Automotive

In an ever-changing world, where globalisation and rapidly advancing technologies are driving competition like never before, it is efficiency that sells. Lean manufacturing, factory automation, renewable energy; all of the major advancements in industry over the past decade can be linked back to efficiency - even the newest hypercars are hybrids. So why would a manufacturer put its production schedule at risk by operating a less than efficient supply chain?

Here Optimas Solutions, a leading supplier of fasteners and C-class components, explains how it is able to offer support and integration at every level; helping its partners to reduce weight, cut costs and maximise productivity.

While they may not be as technically complicated as other mechanical components, fasteners play a vital part on every production line in the world. The vast quantities that are used on a day-to-day basis by even small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) manufacturers are staggering, underlining the importance of efficient supply chain management.

Standardising designs to reduce part counts; using new materials to shed weight and complexity; ordering from a single source to secure lower costs and reliable supply; each of these activities can have a significant and instant effect on the bottom line.

Unfortunately the reality is that it requires a great deal of expertise and time-consuming analysis in order to integrate such changes without interrupting a busy production schedule. It's very rare that internal personnel – be it engineering, production or management – have the capacity to investigate such things while focussing on 'bigger picture' issues. Often these smaller details remain unexplored, meaning that it is often an area of opportunity that goes untapped.

Sourcing spare capacity
This is where an outsourced provider of integrated supply chain solutions and engineering support can add value to production. The simple philosophy at Optimas is that it works with each customer as a partner, helping them reap the rewards with minimum upheaval. Of course, each customer has a different list of capabilities, requirements, limitations and expectations, so Optimas builds and delivers a unique service for every one of its 4,000+ customers around the world.

This service will vary in complexity from bulk supply of standard fasteners, through to bespoke engineered components delivered in high volumes to multiple sites. In many cases Optimas offers complete management of a customer's supply chain for fasteners, C-class components and MRO assets.

At the start of any partnership Optimas spend time getting to know its customers’ business - goals, strengths, products, capabilities and future designs. Optimas’ team will assess the current situation and coordinate a suite of services that will help them to streamline and improve production while keeping the total cost of ownership in check. Once up and running, Optimas’ process of continuous analysis and assessment allows it to deliver accurate reports, which means its solutions evolve with its customer’s company over time.

This service level is only possible because of the unique foundations the business is built on. Optimas has analysts and logistical experts who specialise in Just-In-Time delivery and forecasting demand; it has design engineers with years of experience in industries as diverse as automotive, agricultural, commercial vehicles and power generation. The company also holds regionally based ISO registered and VDA 6.2 certified quality centres; with it even offering in-house manufacturing capabilities in both Europe and the US. In short, Optimas has invested in developing the expertise required to introduce efficient change without interruption.

As for capacity, Optimas have over 1,600 highly trained team members in more than 60 locations around the world. This means we are able to supply in excess of 9 billion fasteners, and other components, from diverse categories across 140,000 SKUs.

Reaping the benefits
Optimas has a proven track record of success across the industries it works in. In fact, the benefits of embarking on a partnership with Optimas are easily measurable and extend beyond the obvious advantage of eliminating downtime from the production schedule due to stock shortages.

Because its abilities extend well beyond logistics and into design and manufacturing, Optimas can help to improve the customer’s product at the drawing board. Optimas’ engineers can inspect and analyse every fastener to see where bespoke designs or standardisation could lead to improvement. A recent example saw the number of different fastener types fall by over 40% on a single production line. The reduced unit cost from larger bulk orders led to immediate savings, while the fastener design sped up the production line to improve overall efficiency.

In another example Optimas was asked by a luxury automotive manufacturer to reduce the instances of fastener variant on a new model launch. At the same time, the company was tasked with preparing a 'Preferred Parts' list for in-house engineers to use for all new projects or current ‘Bill of Material’ updates. Optimas developed bespoke products and supplied a database of all available fasteners, which could be accessed and ordered from the customers' intranet. In total, this collaboration has delivered cost savings of over GB£3 million.

Optimas can even help to improve the quality of the product its customers deliver to their customers through the quality of the products. For one partner, Optimas reduced the total weight of fasteners on the production line by over 65% without increasing cost (the total cost per order actually reduced slightly). In another case the company designed a fastener that was easy to remove and re-use, which made inspections and repair far simpler when the product was in the field.

Efficiency designed in
In truth, efficiency is a very broad word, which can be used to describe a multitude of design advantages, each of which can help a business to maintain a competitive edge. It can often be hard to 'see the wood for the trees' when looking at all the possible improvements - deciding which ones will genuinely provide long term, sustainable improvements can be a full time job in itself.
Unlike a lot of distribution companies, Optimas doesn't try to shoehorn all of its customers into a one-size-fits-all service. The reality is that Optimas is a service provider; it works with all sizes of business across all industries, and its capabilities extend way beyond logistics and the supply of standard parts. The company’s service set-up is designed to align its capabilities with the needs of its partners and Optimas’ ongoing analysis ensures that it is able to offer suggestions for continuous improvements over the years as relationships develop.