Transmission system supplier Getrag has received three World Class Logistics awards for innovative supply chain projects. The awards were made by Magna Logistics Europe, a division of Getrag’s parent company Magna International, and were announced at the annual Magna Logistics Days in the second week of October.
Getrag’s Supply Chain Management (SCM) department took first, second and third place in the competition.
The first prize went to Getrag’s Material Flow and Layout team, part of the Supply Chain Management department, for a project designed to make material flow in a plant more efficient via greater transparency and better layout. According to Getrag, plant performance is evaluated by four key performance indicators (KPIs): logistics cost per unit, material flow efficiency, space utilisation and dock-to-dock time. Comparing those KPIs to established benchmarks will allow the company to continue improving the plant structure.
The prize for second place went to Getrag’s Production Logistics team for a project involving standardisation of gear set packaging. According to Magna, machined gear sets are susceptible to corrosion on the regular transport routes it uses between Germany and Italy because of climate variation. The Production Logistics team designed an expandable polypropylene package that removed the need for washing and repacking parts at different stages of the route, creating savings in material and process totalling €13m ($15m) over the life of the project.
Third place went to the SCM Outbound team at Getrag for application of its Global Capacity Management System to the supplier’s latest dual clutch product. Based on a common global platform, the system helps suppliers collaborate in the management of potential supply shortages by providing transparency in production and supply capacity, according to Magna, and allows for collaboration across multiple business units, departments and plants.
All the projects submitted were assessed by the European Supply Chain Steering Committee, made up of the supply chain and logistics leaders from all Magna divisions across Europe. The World Class Logistics Award recognises projects that show excellence in the areas of innovation, replicability, sustainability and overall benefit to the company. It is organised by Magna Logistics Europe under the lead of director, Dr Jörg Blechinger.
Magna International bought Getrag at the beginning of last year and has been making efforts to globally coordinate standards and best practices in logistics, packaging and technology for some time.
