Case Studies-The Raceways of Railcars

• The Roughness of Rice
• The Randomness of Rocks
• The Raceways of Railcars

Kawasaki: When time is of the essence.

The Challenge:
Implementing change requires time – time that is not always available in the real world. When the clock runs out on a critical timetable do you have suppliers willing and able to make up what's been lost?

Although most parts were initially being supplied by sister companies, Purchasing at Kawasaki Motors' new Lincoln, NE, rail car manufacturing facility chose Pickwick to provide 96 stainless steel electrical raceways and covers. Changes to these complex fabrications used up the planned lead-time, and parts were needed just four weeks after drawing release.

The Solution:
Kawasaki became familiar with Pickwick in the summer of 2001 when they began looking for precision fabricators, but the company's track record (no pun intended) and capabilities initially won them a trial order for a small portion of the needed parts.

It was Pickwick's performance under pressure that made the difference. Although simplified from the originals, the newly revised metric prints also had subtle revisions that rendered Pickwick's early preparations obsolete. Working around the clock, our Engineers and Production personnel created and tested new laser cut plans and procedure sheets for each part, while Purchasing located the materials necessary for the assembly responsibilities that had also been added. Our Scheduler coordinated our build releases daily with their production to provide exactly what was needed.

The result? Within a few weeks Pickwick was awarded responsibility for 75% of the parts and became a key supplier to Kawasaki's new production line.

The Moral:
To become a partner a potential supplier must have more than a laser, a brake press and a welder. At some point you will need them to supplement your own internal critical resources and knowledge base. It may be an emergency shortage requiring instant response to keep production moving, a cooperative engineering project, a "one time" need to satisfy a special customer, or outsourcing electro-hydraulic assembly responsibilities.

When that happens, you'll be glad you are partnering with Pickwick.