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Even the smallest detail of a vehicle’s interior reinforces the specific design, performance, engineering and price category of each model produced. Industry Products Company (IPC), Piqua, OH, manufacturers a large percentage of trunk floors and a growing percentage of cargo floors in North American-manufactured autos. IPC’s success is supported by: |
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A thorough R&D process with up-to-the-minute market knowledge of materials, costs and customized options.
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Expertise on the range and physical attributes of materials – flexibility, strength, durability, performance – including how these work individually or when combined in specially designed products.
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A rapid response capability that has succeeded consistently in supporting customers in times of small crises and big problems. |
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Personal experience with IPC’s ability to deliver quality parts rapidly during a crisis led a former customer to recommend the company after he had moved to new job at a major auto manufacturer. The Japanese manufacturer with a large U.S. presence was concerned that a current supplier might not be able to deliver long term on its parts contract.
The customer faced a dilemma: cancel an existing contract and award a new parts supplier the remaining business mid-production, or stay the course and take a risk that the current tier-one supplier would close its doors before final assembly (another 15 months). The company chose to minimize its risk, and turned to IPC late in the summer of 2005 to supply the tire cover parts for autos being manufactured in two states.
IPC’s team shifted into high gear. In addition to manufacturing the tire covers, other issues had to be addressed, including location, packaging and parts distribution. For example, the previous supplier was within close proximity to the customer’s plants and did not need to purchase and stock returnable packaging, such as crates, for parts distribution. |
| IPC worked with the customer to determine first steps: |
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Explore the parts specifications.
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Compare packaging and shipping costs and identify solutions for supply and distribution.
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Determine the best way to expedite parts to both sites.
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Identify how IPC would ensure uninterrupted supply of inventory. |
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The tire cover die cut was a 914.4mm x 914.4mm hard board with three-inch foam pads which, due to its size and weight, did not fit efficiently into returnable containers. Expandable packaging was not a viable option, either. In addition, IPC was to produce a luggage cover - a die cut section of hard board (381mm x 203.2mm) with a riveted clamp and acoustic padding. Shipping logistics were less severe for the luggage cover as the part was smaller and lighter. Finished assemblies of this part would get delivered to logistic partners near the clients manufacturing plants. |
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IPC took on a logistical partner near one state to manufacture the tire covers closer to the local markets.
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IPC directed manufacturing set up for the assembly of the tire cover. IPC also was instrumental in training the team onsite to meet customer specifications and to ensure product quality and packaging requirements were met. The IPC team spent considerable time on quality control and testing for assembly and inspection to ensure these criteria were mastered prior to the start of production.
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IPC supplied the material and components, shipping them south for assembly and packaging of the tire cover.
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IPC manufactured the smaller and lighter luggage cover at its Ohio facility and shipped it to the logistics partner for repackaging in returnable containers and distribution along with the tire cover. |
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IPC was called upon for an advance rescue from a potentially disruptive situation for one of the world’s largest auto manufacturers. By virtue of its 40 years in business and 25 years manufacturing tire covers and cargo floors, IPC was able to problem solve a solution beneficial to the customer.
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The customer elected to work with a relatively unknown supplier to them; in the end it was a risk-management decision that benefited in the long run: mass assembly at two plants was uninterrupted.
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Although IPC was not the initially selected parts supplier, the company never strayed from its objective to meet customer demand for on-time parts with innovative solutions.
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“We’re often called upon to manage crisis situations for our customers because of the decades of expertise we offer in this area as a tier-one supplier. The more complex the challenges we face, the more creative we need to be. That’s where interaction with customers is key to making the right decisions for the long-term benefit of the customer.” - Rick Ramer, Director of Engineering. |
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