When Lear Corporation's Duncan, South Carolina plant was chosen by BMW to supply the seats for their new Z3 roadster, they certainly didn't rest on their laurels. As North America's largest supplier of auto interiors, Lear had their own set of rigorous standards to uphold. Couple that with their knowledge of BMW's commitment to quality, and Lear knew they had their work cut out for them. That's why Lear's Industrial Engineer, Brian Fraser and Materials Team Leader, Carolyn James turned to Span-Track by Unex. "We had heard about Span-Track on a tour of BMW's Greer, South Carolina plant," James said. "A small group of us had gone over to BMW and saw it in place. Span-Track was working for BMW so we asked the associates to tell us about it. The response was overwhelmingly positive." James, who is responsible for the flow of materials and directing the team's daily operation, from training to setting up new programs and helping to improve area work flows, added, "after that introduction to the product, our Industrial Engineer, Brian Fraser knew Span-Track could help improve our assembly areas."

From the beginning, Lear's management had a clear indication of what they wanted. They knew they had limited plant space and wanted to utilize every conceivable square foot. According to James, the bin holders - in use early in the project - just weren't accomplishing the job they were designed to perform. "The bin holders couldn't handle the capacity," James said. "They're nothing more than a straight board with slats that actually hold a small bin onto it. It's on wheels and it's real basic. The bin holder can best be described as a corkboard. It's a no-thrills product that allows you to put up the parts that you're going to be using. The major problem with the bin holder is you don't have much access from the back and you can't store many parts on it. That was what we loved about Span-Track. It let us get to the back to re-supply the workstations and let us handle a lot more parts."

James appreciated that Span-Track was working as it was designed to work. "In different areas we were doing different things and Span-Track seemed to fit well in all areas." James and Fraser knew from the onset that getting the associates' input essential. "We had several occasions where we had a compass team here to gather information. A lot of data was collected on time-saved issues. We wanted to know if the associates were satisfied with Span-Track's performance. It was well received."

One of the major factors for Lear Corporation's market success has been its proprietary Sure-Bond process. This process enhances seat designs and improves durability by eliminating the need for mechanical attachment devices to secure trim covers to foam pads. This innovative manufacturing process results in increased manufacturing efficiency and lower production costs, along with the ability to detach and recover the trim material in the event of a defect. So any product that would help to increase manufacturing efficiency was welcomed with open arms.

James emphasized, "Being able to service the area from the back-side of the flow rack was one of the biggest selling points to management." According to James, before acquiring Span-Track "we had to get into the work areas to put parts out for the assemblers. What was happening was we were interfering with their work, because the stager, who was actually putting the parts out, was in their area." With Span-Track they were able to make better use of a limited amount of space. "What we were able to do with a very small space was create a small rack area that could be loaded with parts from the back. The operator building the seat could get all the necessary parts from the front."

In her closing remarks James commented on the reliability and maintenance free aspects of Span-Track. "It's been wonderful. We haven't had any problems at all with it. There's no maintenance. Once you get your rack in place, get your bins on it and get it labeled, you don't have to do anything with Span-Track until you want to change a part number or put a new bin on that's a different size. Then you can adjust it very easily." James added that she would recommend Span-Track to anyone simply because of its ease-of-use. "It's very simple. People with no assembly knowledge can put it together in a very short time. There's no maintenance other than upgrading your parts that are on it. I recommend it to everyone."

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