Noticias y Articulos
(links below)

Toyota contract is latest step in Indesco's growth plan.

In 2002, a group of employees of IDC Engineering Inc. were at a crossroads. The 27-year-old company's founder, John W. Kircher, died in August 2001, and IDC was struggling financially.

K.W. Holladay Jr., Linda Miller and John Jones saw potential in IDC's custom manufacturing machinery business and didn't want to give up on the company.

So they purchased the assets of IDC from parent company Alpha Group USA and formed Indesco Inc.

Indesco designs and builds manufacturing machines for various industries, but it has carved a niche in the automotive industry.

The company also installs electronic production-control systems and works with clients to reconfigure production space for maximum efficiency.

Last month, the business that was on the brink of extinction just four years earlier struck its most promising deal: a contract with Toyota Motor Manufacturing North America Inc.

Toyota hired Indesco to develop and manufacture equipment that will assist in the installation of transmissions at the Japanese automaker's Toyota Tundra plants in Princeton, Ind., and Toronto.

It was a contract Indesco had sought since March after learning about it from another Toyota supplier, said Dan Perkins, Indesco's regional sales manager for the Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois region.

Indesco officials declined to disclose the value of the contract, but Perkins said it "could be a catalyst that propels Indesco to a whole new level."

"The contract itself is not what we would consider a large contract by any stretch of the imagination," he said. "But we've cracked the door (with Toyota), and the potential for future business is huge."

Allen Higginbotham, a purchasing agent at Toyota Motor Manufacturing's North American headquarters in Erlanger, Ky., said it is possible for companies that prove themselves to parlay a small contract into something bigger.

"We typically start suppliers off with smaller projects and build from there," Higginbotham said. "Certainly there are opportunities for companies to do repeat work once they prove themselves."

Indesco meets Toyota's needs
As Toyota increases production at plants across North America, small companies such as Indesco could stand to gain valuable contracts, Higginbotham said.

"We need more vendors that can carry the load," he said. "We always look at a supplier's previous experience in the auto industry and how their product matches with our needs."

Higginbotham, who visited Indesco's plant for an inspection before Toyota awarded the supplier contract, said Toyota officials felt comfortable with Indesco because of its proximity to the automaker's plants and because of its track record in the auto industry.

Indesco also showed the ability to provide Toyota with a machine it needed in a timely manner, Higginbotham said.

"They had the advantage of being a smaller company," Higginbotham said. "They were able to be flexible and meet our needs."

Auto industry key to Indesco's future.
As automakers relocate more operations to the southeastern United States and refine their production processes, Indesco officials confidently are considering all the opportunities that might arise.

Indesco custom designs and builds equipment used on assembly lines to carry out tasks such as installing seats in automobiles or steam-stretching material for headliners.

The company has done work for Ford Motor Co. and Ford supplier Lear Corp.

But much of Indesco's focus is on the Asian automakers, Holladay said.

"We want to grow as they grow," Holladay said. "We have given a lot of attention to the Asian (automakers) because it is the market that's growing, but we haven't turned our back on the U.S. market."

-END

<BACK TO TOP>

K.William Holladay, President and CEO of Indesco, Inc. 1815 Commerce Road, Louisville, Kentucky 40208, telephone 502-634-6010 has announced that Indesco was recently awarded a national contract with Johnson Controls, Inc as a supplier of ovens for JCI seating and trim plants located across the United States.

Indesco, designed the ovens originally for the JCI plant located in Shelbyville, Kentucky. Over a period of several months, the ovens were used and tested, and newer idea’s developed, from which the final design came from prior to the awarding of the national agreement.

Indesco, Inc., is a Manufacturer of Custom Automation, Assembly and Material Handling Machinery and Custom Electrical Controls in automotive, white appliance, metal and plastics industries.

<BACK TO TOP>

Indesco approved supplier for Toyota Corporation

Mr. Dan Perkins, Senior Sales Engineer at Indesco, Louisville, Kentucky received a phone call late yesterday afternoon (5-15-06) from Toyota Corporation (corporate office Erlanger, KY). The 6-week audit of Indesco by Toyota was/is successful!

Indesco Inc. has been approved as a new supplier and a vendor # was given. Dan and Indesco was awarded our 1st PO to produce 20 transmission shooters for the Tundra 180L at the Toyota plant in Princeton Indiana.

What great news! Indesco Inc. is a member of the “Supplier Family” at Toyota. Toyota was recently list #11 out of the top 20 companies in the world.

Indesco Inc. will be attending Toyota’s orientation (TPS) for new suppliers in Princeton, Indiana.

Indesco will be getting business opportunities at Toyota for Custom Design. Manual and Automated Machinery. Capital Equipment and Control System Integration (pc/plc).

Indesco is located just 1 and ½ hours from Toyota’s main 3 facilities in the USA. Georgetown, Kentucky. Princeton, Indiana and Lafayette, Indiana.

-END

<BACK TO TOP>

Using robots to keep it lean!

Don’t just use a robot to cut the work force and say I’m running a lean operation. You may have just replaced good manpower with an expensive piece of equipment that will require more time from your engineering and maintenance staff for upkeep and repair. Remember that “lean,” means the reduction of waste in all forms; capitol expenditures, manpower, materials, Work In Process (WIP), cycle times, etc.

As a systems integrator we get to see a lot more applications of lean both good and bad (any try at lean is a good thing, just keep at it) than the engineers and maintenance personnel in a fixed factory location. This article gives a few examples of how some of our customers have used robots for productivity gains, health and safety improvements and increased quality which all translate to “lean”. You’ll find us asking questions that will help you think in our world by stepping outside and looking back in.

A customer needed to increase production to keep up with increased sales. We identified an operation that was a good application for robot welding. The use of a robot weld cell freed up 4 welders 2 per shift (this provided a reduction in the amount of additional skilled temporary help that needed to be hired on a seasonal basis), consistent part quality was achieved and the material handler could be used to load and unload the cell which he was already tending. The Return on Investment (ROI) on this application was estimated at less than six months.

We were called in by a manufacturer of heavy cast parts, he was working a project to keep the product from going off shore, increase productivity and remove operators from injury prone jobs. He then looked at equipment that had to be added to do the same work that his employees were doing, armed with this information, system integrators were asked to quote a system which included two robots and a flat top chain conveyor per his layout so that all the integrators quoted the same concept. After the presentation was made, we went back and asked if the two machines that the robots were loading and unloading could be moved as the cycle time of both machines were the same and there was no need for a WIP between the two. There was no reason from the customer’s standpoint that the machines could not be moved. We then told him that we would give him a concept and a quotation that that would require only one robot, use less floor space, remove operators from injury prone jobs and eliminate WIP between the two machines with good possibility of increasing production.

Lean does not always mean an increase in production but still can show an increase in profitability. A robot was set-up to apply a two part epoxy, the operator was still needed to load the reflector half of the head lamp assembly and to unload and apply the lens to the reflector .The lean (savings) came from reduced usage of epoxy, reduce (almost eliminated) scrap and stabilized cycle and TAKT times which reduced the WIP.

If you are looking at going lean, the use of a robot is a good place to start, talk to a systems integrator as they have “been there and done that”. Ask them what the pitfalls and benefits are. Remember the robot is there to improve quality, reduce scrap, increase production, provide flexibility and remove safety and ergonomic issues that may have been present. Now move forward, educate your work force and keep America lean and strong

-END

<BACK TO TOP>