Creating a Lean Fulfillment

Stream to Meet Growing Demand

Stephane Langevin / Adam Melrose

Sr. Logistics Manager / Director, Warehouse Ops

Bosch Automotive Steering / LeanCor Logistics

HPS Column / I-Shaft EPSdp AFS Heavy Duty EPSapa

Car Steering Systems Other steering components

Customers

Robert Bosch Automotive Steering LLC : Florence, KY : Steering Competence

“We Teach. We Consult. We Do.”

Mission: To advance the world’s supply chains, delivering

exceptional value to our customers.

Trusted supply chain partner that specializes in lean principles to deliver

operational improvement. Three divisions:

What is a Lean Fulfillment Steam?

Planned, stable, visible,

and collaborative

Goal: deliver the highest

value to the customer at the

lowest total cost of

fulfillment

DEMAND

Process

Flow

Inventory

Efficiency

Problem Statement

In 2011 Bosch Automotive Steering had sales that

exceeded current production capacity

• 3 years growth projected at 94% increase

for emerging technologies

• Factory footprint at 100% + utilization

• Campus landlocked by airport property

Market Growth Sales increase of $549MM (USD) over 3 years

169 237 226

390

586

793

1,000 1,086 1,135

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

200

7

200

8

200

9

2010

201

1

201

2

201

3

2014

IP11.1

4 -

2015

Sale

s -

$ M

ils

Project Start Date

Challenges

Market Growth Space Utilization

Process Stability Scalability

Material Flow Safety & Efficiency

Process Discipline Inventory Accuracy

KPI Systems Results Measurement

Changing the culture to put trust in the

process!

Shop Floor Utilization

• 52,000 Square feet of warehouse space

• 18 Assembly lines

Solution

• Dedicated warehouse for raw materials

• SAP driven ordering using Just In Time (JIT)

delivery

• 3 Hours of total inventory between production

and the warehouse

Hourly Delivery : 6 Mile Transit

Starting Condition Area Stats

Inventory Days on Hand 28

Inventory Accuracy 79.0%

In Plant Inventory Hours 24+

Plant Warehouse Sq. Ft. 52,000

Ordering System Manual

Delivery Mechanism Forklift & Tugger

Picks per Month 7,870

Order Types Pallets Only

Approach

PLAN

DO CHECK

ACT

Slow and steady change

• Develop implementation roadmap (line x line)

• Implement KPI management (SQDC)

• Improve inventory accuracy

• Slowly speed up material flow

• Build trust on the shop floor

• Reduce inventory levels

Project Milestones – Stability

July 2012 – SAP WMS Implementation

• Location management

• Inventory accuracy – 99.8%

by December 2012

• Stable & repeatable process

• Aligned material &

information flow

• ABC counting process

initiated

Dynamic Location:

Directed Putaway for

Reserve Stock

Fixed Location:

Forward Pick –

Replenished from

Dynamic Location

Project Milestones – Stability

April 2013 – SAP E- Kanban Launch

• Plant inventory – 3 hour total loop by April 2014

• Pull system based on usage (virtual cards)

• Right sized lineside storage quantities

DEM

AN

D

PACK QTYHighLow

Hig

hLo

w

Or

COMPARE

Labor Content

Cost by SKU

Project Milestones – Stability

LFC

Topper cart Pallet cart

April 2013 – Plant delivery process : Tuggers

• Standard routes

• Drop off points

• Forklift free

• 5S

Truck every 30 min

Material Flow Increase

* Annual Projection

Year Orders Change %

2012 94,257 -

2013 465,930 394%

2014 1,348,876 190%

2015* 1,588,030 18%

Order Profile

All orders picked & shipped in 60 minutes or less

92% in box/tote quantity

8% delivered in pallet quantity

Plant Inventory Reduction

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

0

10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

50,000

60,000

2011 Q

4

2012 Q

1

2012 Q

2

2012 Q

3

2012 Q

4

2013 Q

1

20

13

Q2

2013 Q

3

2013 Q

4

2014 Q

1

2014 Q

2

Hrs

in

Pla

nt

Sto

rag

e S

q. F

t.

Sq Ft In Plant Inventory Hours

Current Shop Floor Utilization

• Converted 48,000 square feet to assembly

• 9 Additional assembly lines

• 4,000 Square feet of bulk Kanban storage

• Additional free space for new business

Project Milestones – Optimization April 2015 – Warehouse Picking Optimization

• Productivity increase of 25%

• Wave picking of sequenced deliveries

Current State Space for Growth

Defined & Scalable Process

Improved Material & Info Flow

Increased Inventory Accuracy

Safe & Clean Plant Environment

Transformation Summary Area 2012 2013 2014 2015

Inventory Days 28 26 22 20

Inventory Accuracy 79.0% 99.8% 99.8% 99.9%

In Plant Inventory Hours 24+ 6 4 3

Plant Warehouse Sq. Ft. 52,000 12,000 4,800 4,000

Ordering System ManualSAP

Reservations

SAP E-

Kanban

SAP E-

Kanban

Delivery MechanismForklift &

Tugger

Forklift &

TuggerTugger Tugger

Picks per Month 7,870 36,347 103,146 137,201

Order Types PalletsPallets /

Boxes

Pallets /

Boxes

Pallets /

Boxes

Next steps • Purchasing – Logistics : One strategy

Develop local suppliers: ship to line (kanban)

Develop cross dock

Consignment stock for overseas suppliers

• Have Lean Fulfillment Center closer to the plant:

Reduce inventory <1 h

Reduce logistics cost

• Packaging standardization

Thank You!

Please complete the session survey at:

www.ame.org/survey

Session: (WP/22 )

Creating a Lean Fulfillment Stream to Meet

Growing Demand

Stephane Langevin/Adam Melrose

Bosch Automotive Steering / LeanCor Logistics

Stephane.Langevin@bosch.com

AMelrose@LeanCor.com