One of the largest in Toyota''s global network of manufacturing facilities is the giant automobile and engine plant in Georgetown, KY. The facility, known as Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky (TMMK), has 7.92 million sq ft of production and office space under the roof at a 1,300-acre site where Toyota has invested a total of $5.3 billion.
TMMK produces the Camry four-door sedan, America''s best-selling car, as well as the Avalon sedan. The plant also produces four-cylinder and V6 engines, axles, steering components, machined blocks, cylinder heads, crankshafts, camshafts, rods, and axle assemblies. Production capacity is estimated at a half-million vehicles and a half-million engines annually. TMMK presently operates two shifts a day.
Rick Noe is responsible for matching material handling equipment to various processes in the plant. TMMK''s equipment fleet includes 289 lift trucks, of which 255 are electric; 299 tuggers; 24 tow tractors; 600 carts; and 5,000 stamping pallets for moving everything from engines and parts to stamping dies. Fifteen battery-charging stations service the electric lift trucks and their 900 batteries, as well as the tuggers. The company uses I.D. Systems'' wireless data communications systems for fleet management, with fleet utilization analysis tools, to address the costs and safety issues associated with lift trucks, tow tractors, and other material handling equipment.
In his application of new ideas for material handling, Noe established himself as a true materials handling innovator.
Improving Safety and Ergonomics
Noe explains that safety and ergonomics are his top priorities, adding that costs are close behind.
"Besides our intense commitment to taking care of our associates'' comfort and safety, there are huge costs associated with medical care and workers'' compensation insurance, and of course huge savings to be realized by improvements in safety," he says.
To address the company''s philosophy of continuous improvement, Noe established a task force of lift truck operators who met once a week for six months to assemble ideas and suggestions for the supplier of the plant''s lift trucks, Toyota Material Handling, U.S.A., Inc. Noe went beyond simply asking for input. Each operator was instructed to list the problems within their processes. This task force produced a remarkable collection of innovative ideas, which were then designed into Toyota''s 7-Series lift trucks.
- First, they worked on ways to make seats more comfortable, recognizing that up to 80% of driving is backwards. This can lead to neck and shoulder strain. In response, the team helped to create a 20 deg swivel seat option.
- The weight of the seat hood on electric lift trucks was reduced, so lifting the hood to change the battery is easier. Next, a hood lift assist was added, using a torsion bar with shock absorbers like those under a car''s hood.
- Operators noted that in loading soft-sided trailers from both sides, lift truck headlights tended to blind drivers on the opposite sides, so dimmer switches were designed into new lift trucks.
- Next, a horn button was installed on lift truck armrests so drivers can sound the warning while in reverse without using their elbows, which had created strains and fatigue.
- To accommodate shorter lift truck operators, team members recommended adjustable pedals to replace the foam blocks that operators were attaching to accelerator and brake pedals. Now, lift trucks are available with optional adjustable pedals. The result: better safety and operator comfort.
Integrating Wireless Data Communications Systems
Currently in its implementation phase, TMMK has begun integrating the Wireless Asset Net system. The system will help to ensure compliance with vehicle safety regulations and enhance fleet management by providing vehicle locator capabilities, automated electronic vehicle inspection checklists, and impact sensors to establish driver accountability and reduce the costs of abusive driving.
In addition, the system significantly reduces fleet maintenance costs through automatic detection and uploading of motion and idle time, automatic scheduling of preventative maintenance based on weighted factors, real-time notification of emerging repair issues identified by drivers, and automatic software-based battery rotation management.
"I.D. Systems allows us to plot usage of lift trucks hourly, each day," says Noe. "They can see, for example, that Dept A uses a lift truck two hours every morning and Dept. B uses a lift truck three hours every afternoon. All this allows for better utilization management."
TMMK currently has 14 rental trucks, but the company''s plan is to reduce these to zero through better utilization. Rental cost savings will amount to $21,000 a month.
Implementation Yields Efficiencies and Savings
The system has a sensor that is set to record shock/G-force, together with information about who''s operating the equipment and where they are. This amounts to better accountability, which will save a projected $115,000 in damage to lift trucks per year.
The wireless system also permits TMMK to plan maintenance better. Maintenance crews don''t have to wait for calls from all over the site and use valuable travel time to locate the truck. Today, Noe uses the system to send the operator a page saying maintenance is going to service his or her truck, asking the operator to meet maintenance at a certain place and time. This, too, accounts for huge time savings.
Basic battery tracking, one of Rick Noe''s ideas, puts an identifier on each battery in the form of a tethered fob, so the system can track the truck, the operator, and the battery. Operators change their own batteries, but in the past weren''t able to determine which is the best battery, taking into account the charge period or cooling period. So, a driver could take a battery that''s too hot.
Now, a server looks at all batteries, gives the operator two choices, and informs him or her which charger and which battery to choose. The operator doesn''t have to waste time looking among many batteries and stations.
In addition, preventive maintenance is performed on approximately 200 batteries a month. Formerly, the last five days of each month could be spent driving from charging station to station looking for batteries. Now, no time is wasted searching for batteries.
Projections for the changes Noe has put in place are for savings of 2,500 hours per year in searching for batteries; 150 hours per year from the use of a paging system; 1,650 hours through the use of a vehicle locator; 950 hours per year from an automatic maintenance report; and 450 hours per year from the use of automatic license and access control. And all this is in addition to gains in battery life, which is extended by not charging when still hot or not fully charged.
Rick Noe conservatively expects a full cost payback from these improvements in three years, and over 10 years he expects to save $8 million.