Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Ford deploys WhereNet wireless system in new truck plant

From: NEXTEL-1
Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 17:32:13 -0400

Ford deploys WhereNet wireless system in new truck plant
It will be used to locate parts more quickly in the facility

News Story by Linda Rosencrance

JUNE 30, 2004 (COMPUTERWORLD) - Ford Motor Co. announced yesterday that
it has deployed WhereNet Corp.'s WhereCall real-time parts-locating
system in its new F-150 truck plant at its River Rouge facility in
Dearborn, Mich.

The wireless parts-replenishment system is expected to help Ford reduce
inventory and increase productivity, according to Gary Latham, director
of business development and industry marketing for Santa Clara,
Calif.-based WhereNet's automotive group.

By moving to the wireless real-time locating system, Ford will be able
to move from "push-based" scheduling -- where everything is scheduled to
be put in the assembly line at a certain time -- to pull-based, or
consumption-based, material replenishment, Latham said.

"It's a form of lean manufacturing -- it allows the parts to arrive just
in time for assembly," he said.

When supplies on the line start to run low, the line-side operator
presses a button on the WhereCall pendant that sends a request
specifying the type of material required and where it's needed,
according to Latham.

"You have a material operator who assembles the vehicle, and as he's
assembling the vehicle he's going to consume parts from a storage bin,
and as he consumes those parts -- at a predetermined reorder point -- he
will press a simple button on a wireless pendant and it triggers [a]
signal for more parts of that type to be brought to that location,"
Latham said.

There is also higher labor productivity because people aren't searching
for who needs what part -- the system takes care of that, he said.

Ford has been a WhereNet customer for more than four years, and WhereNet
systems are installed in more than 60 Ford plants around the world,
according to Tom Bacon, vice president of the automotive division at
WhereNet. "We are excited to expand our presence at River Rouge and to
play a technology role in the manufacturing of Ford's F-series," Bacon
said in a statement.

"The River Rouge facility is a showcase for Ford Motor Company," Bacon
said. "With projected annual capacity of about 250,000 F-150 pickups,
Ford needed a wireless system that could deliver efficiency and
flexibility gains to optimize its production processes along the
assembly line."
http://www.computerworld.com/softwaretopics/erp/story/0,10801,94227,00.html?nas=PM-94227

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