Getting the right part to the right place at the right time is more than a slogan at Android Industries. It's the reason the company exists.

Android doesn't manufacture parts. Instead, it delivers automotive parts, components, and subassemblies for many other companies on a just-in-time basis to General Motors assembly plants in Flint, Mich., and Doraville, Ga.

Keeping those assembly lines humming requires lightning fast response times.

"We receive a new order every 1 to 2 minutes," says Marty Komer, materials director for the Wixom, Mi., materials management company. "We then have as little as 72 minutes to pick, pack, and ship the parts to the workers building that vehicle."

There is no margin for error: all the components need to be in the exact same sequence as the cars and trucks in production. Install an out-of-sequence part, and the line shuts down for hours.

"Our metrics are simple," says Komer. "Zero errors and zero down time."

To meet those performance levels, Android implemented a real time radio frequency data communication (RFDC) sequence verification system (RT Systems, 734-662-7099, www.rt-systems.com) in Flint and Doraville.

The system has allowed Android to reduce the defect rate from an impressive 500 defects per million parts shipped to fewer than 25 defects per million parts shipped, a 99.9975% accuracy rate.

"RF scanning and sequencing," Komer explains, "allowed us to take our operations to the next level and reach world class quality status."

Android likes to say that it's in the service business. By managing parts and components for GM before they reach the plant, the automaker can reduce space requirements and materials handling along the assembly line, while maintaining a smooth flow of materials.

"GM wants to offer a wide selection of options without having to deal at the plant level with all the suppliers it takes to do that," says Komer. "We receive the parts, assemble them if necessary, and repack them in containers in sequential order according to the VIN number of the vehicles coming out of the paint shop. Then we deliver them so the plant has no more than an hour or two worth of inventory at their line site."

The Flint and Doraville facilities were built specifically to supply the two GM plants. The 120,000 sq ft facility in Flint services a truck line; the larger Doraville location supplies parts for Chevy, Olds, and Pontiac minivans.

In both instances, Android had just 3 weeks notice to train a 150-employee work force to sequence parts before going live.

"We trained our workers in manual mode," Komer explains. "We wanted our operators to understand the process. Once they understood the error-proofing system and what could go wrong, we implemented the scanning system."

Android uses both handheld and truck mounted terminals with scanners in the facility to create a mobile workforce inside a flexible facility.

That's important because operators may pick battery cables for one job, and then axles for the next. Models and brands change from day to day.

"If we had fixed scanners, we'd have to move our scanning system every time we had a model mix change," Komer says. "What's more, there's not enough work within any one commodity to maintain a full-time job, so the operators float between different commodities to maintain a level work flow."

The flow of inventory into Android's facilities is as steady as the flow out to the GM plants: Android turns its inventory every day.

On the inbound side, Android receives an electronic advance ship notice (ASN) from the companies that build the parts for GM. When assembled product arrives at the dock, workers verify the order against the ASN. If they match, the order is accepted. Putaway is done without RF verification.

"Our focus is inventory accuracy as it relates to outbound shipping to our customer, so that's where we spent our money," Komer explains. "If we discover an inventory problem later, we simply adjust with the supplier on an exceptions basis."

Given the rapid turnover of parts, inventory is stored near the point of use. Replenishment is also handled manually. A worker responsible for that area orders new parts when inventory appears to be running low, again without scanning.

On the outbound side, every vehicle is assigned a seven-digit vehicle identification number (VIN) at the plant. Options and color schemes are then associated with that VIN, and assigned to a sequence number. As the vehicle leaves the paint line, the sequence number is sent electronically to Android, and is downloaded into a warehouse management system (WMS).

The WMS produces the bill of materials associated with each sequence number, and creates pick lists of parts in the right sequence to be picked. The orders are distributed to printers. They create pick labels for a container, a run sheet (a sequenced list of the contents of that container in human readable form), and a container bar code label.

Parts are scanned as they are picked and placed in a container. The system verifies that the operator is picking in the right sequence. As parts are picked, the WMS is updated in real time.

After an operator picks, packs, and verifies an order, it goes to a staging area near the shipping dock. There, a worker builds a ship plan and scans the load before it leaves the dock. Trucks leave every 20 to 30 minutes.

"We always want to maintain a buffer of inventory between us and the plant," says Komer, "so we ship more or less frequently based on whether we're running ahead or falling behind the line."

At the end of the day, maintaining the accurate flow of materials is the greatest benefit of the system at Android.

"RF scanning and system verification has reduced the chaos and stress of running an operation with such a short pick and ship window," says Komer. "Our people have a flexible, strong tool and our quality is repeatable on a day to day basis. A lot of that has to do with the RF-based control system."