Automotive lighting manufacturer to support JIT production with real-time reporting, performance monitoring and inventory tracking
Eden Prairie, MN — July 27, 2005 — North American Lighting, a tier-one automotive supplier, said today that it has selected HighJump Software's Manufacturing Advantage solution to support just-in-time (JIT) production and replenishment, as well as continuous improvement initiatives.
The company said it selected the HighJump system due to its best practices-based functionality and ability to easily carry out business process configuration. The solution will be implemented at three facilities in Illinois.
North American Lighting will use the configurable and real-time reporting capabilities of Manufacturing Advantage to gain visibility into manufacturing processes such as molding, coating/painting, metallization and assembly. The company will be able to monitor day-to-day business performance, as well as long-term trends, to help ensure quality and continuous improvement.
North American Lighting will also incorporate the system's work-in-process inventory tracking to follow raw materials through each facility and monitor critical quality indicators such as scrap levels.
Manufacturing Advantage will support North American Lighting's dynamic environment through system configuration. As production processes or reporting requirements change, the company will be able to incorporate its requirements into the system without modifying custom code, which is critical for fast response to necessary production changes to achieve two- and three-day lead times.
Furthermore, the HighJump solution will give North American Lighting the flexibility to automate specific high-value areas now and other lower-value areas later.
"As a tier-one automotive supplier, we need to ensure that we have best practices-based processes in place to support real-time information availability and continuous improvement," said Greg Conrad, vice president of manufacturing and engineering for North American Lighting. "We selected HighJump Software because of their ability to understand our just-in-time environment and how we could best meet our established goals with Manufacturing Advantage."
