Today's competitive manufacturing environment requires assembly operations to adjust quickly to changing markets and new technologies. That is especially true when the product being assembled is technology.

Computer hardware has such a short life cycle that the companies that manufacture servers and desktop units are constantly re-creating the product mix as well as their assembly processes. This requires materials handling systems that are highly adaptable.

Cleveland-based Pioneer-Standard Electronics recognizes this need for flexible manufacturing. The company is the third-largest electronics provider in the nation and its line of computer products is a big part of that. Most of the company's customers are value-added resellers and OEMs that are users of networked systems and mid-range servers.

Until recently, Pioneer Standard assembled its computers in a facility that was predominately a manual operation that had maximized its capacities. A separate warehouse that held computer components for assembly was located 15 miles away.

"We looked at where our business would be in 2 years and 5 years and realized we needed to increase our production capacity," says Jeff Levine, vice president of operations. "It was costing us a lot of money to transport products between the two facilities and it was time consuming."

Last year, Pioneer-Standard solved this problem by combining the assembly, distribution, and computer component storage operations into one new facility, known as a Distribution and Value-Added Center, located in Solon, Ohio. The positive results of that decision speak for themselves.

Capacities have increased along with flexibility. No longer do products have to be transported between buildings, but can simply be pulled from storage and placed into processing within 1 hour. This makes the new facility extremely responsive to customer requirements.

"Time to production has been cut significantly," says Levine. "We can turn on a dime now."

Assembly is now strictly build-to-order. Turnaround times that had been 7-10 days now are only 3 days.

"That's best in class," adds Levine.

Ergonomics have also improved, as has accuracy and the quality of products produced.

Most significantly, the new facility has allowed Pioneer-Standard to build much more complex units, some of which take up to 25 hours to build.

"Our product mix has changed since the time we designed this facility," says Levine. "We are seeing a more dramatic market shift from PCs to mid-range servers."

While the company is building about the same number of units as before (about 4,000 ship monthly), the design of the new facility and the materials handling systems (Trommer and Associates, www.trommerinc.com ) have allowed the company to build the more complex units using 20% fewer workers.

"It has created a more stable workforce able to handle the peaks and valleys that come," adds Levine. "That's been a significant advantage for us."

As incoming computer components arrive at the facility's nine docks, vendor-affixed bar codes on cartons and pallets are hand scanned by receiving personnel to notify the middleware management software of their receipt.

Nearly all items go into storage with the exception of computer components needed immediately for assembly. The management software dynamically assigns storage within zones in two main areas of the facility's very narrow aisle (VNA) storage. Many of the components that will eventually be assembled into units in the high-volume and cell-build integration areas are stored in racks close to those lines. This comprises one area of the VNA storage.

Other receipts, including those that are not integrated into any products and will ship as is, are stored in the other main area of the VNA racks.

Some large receipts are also deposited at floor-level storage adjacent to receiving. Select small items may additionally be assigned to the one aisle of shelving in the building, which Levine says is much better use of space than having one or two of these small items occupying a full pallet rack location. It is so functional, he says, that he hopes to add more shelving in the future.

But the vast majority of receipts enter the VNA racks. Lift trucks take these items to pickup and delivery (P&D) stations located at the ends of the VNA aisles. The management system then dispatches a wire-guided turret truck to retrieve the pallet from the P&D station. Upon pick-up, the operator scans a license plate on the pallet and a putaway location is displayed on the truck's on-board display. The driver takes the load to the proper slot in the racks and scans the location ID to verify proper putaway.

All picking at Pioneer-Standard is paperless and completed in waves. This includes both computer components required for assembly and items that will ship directly as is. Typically, a turret truck pulls full pallets while an orderpicker truck handles cartons. The operator arrives at the designated pick location in the VNA racks, then scans the carton or pallet bar code along with the location bar code to confirm proper picking.

The load is then transported to the pickup and delivery station at the rack's end. From there, a lift truck takes the product to one of three places – to an induction station that serves the cell-build and high-volume assembly sections, to the cabinet-build area that handles large product assembly, or directly to shipping.

The induction stations for the cell-build and high-volume lines are where kits of components for each computer unit are built. In a sense, the workers here are manual sorters – pulling computer components from the original cartons, scanning them, and placing them as directed by the management software into standard-size totes or trays that they pull from an overhead tote conveyor. The totes are also scanned to allow the management software to assign that tote to a particular kit of components.

The original component cartons are sent to adjacent aisles in the VNA racks, as they will again be used to repack finished units once the value-added processes are completed.

After all components for a particular computer have been gathered into a tray or tote, it is pushed off onto a conveyor that glides past the induction stations. The conveyor carries the totes and trays to a double-level, dual-pod carousel system.

Essentially, the carousel accumulates all of the parts that are used to produce the next day's production in the cell-build and high-volume integration lines. The carousel system works automatically, scanning the tote bar code upon receipt, then feeding trays and totes into an input/retrieval shuttle that deposits them into open storage slots, holding one built-unit per storage location.

"Once in the carousel system, we have the ability to then release the order into a position on the line," says Levine.

Three years ago when the system was first being conceived, the average build time for a unit at Pioneer Standard was 22 minutes of bench time. With today's more complex units, the average is 55 minutes with some taking much longer. Which line is chosen for a build depends on the complexity of the unit.

The high-volume line builds simple designs in larger quantities. All of the computer components used here are conveyed as kitted trays or totes from their storage locations in the carousels to the line's assembly stations. Each station performs all assembly steps.

The cell-build area assembles more complex computers, some taking as long as 2-3 hours to build. Components for this area come from both the carousel system and storage in the VNA racks. Again, a cell is used to build a unit until assembly is finished.

Once assembly is complete, conveyors carry finished units to a vertical conveyor that raises them to an overhead accumulation area. Here units are held until enough are gathered for release to the software-download area located directly below. Units are conveyed down to lanes where workers connect them to a large server. The software is then downloaded to many units all at once using fiber optic connections.

Next, the units are released to a conveyor with a path that loops past the cabinet-build section and on to a packing area. Here they are repacked into original cartons that have been pulled by lift truck or pallet jacks from their temporary storage in the VNA racks.

Once packing is complete, the load is palletized, taken to a stretch wrap station to unify the load, and staged by the outbound docks until all orders needed for a shipment have been gathered. The facility uses a system of color-coded plastic cones to identify the current status of items in the staging lanes.

The cabinet-build area handles the assembly of large industrial servers, some of which are as tall as 8 feet and cost upwards of $300,000. We are talking about powerful, complex hardware here.

The area is divided into two zones depending on the source of the computer components.

"We build IBM solutions and Compaq solutions here," says Levine. "Because the technology for each is different, we have separate vertical teams and certified engineering for each."

Most components for these units are larger than those used in the other assembly areas. They are stored in the VNA racks or the floor-level storage and are delivered by lift truck directly to the individual cell that will build the finished unit. All work is done within the cell from assembly to testing to software download.

Lift-and-turn tables ease workers' strains while configuring these massive units. Once all drives, nodes, and other components have been installed and wiring completed, the software is delivered from large servers into the newly assembled units. Finished units are then crated for shipping directly within the cells. They are next taken by lift truck to the staging lanes at the shipping docks where they may consolidate with items from the cell-build and high-volume areas.

A limited amount of product is also built in a bench area. This is reserved for specialty items that are assembled best on benches.

Once all the items for a shipment have been accumulated, they are loaded onto trucks at the seven outbound docks. The facility ships everything from individual cartons that may be sent by FedEx or UPS to full trailer loads of products.

Since this is a build-to-order facility, no finished goods enter storage except for rare occasions when items are held in the VNA racks until a customer can take receipt.

After less than a year in the new facility, Levine says they are meeting the challenge of the build-to-order environment, and are just coming off of a record quarter.

"We built more units at a higher level of customer satisfaction that we ever have, so we are pretty pleased with that," he says. "In our business, it is very important to exceed customer expectations. Having all the logistics and operational components in one building allows us to do that."

Levine also adds that since combining computer component storage, manufacturing, and distribution, his employees feel much more a part of a team, as they can more easily see the entire process. This has helped to drive quality higher.

"It provides a total team environment to deliver customer solutions. That is where our value is," he says.

The new building still has room for growth. Levine says the level of growth will depend on the types of products they build in the future and how the recipe is tweaked.

"This facility has met our expectations, and we set our expectations very high," he adds.