Hamilton Sundstrand is a frequent flyer of sorts -- the company designs and manufactures aircraft actuation systems that operate critical flight control surfaces, and its products have been accumulating hundreds of thousands of sky miles for almost 60 years.

But its business operations are planted firmly on the ground. Headquartered in Windsor Locks, CT, Hamilton Sundstrand has various facilities around the globe that design, manufacture, and support aerospace and industrial products serving the commercial, military, regional, and general aviation markets, as well as the undersea and space industries. In fact, Hamilton Sundstrand is the prime contractor for NASA's space suit/life support system.

As part of its commitment to producing innovative, quality products at competitive prices, Hamilton Sundstrand scrutinizes all manufacturing processes to ensure that they operate at peak efficiency. Thus the decision was made to redesign the manufacturing floor in its Rockford, IL plant, even though this particular department suffered from no overt problems. The company wanted to reduce cycle times and improve overall productivity and organization on the assembly shop floor.

"We began by creating a new floor plan for the assembly area," says Mandi Cottrell, manufacturing engineer at the Rockford location. "Each work cell was organized according to product type to promote workflow. In addition, because we wanted to increase overall organization and working conditions, we upgraded some assembly equipment."

Consequently, Hamilton Sundstrand initially focused on the ball screw actuator workcell and decided to replace its fixed-height workbenches with adjustable ones from Lista International, a leading manufacturer of storage and workspace solutions based in Holliston, MA. Lista's Height-Right® adjustable workbench is an innovative operator height adjustable workbench, which is ergonomically designed to provide superior flexibility and stability.

The existing assembly benches were deemed in need of replacement, because they were chipped and marred from years of use and were beginning to show their age. And, because the shop floor workbenches needed to support the heavy weights of tools and parts, plant management welded an extra leg to the benches to assure workbench stability -- an added precaution for employee safety.

Hamilton Sundstrand decided to investigate other workbench options. "It's really quite ironic," says Cottrell, "because the old benches were originally height adjustable, but the leg modification precluded all manual adjustments. Fortunately, we learned from that mistake and searched for workbenches that were more reliable; Lista was our first choice."

Lista's Height-Right provides a wide range of adjustability, with 15 inches of movement from the bottom to the top. Furthermore, with its rugged construction and superior load capacity, (1200 lb static capacity and 600 lb dynamic capacity), the Height-Right will not tip or shake, even at full weight capacity.

The decision to purchase Lista Height-Right adjustable height workbenches was actually a simple one: Hamilton Sundstrand had installed Height-Rights in one of its training facilities and was extremely pleased with the workbenches' quality.

The Height-Rights are arranged in four groups of two around the perimeter of the actuator ball screw cell. Each workbench combination abuts a parts rack, which contains various part components used for product assembly.

"The layout is ideal for workflow," says Cottrell. "Parts move from stock into the assembly cells for final assembly. Perhaps more importantly, the ball screw cell is now completely self-contained, and assembly technicians can work more efficiently."

To facilitate tool accessibility and organization, four of the eight Height-Rights (one bench in each group of two) feature hanging modular drawer storage cabinets. Within these drawers, Hamilton Sundstrand employees store myriad small tools and parts, including holding fixtures, wrenches, drivers, and gages. Because of their modular design, Lista drawers can be reconfigured at any time to accommodate changing storage needs.

Cottrell says that the benefits of Lista's hanging drawer storage cabinets as a tool storage solution cannot be overstated. "With the old system, assembly technicians had to leave the ball screw cell to retrieve tools and parts needed for the assembly process. The cabinets have saved us valuable retrieval time, which will ultimately translate into reduced cycle times."

To further enhance organization, Lista's FlexWorks® Accessory System, a highly functional and flexible workbench accessory solution, is incorporated above the workbench. Hamilton Sundstrand secured six storage shelves to each Height-Right to accommodate piece part bins for gears, nuts, o-rings, bolts, and fasteners. Having the bins within arm's reach not only improves organization, but also improves ergonomics and enables Hamilton Sundstrand assemblers to work more efficiently.

In addition, an overhead fluorescent light, which pivots to direct light where it is needed, and a power strip were installed for added convenience and comfort. With these accessories, the Height-Right's worksurface is always well lit and electricity is readily available for power tools.

Like other Lista products, the FlexWorks Accessory System is modular in design, allowing for easy configuration and maximum space utilization. The result is a workspace solution that is ergonomic, versatile, and highly functional.

"Employee feedback has been extremely positive," says Cottrell. "The flexibility is especially appreciated, since assemblers can adjust the workbench height to suit their own comfort level, whether standing or sitting.

"We are very pleased with Lista's Height-Right workbenches," continues Cottrell, "because they have helped us to better utilize space and time."

In fact, you might say that Lista's adjustable height workbenches have elevated Hamilton Sundstrand's productivity to new heights.