Local APICS Chapter Gets Lean Experience At Auton

VALENCIA, CA - Forty-five members from the San Fernando Valley chapter of the Association for Operations Management (APICS) visited Auton Motorized Systems today, where Andy Pattantyus, President of Strategic Modularity, Inc., and Ricardo Melara, plant manager at Auton, presented a walking tour of the Kanban inventory system that supports lean manufacturing initiatives and workflow. Kanban cards are a paperless signaling device that gives authorization and instructions for the production or withdrawal of items in a pull system.

According to Nicholas Matonak, President of APICS San Fernando Valley chapter, “We teach lean manufacturing and talk about it all of the time but it’s another thing entirely to see it in action. Auton is a textbook example of lean manufacturing.”

On the tour of Auton's "lean and visual" factory, APICS members witnessed the Kanban system working to guarantee that parts are available when needed, how replenishment is done and how employee training is provided to ensure that the system works. Pattantyus implemented the lean and visual model at Auton more than one year ago and the results have translated directly into bottom-line profits by shrinking lead times, improving work flow, and reducing numerous unnecessary expenses.

Terry Sohns, Vice President of Finance for APICS San Fernando Valley chapter and Materials Manager at Dayton Rogers of California said, “We offer our members tours at manufacturing facilities several times a year to educate and encourage the sharing of best practices. This tour at Auton has been one of the most successful because of Strategic Modularity’s reputation with respect to lean manufacturing and Kanban cards. Space for the Auton tour sold out in less than three hours and we will be arranging an additional tour at Auton for our members.”

Following the tour Pattantyus commented, “It was an honor to have such a prestigious group of people here to see what we have accomplished at Auton. It’s always good to show your work to those who are knowledgeable with the subject matter and can appreciate the process. People are impressed with how simple the Kanban cards make the manufacturing system appear, but they are surprised when they understand the required planning and design stages that result in “plan for every part” or PFEP for each one of the hundreds and sometimes thousands of parts.”

# # # #