The supplier of a rail vehicle manufacturer found itself in a tight financial situation. The company informed its customer that there would be delays in the delivery of gearboxes in accordance with the agreed planning. As the rail vehicle manufacturer had relied on this supplier, an in-house replacement product was not ready for production. As a result, the rail vehicle manufacturer ran the risk of not being able to meet its own delivery commitments to the end customer.
Engineering, prototypes and testing for replacement product as quickly as possible
The manager's task was to secure deliveries at short notice and ensure operational functions. He had to coordinate industrial engineering, prototype assembly and testing for the fastest possible development of an internal replacement product and its start of series production.
The interim manager developed a two-pronged approach. Firstly, an alternative gearbox manufacturer had to be identified and established to secure deliveries at short notice. Secondly, the convergence to an in-house gearbox design had to be accelerated in order to be able to fall back on a number of alternative manufacturers in the future.
Specialists from the group's own gearbox production were recruited for the crisis project
One particular challenge was that the group's own gearbox production had not been included in the make-or-buy decision for the gearbox. The environment was correspondingly tense when it came to asking the transmission production employees for help in rectifying the situation.
The interim manager resolved the tensions by holding discussions with the employees concerned. He pointed out that the group's own gearbox production offered a great opportunity to prove its efficiency in a crisis situation - and in this way to better position itself for future sourcing discussions. Ultimately, the managers followed this reasoning and decided to take professional action.
Task force of internal and external forces created for replacement line
The first visits to the supplier to analyze its production process showed that it was possible to set up a corresponding line at the in-house gearbox manufacturer within a few weeks. As part of a task force with representatives from work preparation, production, purchasing, logistics, quality, testing and project management, the work was planned and its progress monitored.
The supplier was also involved in this team in order to organize quality management and documentation for the products in close coordination. A first milestone was the successful initial sample inspection for the gearboxes manufactured by experienced prototype mechanics.
Close coordination between the purchasing organization and suppliers
In close coordination with the purchasing organization and the suppliers, the interim manager and his teams organized the delivery of materials to the newly established line. The delivery of assembly materials as kits optimized material flow and handling at the assembly site from the outset.
The interim manager overcame material bottlenecks and initial quality problems with the supplied parts by initiating close cooperation between all parties involved to solve problems at short notice.
As capacity planning had indicated an additional need for fitters, one work package consisted of the short-term procurement and training of employees. This posed a particular challenge, as the temporary employment market offered hardly any qualified staff at the time of the project due to the economic situation.
Series start-up successfully ensured with increased productivity
With his package of measures, the interim manager was able to ensure a sufficiently fast series start-up of the replacement gearbox. In addition, the newly set up production line worked with better quality and shorter throughput times.
Delivery delays in the double-digit millions avoided
This enabled the rail vehicle manufacturer to avoid delivery delays lasting several months with a resulting negative cash impact in the double-digit million euro range. At the same time, the lead time for the assembly and delivery of the gearboxes was optimized. In addition, individual findings (e.g. on material delivery) could be transferred to other product lines.
The construction and testing of the prototype for the Group's own gearbox design was launched in parallel and in a structured manner in close coordination with the engineering department. As with the rapid construction of the replacement line, the Group's own gearbox production thus provided proof of performance.
