a product (coin) must move to the next process) in manufacturing is a "COST". They need to manufacture product and get it out the door. Short production runs are a money maker. Production quantities are based on current demand and not the future demand. "Rocket" Kennedy coins had a production of 50,000 units so maybe they make 55,000 (1% ) for a defective overage. I would not be surprised that the 5,000 overage number is really around 500 units. A one die life here will produce the entire run unless there is a catastrophic failure in the run. The first minting of coins will produce the best coins and as the dies wear to lesser detailed minted coins. The coins are then moved to inspection and then to packaging and then to distribution outlets. The presses are quickly broken down and re-set up for the next coin run. This is most likely coins earmarked for general circulation like pennies, nickels, dimes or those explorer coins with a 50,000 limit. This turn around from one stamping should take less time then it takes to have a beer. MINUTES! So when they strike the new mint sets and the new specialties, all will start with new dies and have the ability to be graded in 69 and 70 grades with the possibility of being graded with a Deep Cameo or proof like designation. This too will depend on the surface finish of the raw material being stamped ( the old adage "start with sht, end with sht) and striking pressures. When a press is set up , the coin striking requirements are already determined through a "STATISTACAL" process and calculations. The presses must be in production mode 24/7. Look to see how many pennies are minted a year and then divide that by 360 days and then by 24 hours for a hours production run and you will understand production rates. Hope this helps all into the understanding of "PRODUCTION". The Big here is remember that they changed the composition of the penny and nickel because it cost more than the face value of the coin to produce. A side note, The Mint keeps the very first coin of a production run and the very last coin of that run. Each and every time. Talk about a one of a kind.
This link will show the steps it takes to make a coin. Enjoy!
https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/1008812/making-money-error-vs-pmd

ricko

@WAYNEAS ....Interesting that you should reference Kaizen and lean manufacturing...Spent years in the aerospace electronics manufacturing industry... and they were essential to process improvement and product quality. Cheers, RickO

Hemispherical

@WAYNEAS

Thanks for the interesting post. Can you post an example of a coin run and the required output to make a certain mintage number?

WAYNEAS

This is the best that I can do right now.
"Today, the Mint follows the same basic process as it did 200 years ago, but with computer-controlled machines working at unbelievable speeds. One coin press produces 720 coins per minute, which means that the Philadelphia Mint produces 46,800 coins per minute if all of its 65 presses are operational".
I would believe that the mint would only use one press to produce the 50,000 coins. So if my math is correct, we divide the required amount of the coin run which in this case is 50,000 units, by the number of coins produced per minute for a single press which is 720 units or 50,000 / 720 = 69.444 required minutes to produce the entire run. We now take the total minutes of the run and convert it to hours. So 69.444 / 60 ( minutes in an hour) and we get 1.15 hours for the run. The key here is to remember that while the one press is stamping coins, that those stamped planchets are already moving into and through the next process requirements like generating the raised edge and so on and so on until the coin is completed. This is the lean manufacturing process. I would love to get a phone number for the Denver mint to see if they could give us a total production run time of the Rockets. So if anybody is near a mint facility, take the tour and ask them how long it takes to produce a 50,000 coin run.

RogerB

A minor addenda to the above. Coins are completely formed in one blow from the press (generally a quad-press for small coins and dual for large ones). The output of each press is caught in bins ("totes"); this helps prevent coins from a malfunctioning press getting into the distribution stream. Each bin has a coded weight and coins are "counted" by weighing the bin and subtracting its tare, resulting in the tale (contents) weight.

(The quality of ordinary production coins is much higher than most collectors realize. It is only later handling that creates surface and edge damage. The edge reeding on a newly struck quarter is sharp enough to cut paper - or your finger if pressed firmly into the skin.)

Short runs and other specialty products are not made on high capacity production presses. Slower dual-die presses are used along with some multi-strike presses for half and large dollar coins. A typical short run press rate is 100 to 200 coins per minute, with output falling on a conveyor/sorter/flipper through quality control, then to packaging and inspection, Depending on the product, there is often a second consumer packaging and inspection stage before preparation for shipment to the fulfillment center.

Hope this helps a little.

WAYNEAS

@RogerB said:
A minor addenda to the above. Coins are completely formed in one blow from the press (generally a quad-press for small coins and dual for large ones). The output of each press is caught in bins ("totes"); this helps prevent coins from a malfunctioning press getting into the distribution stream. Each bin has a coded weight and coins are "counted" by weighing the bin and subtracting its tare, resulting in the tale (contents) weight.

(The quality of ordinary production coins is much higher than most collectors realize. It is only later handling that creates surface and edge damage. The edge reeding on a newly struck quarter is sharp enough to cut paper - or your finger if pressed firmly into the skin.)

Short runs and other specialty products are not made on high capacity production presses. Slower dual-die presses are used along with some multi-strike presses for half and large dollar coins. A typical short run press rate is 100 to 200 coins per minute, with output falling on a conveyor/sorter/flipper through quality control, then to packaging and inspection, Depending on the product, there is often a second consumer packaging and inspection stage before preparation for shipment to the fulfillment center.

Hope this helps a little.

Yes to your addenda. My spiel is geared for the general business strikes. Yours is geared to specialty strikes.
This makes me think, are the rockets a business or specialty strike?
Thanks for adding this additional info for our thread followers.
Coin Fact: The mint struck just under 7.5 Billion cents last year for general circulation.

RogerB

"Coin Fact: The mint struck just under 7.5 Billion cents last year for general circulation."
....And -- they lost almost 1-cent on each coin.

As I understood the presentation last October, the "Rockets" use normal circulation coins.

(PS: ALL coins are part of the Mint's "business" so that term does not separate circulation from commemorative or proof or other specialty products.)

kbbpll

Kaizen...
A manufacturing company I worked for went through this 20+ years ago. The floor guys spent so much time walking back and forth to the VP's office that the Kaizen consultant made the VP move into a specially constructed, air-conditioned glass cube cell out on the manufacturing floor. One of the funniest things I ever saw in my career, that guy sitting out there in his fishbowl all day instead of his fancy corner office. I can see something similar happening at the mint, to a similar personality.

Nysoto

Thanks for the Lean lingo. The US Mint has made great strides in coinage output.

My interest is mostly the First US Mint, which was threatened with closure by Congress. It is amazing to me the progress they made in the early years, considering mechanical operations, early steel alloy, limited budget, etc. The image is from my collection of Mint related publications, showing output, expenses, and gain (seigniorage) on copper.

In a Mint report to President Jefferson on 1/1/1807 (a brief excerpt from my sig line book), Mint Director Patterson, for a brief moment, sounded like an industrial engineer leading a Lean value stream workshop:

"...though the expense has been comparatively moderate, yet the amount struck is nearly double the average amount during that period, and the number of pieces (the most accurate measurement of the quantity of labor), considerably more than quadruple."

RogerB

Love to have some of that 1815-1816 gold output !