Automotive Company Improved Productivity by 35 Percent with Pinnacle Strategies

Plano, TX -- (SBWire) -- 04/01/2013 --A leading North American automaker had planned for a new manufacturing line in Tennessee, responsible for producing a core component. To prepare for production, engineers based their manufacturing simulations on two key assumptions: that the machines would behave like similar machines operating in the company’s Ohio plant, and that sales projections, based on historical experience, should be adjusted down to 8,000 vehicles a day. But as the facility launch date approached, the sales department announced that it had previously underestimated its figures and that the true rate of sales would be closer to 12,000 a day. Without rapid changes in line design, the new module would not be able to meet demand, even with the addition of weekend overtime shifts.

Pinnacle Strategies became an integral part of a “blue ribbon” committee of manufacturing engineers, simulation engineers, and operations managers responsible for analyzing the current line design, determining its likely output, and recommending design changes for improved production. The Pinnacle consultant immediately encouraged adding a representative from the Ohio plant; his input proved critical. He recognized that the machines for the new line were more complicated than those in his facility, making the underlying data assumptions too optimistic. The adjusted simulation projected an output of just 13 jobs per hour (JPH), 35 percent below necessary production.

Further, the Pinnacle consultant saw flaws in the overall design; in its current configuration, the line was balanced with a standard cycle time applied across every machine, and buffers were minimal. As a result, if one machine failed, the entire line would stop. Pinnacle recommended a redesign with buffers that would absorb the impact of potential machine failures.

Under Pinnacle’s guidance, the team identified the bottleneck—the key piece of machinery that dictated the progress of all the others—and tested various cycle time scenarios on different segments of the line.

By using the simulation as a means for testing buffers and cycle time variables, the design team was able to redesign the overall system so that output will increase from 13 to 18 JPH for each machine line—without adding new modules or new machines that would have increased capital costs.

To learn more about Pinnacle Strategies a new eBook shows how to achieve top operations performance and supply chain performance under the worst conditions. In six months, Pinnacle Strategies helped the clean-up of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill by doubling critical resources, and in doing so saved more than $700 million. Pinnacle Strategies’ new eBook, “Achieving Top Performance Under the Worst Conditions: 7 Lessons from a Disaster,” is available for download at http://www.pinnacle-strategies.com/lp2/.

About Pinnacle Strategies
Pinnacle Strategies is an international management consulting firm focused on operations management excellence. We work with organizations to increase shareholder value by developing high-performance business processes that significantly enhance productivity, reduce costs and time to market, improving profitability and accelerating sustainable growth. Pinnacle Strategies offers results-driven consulting solutions in the areas of performance management, project management, operations management, and supply chain. Pinnacle Strategies is the developer of ViewPoint a service that dramatically simplifies managing projects, enabling project teams to rapidly improve project performance. The RABIT methodology is a proprietary approach that is concentrated on implementing quick response solutions with rapid results. The RABIT methodology culminates years of practical experience and expertise in continuous improvement; it consistently delivers dramatic increases in process output to deliver solutions to industrial and manufacturing firms worldwide. Pinnacle Strategies offers results-driven consulting solutions in the areas of performance management, project management, operations management, and supply chain.

Pinnacle Strategies
http://www.pinnacle-strategies.com
Jennifer Thompson, Marketing Coordinator
pr@pinnacle-strategies.com
405.620.1160