Leading the fight for profits at Rieter Automotive
"Fight for profits” says the sign on the factory wall at Rieter Automotive. Judging by their massive transformation over the last two years, it’s a fight they are well on their way to winning.
Two years ago the unassuming West Midlands site was under huge pressure to stay competitive as a supplier to the automotive industry, but an initiative ‘Fit for Future’ was launched which has culminated in them scooping two prestigious regional awards.
Bench marking visits to leading automotive sites took place and helped to accelerate the move towards a transformation based on Toyota Production System principles.
Kane Marshall, operations manager explains: “Rieter saw the opportunity to reduce stock and work in progress inventory, by adopting a kan ban driven replenishment system and sourcing alternative off site warehousing, freeing up space on the production floor.
The historical practice was to transport stillages of finished product to our warehousing space using an articulated lorry. It represented a heavy cost in time and resource simply to move goods to a site a few hundred metres away.
Toyota account manager Craig Bradbury worked with the team at Rieter Automotive to identify the best solution: “Tow tractors offer a flexible, low emission solution for transporting goods over longer distances both inside and out. They are simple to operate and require less training investment than a HGV. Turning circles are impressive; the combination specified can make a full turn within its own length, meaning Rieter was no longer restricted to operating the trucks outside.
It was critical to the success of the project that we specified the most appropriate combination of truck and trailer. Rieter was able to supply us with detailed analysis of their stock movement needs including variation in the size of the stillages, production peaks and troughs and shift rotations. This allowed our technical team to model different configurations and provide a cost benefit analysis.”
Kane adds: “Working with Toyota has unlocked a very different way of working for us. We have moved lines on the production floor to allow the tow tractors to travel through the factory. The tow tractors make up to 60 journeys per day during peak periods, moving finished product to offsite warehousing and returning with raw materials.
Replacing the lorries with LPG tow tractors has also reduced our carbon emissions, supporting our work to improve our plant’s environmental efficiency.
