Annual Report 2012 - Knorr-Bremse AG.
Annual Report 2012 - Knorr-Bremse AG.
Annual Report 2012 - Knorr-Bremse AG.
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<strong>Report</strong><br />
53<br />
<strong>Knorr</strong>-<strong>Bremse</strong> introduces new logistics concept in Aldersbach<br />
The <strong>Knorr</strong>-<strong>Bremse</strong> plant in Aldersbach, Lower Bavaria, is the leading center for the production of disc<br />
brakes within the <strong>Knorr</strong>-<strong>Bremse</strong> Group. During the year under review the company started to introduce<br />
a new concept for optimizing logistics at the facility. In addition to reducing inventories, the aim<br />
was to simplify handling processes. Both the Aldersbach production lines – disc brakes and electronics<br />
– were equally involved in developing the new concept.<br />
Even at the planning stage the project team began to optimize material flows, sequencing materials<br />
and packaging to synchronize with the customer’s schedule and avoid the need for a handling and<br />
booking process during materials receipt and shipping.<br />
In the past, the assembly sequence was based on volume requirements, whereas production is now<br />
sequenced on the basis of customer orders, ready for immediate shipping. This means that deliveries<br />
to the assembly line are reverse-scheduled. Assembly orders are allocated and timed on the basis of<br />
the final loading plan for an entire truck. Under- and over-supply of the production line is avoided,<br />
largely eliminating excess supplies of components. Storage of materials for shipping is organized in<br />
truck-based lanes rather than so-called “mixed” lanes, with two warehouse tow-tractors from the central<br />
warehouse supplying the new lanes once every hour; up till now this had been carried out with<br />
forklift trucks at irregular intervals according to need.<br />
Volume production of trailer drum brakes launched at <strong>Knorr</strong>-<strong>Bremse</strong> KAMA<br />
During the year under review, <strong>Knorr</strong>-<strong>Bremse</strong> KAMA in Naberezhnye Chelny – the joint venture set up<br />
by <strong>Knorr</strong>-<strong>Bremse</strong> and Russian truck manufacturer KAMAZ OJSC – launched volume production of<br />
drum brakes for trailers. The brakes will be delivered to NEFAZ, a KAMAZ subsidiary and one of Russia’s<br />
largest manufacturers of trailers, with a market share of between 25% and 30%.<br />
The new drum brakes are based on the tried-and-tested design of the current KAMAZ truck brakes but<br />
have been developed specifically for trailers. Most of the components are standardized and already<br />
available, which means the brakes offer a combination of value for money and high quality. The aim is<br />
to produce some 20,000 units per year.<br />
Trailer drum<br />
brakes extend<br />
<strong>Knorr</strong>-<strong>Bremse</strong><br />
KAMA’s product<br />
portfolio in Russia.<br />
The launch of volume production of the new brakes marks a further expansion of the joint venture’s<br />
product portfolio. <strong>Knorr</strong>-<strong>Bremse</strong> KAMA currently manufactures 42 different types of drum brake for<br />
commercial vehicles, as well as other products such as dampers, manual slack adjusters, clutch servos<br />
and clutch master cylinders. In the near future the portfolio is to be further expanded with a view to<br />
offering customers a wider range of localized products manufactured to the usual high <strong>Knorr</strong>-<strong>Bremse</strong><br />
standard.<br />
<strong>Knorr</strong>-<strong>Bremse</strong> opens new logistics center in Moscow<br />
Back in 1997 <strong>Knorr</strong>-<strong>Bremse</strong> established a sales office in Moscow to handle activities in the Russian market<br />
and the CIS states. Since then, <strong>Knorr</strong>-<strong>Bremse</strong> has steadily and systematically built up its business in<br />
the region with a portfolio of products and services geared to these markets, and embarked upon a<br />
successful collaboration with Russian commercial vehicle manufacturers like KAMAZ and Group GAZ.<br />
Following the Moscow facility’s conversion into a subsidiary of the <strong>Knorr</strong>-<strong>Bremse</strong> Group, in the year under<br />
review it also began handling all local logistics activities for all Russian customers, as well as for customers<br />
from the CIS states.<br />
The 20 employees in Moscow have since been responsible for organizing efficient supplies of original<br />
<strong>Knorr</strong>-<strong>Bremse</strong> parts to dealers, trailer manufacturers and OEMs. Revised and optimized processes facilitate<br />
the ordering process and make for smooth order handling, all the way to invoicing. In the ware-