Managing Automation Magazine Friday, June 13, 2008 2:15pm

LAS VEGAS — A groundbreaking project that created a state-of-the-art, paperless plant earned aerospace giant General Dynamics Corp. Managing Automation's Progressive Manufacturer of the Year Award, presented here last night.

The Progressive Manufacturer of the Year prize was one of nine top awards handed out to leading manufacturers representing a wide range of industries and innovation breakthroughs.

In addition to General Dynamics, the following Progressive Manufacturing High Achievers were identified in the following categories:

• Business Model Mastery: Emerson Electric Co.
• Innovation Mastery: Livingston & Haven
• Customer Mastery (tie): IBM Corp. and Juniper Networks, Inc.
• Supply Network Mastery: Intertape Polymer Group Inc.
• Data and Integration Mastery: Freescale Semiconductor, Inc.
• Education and Training Mastery: EJ Ajax & Sons, Inc.
• Leadership Mastery: Card-Monroe Corp.
• Operational Excellence: Dole Food Co., Inc.

In addition to presenting the Progressive Manufacturer of the Year and High Achiever Awards, Managing Automation recognized all 50 winners of the Progressive Manufacturing Awards for 2008 at a gala banquet event at the Four Seasons Hotel here.

In accepting the Progressive Manufacturer of the Year award on behalf of General Dynamics, Advanced Information Systems Production Operations Team Leader Markus Yatskievych noted that the winning project has been nine years in the making, starting as a modest, contained effort and growing from there. Yatskievych thanked his team and iBASEt, the MES and quality system vendor whose software GD used.

General Dynamics' Orion Project replaced a largely manual, paper-based manufacturing and quality system at the company's Scottsdale, AZ, division, which makes and tests printed circuit boards and systems for space satellites. The system, based on integrated quality and MES software, resulted in a paperless shop floor and a state-of-the art level of automation for the aerospace industry. The system includes a repository of all production-related data that has allowed General Dynamics to do such things as access quality and testing information related to specific locations on specific boards in minutes rather than days. And that has allowed the plant to quickly support critical go/no-go launch decisions.

In the Business Model Mastery category, Emerson Electric won for creating a repeatable model for implementing packaged software applications in its smaller divisions that had no local IT support. The company used the model to implement applications in 12 locations over an eight-month period, reducing costs by 70%. The software has improved Emerson's visibility into business operations with an integrated system and single source of data.

In the Innovation Mastery category, Livingston & Haven, last year's Progressive Manufacturer of the Year, won again, this time for its KD-RIG initiative, which produced a next-generation vehicle and chassis diagnostics testing system for NASCAR and other racing vehicles. The project led to the creation of a new business entity and $4 million in new sales.

In the Customer Mastery category, IBM's project involved the application of proven manufacturing process improvement techniques to its multibillion-dollar service delivery business. By applying process improvements, new technology, and global capabilities to its service delivery business, IBM has delivered up to 80% faster response times while improving productivity by 30% to 50%.

Also in the Customer Mastery category, Juniper Networks, a $2.5 billion maker of secure networking products, won for optimizing its inventory and improving management of planning, procurement, and reallocation processes by implementing a common platform for service parts planning. The project allowed Juniper to reduce operating expenses by 13% by reallocating spares, resulting in initial savings of $3.5 million. Juniper also improved on-time delivery by 27% and increased customer satisfaction by 10%.

In the Supply Network category, Intertape Polymer Group, a manufacturer of packaging systems for industrial and retail use, restructured its supply chain planning processes in order to fix fill rate and other problems that accompanied rapid growth through acquisition. The effort resulted in fill rates rising from 70% to 95%. Forecast accuracy improved from 56% to 86%, and the company saw a $40 million reduction in inventory.

In the Data and Integration Mastery category, Freescale designed an innovative solution for tracking work-in-process wafer lots. The system, using WiFi-based RFID tags, reduces cycle time and ensures that the correct lot is transported on time to the correct destination. The system has increased overall production capacity and improved on-time delivery of customer orders by 13%.

In the Education and Training Mastery category, EJ Ajax & Sons won for its innovative training initiative. Facing offshore competition, metal stamping manufacturer EJ Ajax decided against cutting worker compensation, training, and safety spending, and instead invested in a multi-faceted education and training program. The program has helped the company become more productive, reducing the cost of labor from 60% of finished goods costs to less than 9%. At the same time, quality, profitability, and cycle times have all improved.

In the Leadership Mastery category, Card-Monroe, a leading manufacturer of tufted machinery for the carpet industry, invested in leadership training for each of its 180 employees, hiring former college football coach and NFL player Bill Curry as a guide. The initiative developed leadership and teamwork skills in all employees and enabled Card-Monroe to transition to cellular manufacturing. And that helped Card-Monroe cut cycle times in half and improve customer satisfaction.

And in the Operational Excellence Mastery category, Dole Foods won for its food-tracing RFID initiative. Dole is the world's largest producer of fresh foods, an industry where quality and freshness are critical competitive issues. As part of its food safety program, Dole developed an RFID- and sensor-driven track-and-trace system that allows the company to detect possible contamination and trace food origins. Dole is able to identify the GPS coordinates of the field where the produce was picked.

The Progressive Manufacturing Awards is an annual program, now in its fourth year. Winners were selected by a distinguished panel of judges:

• David R. Brousell, Editor-in-Chief, Managing Automation
• Lisa Bodell, CEO, FutureThink
• Bill Canis, Vice President and Executive Director, The Manufacturing Institute, National Association of Manufacturers
• Douglas A. Engel, Senior Partner, Deloitte US Manufacturing Practice
• Chris Knuffman, Lean Manufacturing Champion, Quincy Compressor
• Larry Lapide, Director of Demand Management at the MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics
• Paul E. Martin, Global Chief Information Officer, Rexam Plc
• Bruce McKay, Executive Vice President, Livingston & Haven
• Scott Mingus, Global Director, Glatfelter
• Eric Mittelstadt, CEO, National Council for Advanced Manufacturing
• James A. Robbins, Partner, Accenture
• Maureen Steinwall, President, Steinwall Inc.
• Steven Vidakovic, Associate Director, Pfizer Inc.

Nominations for the 2009 Progressive Manufacturing Awards are expected to open this fall.

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