michigan state university pkg 101 module 12 automotive packaging

7/24/2019 Michigan State University PKG 101 Module 12 Automotive Packaging

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Module 12 - Automotive packagingObjectives -

At the end of this module, the successful student will be able to:

Define JIT

Discuss the benefits of JIT

Discuss the process of order picking

Discuss the packaging of service parts

Explain the application of reusable packaging

Discuss the effect of JIT on packaging reuirements

Describe several t!pe of reusable packaging

Discuss the processing of orders in a service parts operation Define the term "hauling air"

Define the term #$%

Define the terms D& and 'D&

Automotive packagingAutomotive or automobile packaging is essentiall! a misnomer( )ew

automobiles are packaged( Instead, automotive packaging is concerned withproducts and packages following two distinct paths

*arts moving from suppliers to assembl! plants

'epair or service parts moving from a warehouse to an automobile dealer,

private repair facilit!, retail store, or a "Do+it+!our+self" individual(

Automobile parts includean!thing and ever!thing that isused to make or repair automobiles,light trucks, #%-s, etc( .indowglass, bod! panels, engines, engineparts, tires, tires and wheels,exhaust s!stems, paint, decals,trim, seat belts, upholster!,electronic controls, and fuel tanks

are /ust a few of the items involved(An order can be as large as severalthousand items or as small as a single item(

In this module, the movement of parts from suppliers to assembl! plantswill be discussed first(


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Moving automobile parts from suppliers to assembly plantsAt one time, most of the automobile assembl! plants in the %# were

located in or near 0ichigan( 1uicks were made in )lint, )ords in Dearborn,Dodges in Detroit, 2ldsmobiles in 3ansing, Jeeps in Toledo, American 0otorsvehicles in 0ilwaukee, etc( 4owever, in the last half centur!, the domestic

industr! has spread across the countr!( )or example, )ord now has assembl!plants which manufacture pickups and light trucks in 5orfolk, 3ouisville, and0inneapolis(

1ecause of the concentration of assembl! plants in 0ichigan during thefirst half of the 67th centur!, man! of the suppliers were also located in or nearthe state( This was largel! to take advantage of the transport cost saving whichresulted from short transport distances( This has also changed( Toda!, becausethe assembl! plants are distributed across the countr!, there are also supplierslocated near assembl! plants in all parts of the countr!( #uppliers are uick torespond to new market opportunities( )or example, soon after 80 announced

that new assembl! plants would be built in 3ansing, several suppliers purchasedland and started construction on new facilities in the area((

International companiesThe same pattern of suppliers and assembl! plants has followed as the

international trade in automobiles developed( American companies have builtplats in 1ra9il, &hina, Australia and other countries( #imilarl!, Japanese, Italian,and 8erman companies have established plants in the %#( In all cases, certainsuppliers have built manufacturing and warehousing facilities near the assembl!plants(

International competition has caused numerous changes in the businesspractices of automobile manufacturers( A complete discussion of the changesthat have taken place is far be!ond the scope of this course, but the followingtopics will be discussed(

'eduction of packaging waste

'educed clutter in the assembl! plants

Just in time deliver!

Improved ualit!

.hen Japanese cars began to sell well in the %nited #tates, in the ;


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After some initial defensiveness and blustering, the %# manufacturersstarted making changes to improve their competitiveness( It took most of adecade, but cars produced b! %# manufacturers are now generall! on par inualit! with cars from Japan and 8erman!( In addition, the changes that havebeen made have !ielded benefits to the "bottom lines" of the companies(

Handling system changesIn the past, parts came to the assembl! plant in relativel! large shipments,

usuall! in corrugated boxes that were discarded after use, often simpl! dumpedon the floor and trampled underfoot( As a result, there was a often aconsiderable clutter of broken boxes and other trash around most work stations,a ha9ard to the workers( There were also often mess! stacks of parts in boxessitting around the plants on pallets or in rough stacks( This made it hard to findparts when the! were needed on the line, causing dela!s and errors( &ompaniesreali9ed that the s!stem would have to be changed if the plants were to be

cleaned up and organi9ed better(

3ine workers were instructed to keep the assembl! line moving at all cost,even if fault! parts were installed or if parts were installed incorrectl!( Theperformance measurement standard for the plant was the number of unitsproduced, not the number of good units or the number of units that could be sentto dealers without reuiring modification or repair(

&hanges that were made included the following, each of which will bediscussed further(

eusable packaging -'eusable packaging is returned to the supplier tobe reused for another product shipment c!cle( 0uch of the packagingwas converted from corrugated to plastic, although a lot of corrugatedcontinued to be used(

!ust in time delivery -JIT is a s!stem in which the parts are to be

delivered to the plant at the time the! are needed, to eliminate the needfor storage of large uantities of parts for future use( 2f course, JITeliminates the time that had formerl! been used to do incoming partsualit! checks( As a result, ualit! programs which placed much of theresponsibilit! for ualit! back on suppliers were instituted(

Improved "uality -The automobile companies issued much more

stringent ualit! standards and rules that suppliers had to satisf!( Thecompanies also eliminated man! suppliers, recogni9ing that the overalls!stem would be simpler and easier to manage( *lants that once workedwith ,=77 to 6,777 suppliers reduced the number of approved suppliersdown to >77 to =77(


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eusable packaging0ost of the automobile companies have initiated reusable packaging

programs( The approaches differ in details, but are generall! similar, asdescribed in the following section(

&ontainers are designed or selected b! and owned b! the compan!, not

the supplier( A number of containers are then provided to each supplier for usewhen shipping parts to the assembl!plant( After a shipment has beenreceived and the parts have beenremoved from the container, thecontainer is cleaned, repaired ifnecessar! and shipped back to thesupplier or to another supplier usingthe same st!le of container( Dunnage?the material used to separateindividual items or to fill voids in the

container load@ is sometimes reusableor it might be discarded or rec!cled after use( If it is to be reused, it must eitherbe handled separatel! or the same container must be returned to the originalsupplier(

The s!stem, as described, operates like a "pallet pool" in some respects,but commercial pallet pool operators are not usuall! involved unless theassembl! plant compan! has contracted with them to conduct certain activities,such as suppl!ing the containers initiall!, container maintenance, cleaning, etc( Inmost cases, the reusable s!stem is operated b! the compan! that operates theassembl! plant(

To the extent possible, the companies have tried to standardi9e thecontainers used b! various suppliers( A popular st!le, made of foamed plastic isused for a wide variet! of parts provided b! several manufacturers(


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A ke! capabilit! of most reusable packages iscollapsibilit!( &ollapsibilit! is important because it allows

several containers to be shipped backto the supplier in the space that wouldotherwise be occupied b! a single unit(

)ive of the wooden boxes shown onthe right fold up into the spacereuired b! a single box when full! setup(

'euired link: www(buckhorninc(com &lick thered star and the follow these steps( &lick on the red box6( &lick on the image above "collapsible bulk boxes"

( &lick on the image of a brochure under the title "TA$E A322$" ?3ocated near the bottom of the page>( The brochure which appears is in (pdf format( Bou canread it on the screen or print out selected pages( 2n thescreen, !ou can 9oom in and out to make reading easier(Caution, the entire brochure is over C7 pages long( 'ead atleast the following pages: ,6,C,;,,+C,6C,6;,,,>7

#omment

$hipping empty containers is an illustration of a common problem%often referred to as &hauling air&' A truck filled (ith empty containers hasno economically valued product% it is essentially carrying &a load of air&'Ho(ever% the costs of fuel% licenses% tolls% (ages for the driver% e"uipmentrepairs% insurance% etc' must still be paid' $o it reduces the cost per unit(hen additional units can be loaded onto the truck' )he common foamedplastic reusable containers are about *+ inches tall and can be folded do(nto a height of about 1+ inches' $o% four units can be fitted into the space

that (ould other(ise be re"uired for a single unit'

Other e,amples of products that cause hauling air include

$teel culverts used in road construction

.lastic corrugated drain tiles for agricultural drainage and around

building foundations
http://www.buckhorninc.com/http://www.buckhorninc.com/http://www.buckhorninc.com/http://www.buckhorninc.com/http://www.buckhorninc.com/http://www.buckhorninc.com/http://www.buckhorninc.com/http://www.buckhorninc.com/http://www.buckhorninc.com/http://www.buckhorninc.com/http://www.buckhorninc.com/http://www.buckhorninc.com/http://www.buckhorninc.com/http://www.buckhorninc.com/http://www.buckhorninc.com/http://www.buckhorninc.com/


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.ipe insulation for steam plants% many chemical processes% and even

home use $piral (ound paper tubes for products ranging from toilet paper to

the large forms used for concrete pillars under high(ay bridges Metal cans and plastic bottles moving from the manufacturer to the

filling plant

)he amount that can be loaded on a truck can be limited in t(o (ays%by filling up the volume of the truck% called cubing out% or by reaching the(eight limit of the truck' Hauling air means that the load on the truck hascubed out - been limited by the available volume of the truck' )here arelegal limits /length% height% (idth0 that determine the allo(able volume of atruck' $imilar legal limits apply to the allo(able (eight of a loaded truck'

There are numerous other t!pes of reusable containers( #everal t!pes arelisted below andFor shown in the photos(

3arge multiwall corrugated board totes which

can be collapsed and folded up for transportback to the suppliers

0ultiwall corrugated "sleeves", attached to

pallets, which can be detached, collapsed,and stacked onto a pallet for return to thesupplier

&ollapsible or nestable plastic corrugatedcontainers 5estable plastic totes which can be stacked for

shipment back to the supplier or to a warehouseto be reused

&ollapsible metal racks which can be folded

down into a more compact arrangement forreturn

'igid metal racks built into special trucks, usedfor transporting large heav! items, such as rearaxles, engines, and transmissions(

.ooden collapsible containers of variousdesigns ?the one shown which folds up into FCthof the volume that itoccupies when full!opened@


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&lick the green star for an optional, but suggested paper on the topic ofreusable plastic containershttp:FFwww(plasticsresource(comFreadingGroomFarticlesFreusableGplasticGcontainers(html

After some experience was gained, it was recogni9ed that reusablecontainers were not an economical approach in all cases( There is, obviousl!, acost involved in returning the containers to the suppliers( Experience has shownthat reusable containers are not generall! economical to use if the transportdistance is greater than >77 to >=7 miles(

An example of this limitation was shown b! the experience at a 80 assembl!plant in 0arrietta, 8A( The plant, which assembled primaril! full si9ed&hevrolets, received pallet loads of radios, stereos, and similar euipment from asupplier in Japan( The packaging was well made E*# boxes which providedcontainment and protection( 0anagement had directed that the boxes be saved

in a "back room", hoping to find a second use( 4owever, it was simpl! noteconomical to ship empt! E*# boxes back to Japan( Eventuall!, the boxes weretransported to a pol!st!rene rec!cling compan! where the! were turned intoother products

!ust in time deliveriesAnother ma/or step in the efforts of the various companies to improve

efficienc! and ualit! was to change the arrangement for making deliveries to theassembl! plants( #hipments are no longer made at the convenience of thesupplier( Instead, the supplier is given a specific deliver! time slot when the partsare to arrive at the assembl! plant(
http://www.plasticsresource.com/reading_room/articles/reusable_plastic_containers.htmlhttp://www.plasticsresource.com/reading_room/articles/reusable_plastic_containers.htmlhttp://www.plasticsresource.com/reading_room/articles/reusable_plastic_containers.htmlhttp://www.plasticsresource.com/reading_room/articles/reusable_plastic_containers.htmlhttp://www.plasticsresource.com/reading_room/articles/reusable_plastic_containers.htmlhttp://www.plasticsresource.com/reading_room/articles/reusable_plastic_containers.htmlhttp://www.plasticsresource.com/reading_room/articles/reusable_plastic_containers.htmlhttp://www.plasticsresource.com/reading_room/articles/reusable_plastic_containers.html


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In addition, the specific packaging to be used is specified( This ensuresthat the parts can be placed at the intended location on the assembl! line, still inthe shipping containers, where the! are to be used( The specifics of each JITschedule are worked out between management of the supplier and the assembl!plant(

2bviousl!, if parts are to be delivered to the plant shortl! before the! areto be used, there is no time to perform extensive ualit! and performance checkson the parts( &onseuentl!, the ualit! reuirements for parts were alsostrengthened( It is intended that ever! part that is delivered will be "in spec" andread! to be installed( The same rules are applied to components andsubs!stems manufactured b! suppliers who are in the same corporation as theassembl! plant( The ualit! checks have to be done b! the supplier compan!, attheir location, not after being delivered( .hen this program was initiated, therewere a number of contracts that were not renewed or that were cancelled outrightas a result of failure to conform to the new ualit! rules(

The role of packaging in the s!stem has also changed( *ackaging is nolonger viewed simpl! as a cost in the parts suppl! s!stem( 'ather, packaging isseen to pla! a critical role in the protection of ualit! and in worker convenience(*arts that are manufactured to the correct specifications also need to arrive atthe plant in good shape( 0uch specialt! packaging has been developed to suitparticular situations( )or example, in the past, brightwork pieces ?chrome or shin!plastic parts@ were often scratched and defaced during shipment( Twent! !earsago, those parts would have been installed and would not have been changedunless a purchaser complained( Toda!, such damaged parts are set aside andreturned to the supplier, to the ver! people who did the machining, polishing,

packaging, etc( *arts are not installed on the new vehicle unless the! completel!satisf! the ualit! standards( #uppliers who fail to make necessar!improvements lose contracts(

There were man! schedule glitches, man! upset people, a considerableamount of conflict, and widespread upset as the new s!stem was implemented(4owever, over time, the new s!stems "shook out" and started to work, prett!much as expected( *arts shipments are usuall! made on time and the correctshipment of parts is usuall! delivered( Errors are costl!, because the assembl!line must be stopped if the correct parts are not available( As a conseuence,some managers arrange to have some "extra" parts in storage at the assembl!plant( 4owever, this practice is in opposition to compan! polic! in most cases(

Toda!, automobile manufacturing is much different than it was 67 or 6=!ears in the past( A modern assembl! plant is cleaner and neater( There are fewboxes of parts sitting around in hallwa!s, corridors, and other areas of the plant(*arts come into the plant in shipments of a si9e to suit the needs of the plant forone da!, one week, or some other specified time frame( *arts that are delivered


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are attached to the automobiles as the! are assembled without interveningualit! checks(

0uch to the surprise of man! people, the changes that were made haveled to serious improvements in the ualit! of cars( )or example, most engines

are not started until a new car reaches the end of the assembl! line( Theengines normall! start immediatel! and operate correctl!( In the past, eachengine had to be mounted on a test stand, connected to a bank of instruments,and started and run for a period of time to ensure that it would perform withinspecifications( All of that activit! has been eliminated, a significant economicbenefit( 0an! similar examples could be mentioned(

2verall, the changes have produced automobiles that are uieter, morereliable, more economical, last longer, and which give greater overall customersatisfaction(

.hile the role of packaging in the transformation of the automobileindustr! was significant, there were man! other changes that were at least asimportant, particularl! the improvement in ualit! and the changes in philosoph!and adoption of cooperative attitudes that extended from top management toever! person on the assembl! line(

$ervice parts operationsThe previous discussions covered the movement of parts into the

assembl! plants( At the same time, some parts are delivered to service partswarehouses, often called distribution centers or simpl! D&-s( Each compan!

operates a central D&( In some cases, there are also 'egional D&-s, sometimescalled 'D&-s( The parts in the warehouses are intended for sale to dealers, retailstores and private individuals and used to repair, modif!, customi9e, or restoreexisting automobiles(

*arts are placed into storage under the control of computer schedulingeuipment( The actual ph!sical process of placing items into storage ma! bedone b! hand or b! automatic euipment, depending on the s!stem being used(The particular storage bin location for each part, and the number of each item instorage at an! time are tracked b! the computer( Each specific part has anidentification number, called a #tock $eeping %nit or #$%( There are man!

#$%-s to be managed( )or example, when &hr!sler bought American motors,the number of #$%-s increased from about 6C7,777 to around >=,777 in oneda!( 8eneral 0otors keeps about >;7,777 #$%"s in inventor!( 2ther companieshandle fewer but similar numbers of items(

8enerall!, parts are not packaged before being placed into storage, butthere are variations( #ome parts are packaged b! the supplier and some parts


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are packaged at the D&, before being placed onto storage, if personnel,euipment, and supplies are available(

0ost orders are received from dealers or from the smaller 'D&-s( Thedail! orders are received at the D& and amalgamated into a combined list of

items to be shipped( The computer sorts the list and prepares a work schedule,taking into account the number of each part that is available, t!pe of packaging tobe used, the amount of each t!pe of packaging that is available, availabilit! ofworkers and machines, and similar factors( #o, the dail! schedule includes all ofthe reuests for each #$%( The amalgamated list is given to personnel calledorder pickers( %sing information from the computer, the order pickers find thelocation of the #$%Hs and remove the items that have been ordered( In mostcases, there will be several screws, bolts, gaskets, or other items included in theorder in addition to the basic #$% that was ordered( The stock picker alsoassembles the necessar! boxes, tape, labels, and other packaging suppliesreuired to process the order( These materials and supplies are located in a

ueue at the entrance to the packaging area(

The packaging crew then picks up the order( The packages areassembled, the parts are loaded, and the packages are closed and labeled( Thepackaging ma! be done b! hand or machine( &ompleted packages are handledin two wa!s( 0an! small orders are shipped b! small package deliver!companies, such as %*#( Items for larger orders are palleti9ed or placed intolarge boxes for handling b! truck(

)or man! !ears, a specific package was specified for each part( 4owever,it was found that man! packages were essentiall! identical( This s!stem was

ver! inefficient because supplies of each package had to be maintained( Asincreased computer power was made available, it was possible to reduce thenumber of packaging #$%-s b! using one package for several items( Also, JIT isused for packaging in the same manner as for parts at the assembl! plants(These steps have greatl! improved the ualit! and timeliness of service andreduced the costs involved in the service parts operations(

michigan state university pkg 101 module 12 automotive packaging

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