Propulsion and energy distributor Tognum held a ceremony in Kluftern near Friedrichshafen in Germany to mark the start of construction work on its future Materials Management Centre (MMC) for its subsidiary MTU.
The new facility is scheduled to begin supplying components to the Friedrichshafen plants, as well as other locations in the company's global production network from mid- 2012. Investment in the project totals around EUR47 million (US$60.47 million).
"From the middle of 2012 at the latest, centralised materials management will significantly enhance production efficiency at the Friedrichshafen location," said Dr. Ulrich Dohle, Tognum Executive Board member.
The MMC will replace several other off-site warehousing facilities, which have so far been used to operate the parts supply system.
In future, the MMC will take delivery of in-house parts as well as components manufactured by suppliers. Incoming goods will be put into storage, and in some cases pre-assembled into sub-units, before being delivered to the assembly lines ready for installation.
The new system will considerably simplify the complex process of bringing together components from different warehouses. It will avoid transport vehicles making empty runs and it will reduce material inventories and logistics costs. A possible second construction phase has also been envisaged to cover the transport of large components and finished engines.
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