Producing a car a minute requires coordination, split-second timing, and a lot of behind-the-scenes support. Here’s how GM keeps the Chevrolet Cruze assembly lines humming. In an auto race, technicians on a pit crew must carry out their tasks in a precisely choreographed sequence to get the driver back out on the track as quickly as possible. To do that, they have to have the right materials ready in the right order and at the right time. The same could be said of manufacturing automobiles. Today’s complex assembly operations require the same kind of coordination and timing to keep manufacturing running at a high volume. Take the assembly of the popular Chevrolet Cruze, for example. Thousands of parts go into its production—parts that have to come together quickly and in a precise sequence in order for the assembly plant in Lordstown, Ohio, to meet its goal of producing one car per minute. Making sure the plant has all of the parts it needs on time and in the right sequence is the job of Comprehensive Logistics, a third-party service provider that specializes in automotive logistics. Comprehensive operates a 640,000-square-foot distribution facility in Austintown, Ohio, which is located less than 10 miles from Lordstown. The facility’s sole responsibility is to feed parts to exact positions on the Lordstown assembly lines. It receives, consolidates, and deconsolidates parts from suppliers and prepares them for just-in-time delivery to the plant. Currently, 85 percent of the parts used in the Cruze flow through the Comprehensive facility—a total of 2,236 SKUs (stock-keeping units). Providing these types of consolidation and distribution services is a specialty of Comprehensive, which currently supports about 25 different auto production plants nationwide. The company has been serving the Lordstown plant for 11 years. Before it began providing production support for the […]