Andel on Handling: You're an enabler
By Tom Andel, Editor in Chief -- Modern Materials Handling, 1/1/2009
As I write this editorial to celebrate the winners of Modern's 2008 Productivity Achievement Awards, the Big Three auto makers are hoping to score a big share of the billions stored in the government's rainy day account so they can avoid bankruptcy. Irony of ironies, who turned out to be the big scorer in our innovation category? Chrysler.
I could point to our editorial advisory board and say “they were the judges, not I,” and try to distance myself from a choice that some might question in light of the bailout-mania playing out in business rags. Well, as editor-in-chief of this particular business rag, allow me to congratulate our judges on an excellent choice.
Even if you read Bob Trebilcock's story on the Chrysler Belvidere plant when we published it in May, I recommend you read it again in light of the bailout. An excerpt is on pg. 34 of this issue. It's not about materials handling technology used as a tactic to save money. It's about materials handling as an enabler of an industry's new business strategy.
As Trebilcock notes, “The change in the way materials are received, handled and delivered to the line is a reflection of Chrysler's new lean, corporate-wide approach to production.” If Chrysler's CEO, Robert Nardelli, is smart, he'll use this plant as an example before Congress of how his company will be a good steward of any bailout, or should I say “taxpayer investment,” that might come his way. He'll tell them how in 2007 the Belvidere plant topped a production record set in 1986, producing more than 335,300 vehicles. They did it with fewer materials handlers while managing more parts and receiving more trailers.
Now, auto industry analysts might say that's great, but the Big Three need to cut down on the number of parts they produce. In fact that's exactly what James E. Harbour told me. He's the founder of Harbour and Associates, whose annual Harbour Report is the automotive industry's bible of manufacturing labor efficiency. He said the industry is starting to do the right things, and the next step for the Big Three needs to be a shift to commonized components, which he says could save $1,000 a car. They also need to clean up their quality so parts warehousing can be a thing of the past. That said, Harbour is a cheerleader for the Big Three.
“The stuff coming out of their factories today is on a completely different planet than what came out in 1980,” he said. “The quality is superb. The productivity of American manufacturers is now equal to or better than Honda or Toyota.”
What won our judges' admiration at Chrysler Belvidere also figured into why they selected IKEA as the winner in the warehousing/distribution category. Under IKEA's business model, a global DC design gives this company the flexibility to handle products sourced from anywhere in the world, and with standard operating procedures, improvements perfected in one facility can have an impact across the entire global network. Talk about interchangeable parts!
You can read about these and our other Productivity Achievement Award winners—Detroit Diesel (Manufacturing) and Leo Plonsky (Modern Thinker)—starting on page 29. While you read, I hope you feel as proud as we are about the difference materials handling professionals are making.
Modern's Productivity Achievement Awards
12/31/2008Change is good
12/31/2004Andel on Handling: Step into the spotlight
03/31/2008
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