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trailer world issue Two 2008

Issue Two 2008 23 It’s not going to work”, was Michael Ley’s opinion while taking a look at the production hall in Reichshof (Hunsheim) close to Wiehl last year. The production operations of slack adjusters are being relocated shortly, and the intention was to convert the old hall so that the new ECO Disc brake could be produced there in the future. Michael Ley had headed the Process Optimization department before taking over as project manager for the market launch of BPW’s new disc brake, and was already picturing where the new machines would be posi- tioned in the hall. “There would have been enough room for them, but not enough for conveying the materials and for any extension of the facility”, was how Ley saw the situation. “The material flow needs space”. It was clear to him and his project team that building a new hall was an absolute necessity. The first machines had been ordered for August 2008, so Ley and his team nevertheless presented their view of things to the compa- ny’s top management and arranged a “Phase-Zero Workshop” with general building company Vollack, in the course of which all possible vari- ants were considered. When the BPW team left for home late in the evening, the construction planners put in a night shift – and tabled a detailed plan in the morning. With the promise: “We can complete the building by the end of Au- gust, but we need some quick decisions to that end.” That was on December 14th, 2007. And the decisions were indeed taken quickly: on December 17th, BPW’s management board approved the build- ing of a new production hall – and thus an investment of around seven million euros was sanctioned. On December 20th the company informed the local authority of its plans and submitted its application for building permission; a partial building permit enabled commencement in mid-January 2008 of the excavation and earth- work in Hunsheim. The full building permit arrived in early March, and August saw the hall completed – on schedule to the day. “This project really was a case of everyone pulling together, both on the part of our company and the contractors as well as the public authorities”, says Michael Ley. The district council in Gummersbach even applied for certifica- tion that a building permit in the Oberbergische Kreis district was to be granted within 40 days. “The application from BPW came quite unexpectedly, but we had a meeting with all concerned and took on this task”, says head of department Gabriele Keil-Riegert. Markus Hippel, personal aide to Gregor Rolland, mayor of the municipal- ity of Reichshof, stresses the significance the building project has for the region: “It goes without saying that the preservation and long- term security of jobs is extremely important for our municipality. The Oberbergische Kreis district is an attractive industrial location and, since the completion of the A4 motorway, very well developed in terms of accessibility.” A webcam documented the project’s progress throughout the building work. In fast-forward mode it’s possible to see how every- thing was systematically and sequentially fitted together. The actual construction activities were preceded by extensive excavation and earthwork. This was necessary since the landscape in the Oberber- gische Land region isn’t flat like in the north, and a sizeable incline of seven meters had to be levelled out. Then came the foundations, then the erection of the hall walls, then the roof. The roof is supported by pillars, which create a matrix that provides optimal conditions for locating the machinery – and considerably more working space than the old hall. The machines can be moved virtually hindrance-free be- tween the pillars. A variable electricity supply system has been fitted to the ceiling, and this likewise enables flexible solutions. Travelways and storage facilities need adequate room – and it has been possible to provide for this requirement. At the same time, provision has been made for additional space, meaning that the hall is well prepared for the future and will be able to cater for any increase in pro- duction capacity. Thenewbuilding’sbiggestadvantage lies in the short transport paths that are now possible for the parts and materi- al and which are expected to make for significantly enhanced production ef- ficiency. Achieving this did, however, call for a lot of planning and patience. The first step was to put down on paper exactly where all the production areas had been placed on the architect’s plan: delivery zone, four complexes for the mechanical machining of components, assembly zone and storage facilities. “We played through various solutions again and again”, Michael Ley tells us. BPW is keeping a number of options open for the purposes of testing them in practical application: “In some areas we start by just drawing lines on the hall floor, in those places in which, for ex- ample, a special rack for the brake callipers is to be positioned later on”, continues Ley. The brake callipers arrive at Goods Inwards in wire mesh crates. They could then be organized by means of a push- through rack which forwards the crates over an inclined plane. “At the beginning, however, we just put the crates on the floor to see how the flow would really work. We undertook a lot of small but sound steps along the way to our objective”, says Ley. And this objective is an ambitious one: BPW Bergische Achsen KG has not only dedicat- ed itself to ensuring the very highest quality in terms of its products but is also aiming for the continuous improvement of process flows. “We intend to live up to our guiding principle of a lean production operation”, explains Ley. “This modern building will enable us to do just that.” (jg) Innovation »Once again this project was a case of everyone pulling together, both on the part of our com- pany and the contrac- tors as well as the public authorities.« Michael Ley Photos:Stretz

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