Automotive and suppliers
Automotive expertise with decades of experience

A new design for the production line

Automation is one of the most relevant levers for reducing the costs per unit and improving the efficiency of production sites. One of ConMoto’s projects with a leading German automotive supplier provides a good example. The initial question was: Moving the staff-consuming pre-production and assembly of components for e-cars abroad or making the German site more productive by implementing a new automation strategy? At the end of a three-month project period, the decision fell in favor of automation.

Business case automation

In order to establish a business case, we analyzed the whole production process with a distinct focus on staff and machine cycles. The design of the automized target process included a new machine layout. Assessing the machine modules, the project team was able to calculate the necessary investment costs of as much as six million euros at a net present value of 30 million euros.

A fully devised line layout served as the base for discussions of the detailed design with mechanical engineers. They confirmed the layout’s feasibility and even remained slightly beneath the projected investment costs of six million euros with their target prices. The automated production line cost only approx. 1.7 million euros more than the previously mostly manually operated line whilst producing significantly higher quantities. The investment per unit even decreased by more than 20 percent and the automized line outperforms manual production significantly.

A selection of project results:

• Doubling the output by increasing the overall equipment effectiveness from 80 to more than 91 percent and cycle time reduction by 38 percent
• Reduction of own staff by 67 percent
• Reduction of the costs per unit by 14 percent

Our client profits from significant competitive advantages regarding the predicted market growth in the e-cars sector due to efficiency raises and significantly reduced production costs.

An automotive supplier company produced an ever-increasing variety of products in a factory that has grown for the last 50 years. Today, these specific premises have an annual turnover of 370 million euros and 1,400 employees. They inhabit a partially very sophisticated manufacturing and process technology. This led to a situation of several years without meeting the target results. Different initiatives for continuous improvement (CIP measures) were also insufficient to close the gap. Therefore, ConMoto was commissioned to plan and implement a sustainable cost-cutting program.

Initially, the project team put all influenceable costs to the test. Production, logistics, inventory and work-in-progress, maintenance as well as product contribution margins and material costs were analyzed. Based on the detected waste and a comparison with best practices, ambitious but feasible potentials were identified – especially for direct and indirect personnel, as well as in inventory, material and maintenance costs.

During the six-month implementation phase, five project teams redesigned the individual production areas along the entire value chain according to lean principles and developed levers to reduce inventory costs. The alignment of capacities to requirements, process optimization and the comprehensive introduction of tugger trains significantly increased the effectiveness and efficiency of logistics. The tugger trains also enabled a forklift-free production, which also improved qualitative factors such as occupational safety.

Due to the optimization of processes and organization as well as the introduction of TPM (Total Productive Maintenance), maintenance was reframed, and the availability of capacity-critical systems in particular was a considerably enhanced. Applying the linear performance pricing method contributed to a significant reduction in material costs.

Savings goals exceeded

The target values defined in the potential analysis could even be exceeded: total savings of 13.75 million euros, which equals 3.7 percent of the turnover, where achieved. With this effective project, the ConMoto consultants also laid the foundation for a successful cooperation with the client, sustained for years now. The project results

• Reduction of personnel costs (direct and indirect) by 15%
• Reduction of logistics costs (except staff) by 23%
• Stock reduction by 50%
• Savings regarding the examined material costs of 6%