When it comes to NASCAR racing, the pit stop is the ultimate materials handling test. Nothing is allowed to slow changing of tires, filling the gas tank or swapping out of any parts that need attention. And it all needs to be done in 20 seconds or less.

Certainly, the people at Jasper Engines know this. After all, the company, which remanufactures transmissions, engines and differentials, sponsors its own NASCAR entry - the 77 car driven by Brendan Gaughan.

That also means managers were aware that materials handling was not exactly running on high-octane fuel at the transmission division in Jasper, Ind. "We didn't need to collect a lot of statistics on our efficiencies. The problems were fairly evident," says Steve Brooking, project engineer at the plant.

They started with too much work-in-process (WIP) and extended to poor use of people and their time. Worse yet, throughput was below expectations and unable to keep up with growth in the business.

It was time to redesign and integrate materials handling (Bastian Material Handling) and information flow in the 110,000 square foot transmission remanufacturing department. Floor space was reallocated and work cells reconfigured. Then, new conveyors, carousels, shelving, racks, as well as lift and tilt tables, were brought in to improve materials flow and ergonomics for workers. In addition, the data capture and management system was upgraded and bar codes implemented throughout the department.

Throughput has now risen by more than a third from 140 transmissions a day to 190. Lead times were cut 50%. Labor hours per transmission declined 20% too.

While transmissions still take more time than a NASCAR pit stop to flow through the department, the extended stays they once made are now history.

The facility rebuilds all types of transmissions. They range from truck transmissions for large fleets, to car transmissions installed by independent garage owners and dealerships. In a typical year, 55,000 transmissions are rebuilt by Jasper.

Not only do the original transmissions flow through the department, but so do various replacement parts. Some are used parts known as qualified parts, says Brooking. Others are new parts. Kits are built and WIP is staged in buffers at various points in the process. Unfortunately, the way all this used to be done was awkward, inefficient, and very labor intensive.

"We had a lot of traffic. Before we redid the department, a lot of people were moving parts unnecessarily," says Brooking. "It was chaos to get things from one place to another."

And the problems didn't stop there, he continues. There was also an enormous amount of WIP. At the start of the process alone, 500 transmissions were staged. Furthermore, transmissions were tracked manually, making it difficult for people to know where parts were at any given point and find them in a timely manner.

Beyond too many transmissions on the shop floor at one time, there was too much floor space devoted to staging those transmissions. As a result, the floor space devoted to work cells was less than what it could have been, adds Brooking. That meant throughput was less than what it could be.

To top it off, work was managed in batches. Given the other shortcomings, batching was clearly not the most effective way to manage the flow of work.

In the same 110,000 square feet, there is now considerably less WIP and storage space and more work cells arranged in a flow-through design.

As the layout drawing at left shows, transmissions are staged to start the process. But only 100, not 500, are in bar coded containers staged in racks.

The plant's manufacturing execution software calls for a specific container, following instructions from the order management system. All software systems at Jasper are developed in-house. Then, and at several other key locations in the plant, the bar code associated with that transmission is scanned, identifying it to the materials handling control system. In addition, real-time transmission tracking allows Jasper's customer service people to update customers on order status.

"We've also done away with the batching system of old," says Brooking. Now, transmissions flow through the system as individual work pieces, traveling on conveyor most of the way.

"Just by bringing work to the people instead of having people look for the next piece got us a 10% gain in throughput," says Brooking. It also eliminated the need for carts to move WIP, eliminating much of the congestion that was common earlier.

Just as important, people are no longer chasing parts. Those people, says Brooking, were retrained to rebuild transmissions. And they were sorely needed in that new role.

With less WIP and new floor space opened up with the elimination of excessive storage, that made it possible to expand the number of assembly work cells. Previously, there were five three-person cells and five one-person cells. (Slower moving items and specials are worked on at the smaller cells.) Now, there are eight three-person cells and nine one-person cells, accounting for much of the throughput increase. The addition of ergonomic lift and tilt tables has also contributed to productivity increases.

The end result has been precisely as hoped, says Brooking. Not only did throughput increase more than a third, but the number of labor hours to rebuild a transmission dropped too. "We're definitely a better operation now than we were before all the changes," says Brooking. "While our project yielded great results, we are currently adding more process steps to our transmission cells. Jasper thrives on the continuous improvement of processes striving to meet customer needs."