Mercedes-Benz Invests $8 Million and Creates 300 Jobs In a New Parts Consolidation Center in Bessemer
28 April 1999
Mercedes-Benz Invests $8 Million and Creates 300 Jobs In a New Parts Consolidation Center in Bessemer
TUSCALOOSA, Ala., April 28 -- Mercedes-Benz U.S.
International, Inc. (MBUSI) today opened a parts consolidation center,
creating more than 300 new jobs in Bessemer. The Mercedes-Benz Consolidation
Center - America (MBCCA) will enable the company to ship M-Class parts to
Austria for final assembly, and to the rest of the world for M-Class service
maintenance.
The MBCCA is housed in 350,000 sq. ft. of warehouse space at Perimeter
Industrial Park, twenty miles northeast of the M-Class plant in Vance. MBUSI
has invested $8 million in order to ship M-Class parts and modules from NAFTA
suppliers to the Steyr-Daimler-Puch plant in Graz, Austria.
To help meet immediate demand in Europe, MBUSI is preparing to produce up
to 30,000 M-Class vehicles annually at the Graz plant beginning in May.
The MBCCA was inaugurated at the warehouse Wednesday evening by "shipping"
the final part of the Job Number One M-Class to be built in Graz next month --
the three-pointed star. Community officials, economic development
representatives and MBUSI team members celebrated the opening at the warehouse
with Austrian Cuisine, Southern Rhythm and Blues and an interpretation of the
logistics route.
MBUSI is partnering with Averritt Logistics to help run the facility and
Ace Packaging Systems to provide the packaging.
"It is amazing what this team has accomplished in the eight short months
since we made the decision to build supplemental vehicles in Graz," said Bill
Taylor, MBUSI President and CEO. "Our team members and suppliers have shown
extraordinary speed and precision in helping serve our M-Class customers
worldwide."
The warehouse will consolidate M-Class parts from NAFTA suppliers,
separate those going to Tuscaloosa and Graz, re-pack parts as needed, and ship
them overseas. The metal stampings of the M-Class body are re-packed in a
triple-wall container to protect from transatlantic corrosion.
MBUSI will deliver parts and modules to Graz using the same just-in-time
and just-in-sequence logistics process. Parts are trucked from Bessemer to
the Birmingham rail ramp, then shipped by rail to east coast port of
Charleston, SC. From there they are shipped by ocean to Bremerhaven, on the
northern coast of Germany. They are then transported by rail to Graz.
Engines and transmissions, which come from Stuttgart, are transported
separately by rail to Graz.
MBUSI has been using the Mercedes-Benz Consolidation Center - Europe
(MBCCE), also located in Bremerhaven, to consolidate and ship all the European
M-Class parts to Tuscaloosa, since the first M-Class came off line in January
1997.
"These consolidation centers, whether in Europe or America, essentially
act like a tier one supplier, and make the coordination much easier as you are
dealing with one entity rather than dozens," said Bob Birch, MBUSI Vice
President of Purchasing and Logistics. "It's the same concept: make it
simple, no matter which side of the pond you start on."
The Tuscaloosa plant, which builds some 380 vehicles daily on two shifts,
maintains a lean manufacturing operation with about one shift of inventory on
site at any given time. Parts and component modules are delivered
sequentially, as needed, from suppliers in close proximity to the plant. The
same concept will apply in Graz, but with a much longer supply chain. The
company will monitor the flow of inventory at every point in the logistics
process, MBUSI has 65 major suppliers for the M-Class, and outsources 80
percent of the vehicle. Suppliers deliver M-Class parts in the form of
modules or sub-systems, such as the entire cockpit, axle module and seats.
This method of production saves space and capital investment, helping the
company maintain a lean operation.
To help satisfy worldwide demand, MBUSI invested an additional $80 million
over its original $300 million investment in the Tuscaloosa plant to increase
its annual production 20 percent to more than 80,000 M-Classes in 1999. Part
of the new investment also helped improve productivity and efficiency, and
allowed the plant to produce variations like the new V8 powered ML430 Sport ,
and the 340 horsepower ML55 AMG.
MBUSI produces right-and-left-hand-drive 4 Cylinder, V6 and V8 M-Classes
for the world market.
The Steyr-Daimler-Puch facility in Graz has been a successful partner for
both the former Daimler-Benz and Chrysler Corporations. The company has been
building Mercedes-Benz G-Class vehicles there for over 20 years, in addition
to producing the 4MATIC E-Class in recent years. Chrysler Voyager minivans
and the Jeep Grand Cherokee are also produced there. With the start of
M-Class production in May, DaimlerChrysler will realize its first
manufacturing synergy since the two companies merged.