Transition of Production Between Sites

Paul Novak and Monroe Huang
Delphi Electronics & Safety
Kokomo, Indiana USA

"Unprecedented" is a word often used to describe the events caused by the economic downturn and its impact on the automotive electronics industry. The result has been numerous plant closings and plant product portfolio realignments throughout the industry. This paper focuses on how to effectively carry out production line/facility transitions from one manufacturing location to another.

The first part of this paper focuses on how a company's systems, structures and strategies provide the basis for successful production relocations. Manufacturing Technology Teams (MTTs) are strategic structures within Delphi Electronics & Safety Manufacturing Engineering. These are virtual organizations which network a group of engineering professionals for the interest of technical contribution. The teams are chartered to design and implement common manufacturing systems and process building blocks around the globe.

By having the same design standards, equipment sets, process setups and training, moving a production line from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to Mexico, for example, is more a logistic challenge rather than a technical issue. Strong foundations such as these allowed Delphi Electronics & Safety to conduct over seventy transition projects over an eighteen month period with no customer disruptions.

The second part of this paper covers the mechanics of carrying out production transitions. Particular attention will be paid to the creation of a standard transition template for enterprise-wide use to create achievement plans. Next, the importance of a management steering team will be considered. The charter of such a team is to track progress of all projects, provide a venue for escalation and resolution of problems, and provide a communication vehicle for issues of common interest to all transition teams.

The importance of customer communications, both external and internal, will also be stressed. Other often overlooked, but no less critical, topics are covered in this paper such as conducting in-depth workshops at sending sites to uncover "hidden factories," the adjustment of supplier contracts especially when changing legal entities, understanding and agreeing to validation requirements and freezing product and process changes during the moves.

Many people may think that moving a product's manufacturing location is as simple as moving equipment from point A to
point B and restarting the production line. However, there are many things to consider in preparation for a transition event. A factor not always considered is how an enterprise implements common structures and systems can have a large impact on the potential success of production line relocations. This focus on "common" is not something that can be a short-term initiative; it must be a long-term way of doing business. Many factors are involved in the planning for the actual transition of the production facility.

A key to planning is creating transition templates or achievement plans with solid, achievable dates because the customer's satisfaction and trust is at stake. With the proper focus and attention to detail, a company can carry out flawless production moves, and even simultaneous moves, at sites around the globe.