Production logistics optimised for UK powertrain manufacturer
17th January 2025 | 2 min read
The Challenge
Our customer, a manufacturer for electric powertrains, has the ambition for substantial business growth in the next five years. To support this, the customer is investing £5 million to establish a UK production facility for electric powertrain platforms. This shift will transition them from single-piece custom designs to volume production of eight standardised motor platforms. Designed in-house with specialised machinery, the facility is projected to produce 5,000 units annually.
Unipart initially supported the customer with a value stream mapping exercise to inform the facility’s layout, and identified:
- Limited space for material storage
- An inbound supply chain profile that was also heavily skewed by minimum delivered quantities from far-eastern suppliers
- Significant variations in volume across the eight platforms being produced, presenting challenges for unique part storage and production volumes.
The Solution
Unipart and the customer’s team collaborated to design a new production logistics concept that maximised space and efficiency. This included:
- Vertical storage to maximise space
- Custom trolleys for ergonomic component delivery
- Specialised media for cylindrical parts
- Hybrid Kan-Ban and pick-to-batch system for optimised inventory management
- Assemble-to-order planning for increased flexibility, responsiveness and prevention of component returns.
This solution is both flexible and scalable, capable of handling low initial volumes and scaling up to a full shift without compromising operational principles. It prioritises simplicity and visual clarity, with a straightforward material feed process manageable by a small, scalable team. Innovation is evident in the design of storage and lineside media, which protect critical components and minimise handling.
10%
Implementation cost out of overall £5m investment
The Impact
By leveraging our aerospace and automotive expertise, the solution blends innovation with proven approaches for a cost-effective and operationally optimised result. Furthermore, the solution is commercially attractive, with a total implementation cost of less than 10% of the overall £5 million investment. By saving on their initial investment, the solution offers a high potential return and the client can invest in further value-adding improvement activities.
