Contract Logistics, Dedicated Logistics Services

Automotive Case Studies

Automotive Parts Assembly Plant Operations

Problem: A leading producer of over-the-road trucks needed help with tracking their inbound inventory. The solution also required JIT assembly support and inventory consolidation.

Solution: ODWCS designed all work processes to operate this cost-effective 200,000 sq. ft. facility. This support center provides all parts receiving, put away, storage, picking and scheduled delivery of parts to the assembly plant. In addition, the facility performs sequencing for brakes, canisters, instrument harnesses, dash panels, as well as the dressing of single and tandem axles.

Benefits: This off-site facility removes excess inventory from the customer's plant, gives the customer on-line inventory visibility that reduces inventory to JIT levels, and lowers operating costs by consolidating multiple activities into one coordinated location.

Automotive Parts Distribution Center Operations

Problem: In Illinois, a high volume engine assembly plant needed to eliminate line-side inventories so that production volume could meet increased product demand.

Solution: ODWCS designed an inbound parts distribution center that provides JIT order fill, product kitting, and motor carrier plant delivery services for two-shift operation. To minimize on-hand material, this location is designed as a vendor-managed inventory facility. Through ODWCS' web-enabled WDLS warehouse management system, ODWCS electronically coordinates all inbound supplier shipments and inventory levels with plant production schedules.

Benefits: While vendors are responsible for maintaining adequate inventory levels, ODW's warehouse management system monitors ASN and on-hand stocking levels to ensure that the production plant will never run short of needed materials. In addition, ODWCS identified inbound milk-run trucking opportunities that matched ODWCS tractor idle time, and saved the customer significant transportation costs.

Outsourced Automotive Parts Distribution

Problem:In the southwest, a luxury car company wanted to establish a new aftermarket parts distribution center. This center was needed to support their dealers' requirements for next-day parts delivery over a ten-state market without spending more than the current budget.

Solution: Dallas, Texas, was chosen as the most expedient location for next-day service, and ODWCS was chosen to implement and operate the center due to our extensive experience in auto parts order filling accuracy, inventory control, and competitive approach to pricing.

Benefits: In key indicator performance measurements, ODWCS continues to meet or exceed budgeted operating goals, and has achieved highest service levels among the nine categories of customer evaluation.

Outsourced Automotive Parts Distribution

Problem: An international agricultural machinery company was burdened with a lengthy 28-day aftermarket parts packaging process. This inflexible process not only resulted in excessive inventory carrying cost, but made parts unavailable for meeting hot shipments to machine-down locations.

Solution: ODWCS managers used our exclusive CARD project planning system to identify the company's functional and customer service requirements. All participants signed off on the project deliverables, and through work process analysis, ODWCS developed a series of bar-coded, sequential packaging lines. These lines reduced packaging through-put time from 100% packaging in 28 days, to 60% packaging in 24 hours and 100% packaging in 48 hours, all at no additional operating cost.

Benefits: This dramatic improvement in turnaround time saved the customer $10.0 million in inventory carrying cost. In addition, the WDLS system gives the customer real-time visibility for all SKU's in the packaging cycle, so that customer service is able to commit to delivery schedules for all part numbers, regardless of inventory or packaging location. Now, as many as 500 orders per day are processed on an overnight basis, whereas the old packaging process would have placed those requirements on backorder.

Automotive Equipment Process Improvements

Problem: An international construction equipment company came to ODWCS for assembly support and product testing solutions. This company realized they had a weakness in their assembly support and inventory control functions, and asked ODWCS for recommendations on JIT order fill services and inventory management.

Solution:For this company, ODWCS provided the WDLS warehouse management system with full RF scanning, line-side parts delivery, and finished product testing. The line-side scanning services included confirmation of delivery. ODWCS provided all carrier coordination, OS&D processing, product returns, electronic communications with plant purchasing, and optimized min/max inventory levels.

Benefits:ODW Contract Services used our WDLS inventory management system to parallel the customer's SAP production management system, and reduced on-hand inventory and labor costs.

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