High-technology power generator manufacturing requires a wide range of skills including: traditional mechanical assembly, sheet metal fabrication, and integrated circuit (IC) board production and assembly. Kohler produces electrical generator sets in models ranging from a 500-watt handheld portable to a 1,000-kilowatt standby generator. Kohler's generator production process includes: parts machining, sheet metal fabrication, electrical assembly, painting, and mechanical assembly. Kohler also offers solid state power plant controllers that must operate reliability in hostile environments with respect to heat, contaminants, and vibration. Kohler designs and produces the printed circuit boards that go into the power plant controller. Thus, Kohler's manufacturing operation is comprised of a wide range of production process types and of manufacturing disciplines.

Kohler's experience with using The Paperless Factory® System shows that the system is a significant factor in improving and maintaining competitive operations with a wide variety of manufacturing disciplines.

The System

The manufacturing process at Kohler can be characterized best as low volume, repetitive manufacturing with job shop fabrication and process flow assembly. The Paperless Factory® System is interfaced with Kohler's IBM 3090-based COPICS MRP system and with their DEC PDP 11/44 process planning system.

End item (diesel-generator) sets are configured to customer order as one of the last steps in the manufacturing process. For final assembly, "main stores" component material and tracked subassemblies (generators, engines, and controllers) from build and test areas on the floor are maintained at floor stockroom usage points on the final assembly line and are replenished using "Just-In-Time" techniques.

The Kohler plant operates with work orders only in the fabrication area. The Paperless Factory® System provides scheduling tools with job prioritization and dispatching facilities. Supervisors can expedite orders electronically without reissuing paper documents.

In the assembly area, material is maintained in shop floor stockrooms at the point of assembly and is not tied to a work order. Thus, there is no kitting and staging of component material to work orders, and from the point of view of the inventory control system, this material is available for netting materials requirements until actually consumed into an assembly. Subassemblies remain on the floor and are not moved to stockrooms for subsequent kitting to higher level work orders, but are pulled into higher level assemblies on demand.

Unit tracking and control using bar coded labels on work pieces are used for major subassemblies such as generators and controller units as well as for final assembly. The unit tracking facilitates the integration of the "Just-In-Time" material pull concepts into the shop floor control capabilities of the system. In addition, unit tracking supports integrated data collection functions such as quality data and production reporting with minimal data entry by the operator.

The time and attendance and labor reporting features of the system provide Kohler with the capability of providing on line attendance and work status to supervisors. This information makes it possible to rapidly redeploy the work force to account for absences, and to shift employees as a function of the work in process as well as the training and skill levels of the employees that are present.

Automated Equipment Interfaces

Kohler uses automatic testing equipment for which the correct test programs are automatically downloaded via an interface with The Paperless Factory® System. Kohler also utilizes Spacesaver VSR Series II (material handling) carousels. This equipment operates under local control with material location programs that are downloaded automatically from The Paperless Factory® System through an MC6500 Transaction Terminal. By transmitting real-time stock replenishment requests to the carousel, the system provides Kohler with just-in-time replenishment of parts from the carousel to the shop floor.

Results

The Paperless Factory® System provides Kohler with more accurate inventory information. As a result, Kohler has been able to reduce the amount of inventory for the same manufacturing volume. With inventory and tracking information in front of them, supervisors can spend less time checking on customer orders and more time managing. In summary, Kohler has been able to reduce indirect costs and emphasize value-added operations. The result is a more competitive company producing highly reliable products.

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