2006 Fall Issue - UAW-Chrysler.com

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Part of the Rosetta Jackson sees changes for the better under the Lean Warehousing system. When a loyal customer brings her Jeep Grand Cherokee in for maintenance to a Nashville dealership on a Thursday afternoon and is told she can pick it up the next morning, in time for the weekend, it’s not just good luck. Chances are the promise will be kept due to the diligence of a worker at the Memphis Parts Distribution Center — and a new way of doing business. Now that Lean Warehousing is up and running, dealers in the six-state region served by Memphis PDC are ordering parts later, receiving them earlier, and getting world-class quality, with a small error rate of close to one error per thousand. As more PDCs transition to Lean Warehousing, the impact of this level of service is being felt by dealers and their vehicle-buying customers across the country. “To be competitive, we had to change the way we do dealer business,” says Rosetta Jackson, shop chair for UAW Local 1248 at the Detroit PDC. “Management and union had to come together on common ground, which is customer satisfaction, and implement new processes. The culture had to change, but it’s a smarter way to do the job.” JUST-IN-TIME SUCCESS Lean Warehousing aims to reduce the time and resources needed to convert orders into accurately shipped parts. The “lean” part of Lean Warehousing is about maintaining justin-time inventory, cutting waste from order fulfillment and keeping the process efficient through constant problem solving. “Continuous-improvement workshops are making a difference,” notes Butch Williams, president of UAW Local 1086 at the Memphis PDC. “When we see a problem, we do a workshop where we work as a team to figure out how to fix it. That’s part of what makes Lean Warehousing different.” 10 TOMORROW FALL 2006 www.uawdcx.com
SOLUTION PDCs pack more productivity BY MOLLY ROSE TEUKE JOHN SOBCZAK The payoff in greater productivity should translate into better job security. “The after-market auto parts environment is highly competitive,” says Memphis PDC manager Kevin Vaughan. “We have a lock on only 5 percent of parts. Our competitors are able to provide dealers with the other 95 percent, which means we have to work smarter, leaner and more responsively if we want to stay in business.” For Local 1086 member Mary Tyler, organization of the dock area is a prime example of working leaner. With just-intime inventory, parts are delivered to the warehouse as needed, and usually shipped within hours. When Tyler started more than 10 years ago, the day shift had to pack up its receiving operation every afternoon to make way for the night shift’s shipping operation. Today, each shift has a designated area and workers no longer spend time clearing the dock. “Now we can go straight into our work,” says Tyler. “It’s a lot easier on the workers.” Part of the new efficiency is 15-minute batch processing, which lets workers determine the optimal time for filling orders by timing a 15-minute sequence. “The point isn’t to pick as fast as we can,” says Tyler. “It’s to get an accurate portrayal of how many lines we can pick in 15 minutes, and then the lines for the work assignments are adjusted accordingly. We just went from 42 lines to 36 lines in my area.” “Management doesn’t determine it,” says Vaughan, “workers do. If we know our productivity levels, we can plan our shifts more accurately and move workers where they’re needed.” Everything considered, Memphis is on a roll thanks in large part to the impact of Lean Warehousing. In March, the facility received the 2005 UAW-DaimlerChrysler Excellence Award for the Mopar Division, symbolizing its progress in union-management cooperation and process-driven change. Memphis showed an improvement of more than 41 percent in outbound lines per hour and a 20 percent increase in quality last year. BETTER THAN EVER DView, Mopar’s updated warehouse management system implemented as a part of Lean Warehousing, has had a big impact because it has greatly reduced errors. Workers now scan each part at every step, from dock delivery to shipping. Scan the wrong bin for a particular order, and DView beeps. Even the most diligent worker can make a mistake, notes Tyler, who appreciates the added assurance. “I like getting the right parts to our dealers,” she says. “It helps me keep my job, and my job is my livelihood.” Tyler also applauds the new racking system, which is ergonomically designed, resulting in dramatically less physical wear and tear. Since Lean Warehousing was implemented in 2003, the Memphis PDC has recorded the lowest incident and severity rates for injuries in Mopar. But what Tyler appreciates most about Lean Warehousing is how much cleaner the warehouse is. “When we redid the racks, we cleaned out years’ worth of trash,” she says. “This is a nicer place to work now. Even the air is cleaner.” For Jackson at the Detroit PDC, the shift from an individual to a team work environment is what transformed her unit . “The atmosphere is just different,” she says. “We’re all more involved with decision making, and that makes the company more profitable and more competitive. And that means future jobs.” ■ Crystal Jackson helps to keep the inventory in order at the Detroit PDC. www.uawdcx.com TOMORROW FALL 2006 11
Page 1 and 2: LOOKING AHEAD AT THE UAW-DAIMLERCHR
Page 3 and 4: General Holiefi eld comes to his ne
Page 5 and 6: Cruise Control Call the Homework Ho
Page 7 and 8: Real People Making Conquests Everyb
Page 9: BY RON RUSSELL Real People Mack Ave
Page 13 and 14: Training UP WOM PHASE 1 HELPS TEAMS
Page 15 and 16: final inspector to find as many pro

2006 Fall Issue - UAW-Chrysler.com

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