The four finalists for the 2008 Assembly Plant of the Year award are all world-class facilities. Although IBM Poughkeepsie won the award, the other finalists are quite impressive, becuase they all specialize in flexible, high-mix assembly.
The interior is the only part of a vehicle that drivers have an intimate day-to-day connection with. As people spend more time driving, seats are growing increasingly important to consumers. They’re demanding seats that provide comfort, convenience, safety and security.
Advanced Assembly LLC (Columbia City, IN) builds seats for AM General LLC (South Bend, IN) and General Motors Corp. (GM, Detroit) truck plants in Mishawaka, IN, and Roanoke, IN, that assemble vehicles such as the Chevrolet Silverado, GMC Sierra and Hummer H2.
The company recently took several steps to improve productivity and shorten time to market by investing in new assembly tools and state-of-the-art technology. For instance, Advanced Assembly has installed five vision-guided robots over the last two years that have saved the company more than $690,000. It also uses automated guided vehicles to deliver parts to the assembly line, in addition to DC electric fastening tools and a modular twin-track conveyor system equipped with radio frequency identification (RFID) pallet tracking.
Those investments have helped the plant increase operating efficiency while reducing labor and overhead costs. Last year, Advanced Assembly exceeded its goal for margin improvement by 185 percent, and the company is on track to exceed that goal by more than 150 percent in 2008.
Other tools the plant uses to improve productivity include: