Mercedes Goes For Speed With Lean Manufacturing

Reducing non-value-added time is at the heart of the lean approach widely acknowledged to have revolutionised the automotive industry. MasterMover’s handling solutions – which have been designed to improve safety and efficiency – make us the ideal partner for the implementation of lean processes, allowing manufacturers to improve speed and eliminate waste.

Mercedes Benz in Jakarta recently contacted our team to find out how we could improve the movement of a body in white weighing around 1,200 kg along a production line. Before, the loads were pushed and pulled by a group of employees. Not only did this pose an obvious risk to safety, it was an inefficient and time-consuming process.

It was arduous and painstaking work, with operatives having to down tools in order to manoeuvre the load around obstacles on the factory floor.

Today, a MasterMover SM100+ is being used to improve body-in-white production, allowing a single operator to complete what was previously a three-person task. Now, it is an easy, quick and safe movement.

MasterMover’s Renee Ooi is Regional Sales Manager for Asia. She said: “Using the tug has freed staff to undertake more productive activities, reduced non-value-added time and cut waste.”

With clients including Bentley, Toyota, Nissan and Jaguar Land Rover, MasterMover has developed a deep understanding of some of the challenges facing the automotive sector. Our range of electric tugs boost safety and efficiency with moving capabilities of 50 kg up to 30,000 kg and beyond.