UGN's fast start - Wip

Automotive Design & Production,  Nov, 2002  by Kermit Whitfield

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Last January, Gary Jamison, president and CEO of UGN, Inc. [Chicago, IL] got one of those "good news/ bad news" calls From Toyota. The good news: the automaker wanted to make a running change on the recently re-engineered Camry and specify UGN-made "Rieter Ultra Light" sound absorption material in the dash insulators. The bad news: mass production had to be up and running in less than a year and a new plant was clearly required. Jamison says his first reaction was to tell Toyota that it couldn't be done. Instead, he conducted a speedy site selection search and Found an existing Facility in Jackson, Tennessee, which is now UGN's Fourth U.S. plant.

The 150,000 [Ft.sup.2] facility has five cells with three presses apiece that mold flat mats of cotton/polyester material into fitted sound-absorbing components. Each cell was meticulously laid out with the help of Toyota's supplier development group to ensure a standardized, efficient work flow. Wide use has been made of visual management measures. For example, every cell has a "55" duty board consisting of two rows of slots with cards that represent each task. After an operator has completed a task, he moves the corresponding card from the "to be done" row to the "completed" row, creating a maintenance record that can be understood at a glance.

UGN is emphasizing methods like 55, problem solving and lean manufacturing in the new plant. Plant manager Mike Joyner says every member of his new workforce will attend a month-long "UGN University," where half of each day is devoted to learning the aforementioned techniques and the other half to hands-on training in the plant.

The "Ultra Light" material that the Jackson plant will be processing was originally developed by the Swiss automotive acoustics company Rieter Automotive Systems. Unlike most sound insulation materials which are rubber-based and designed chiefly to keep noise out, Ultra Light's all-fiber construction balances sound reflection and absorption. UGN's manager of Product Engineering, Matthew Blue, says that while Ultra Light is not as good at reflecting sound as traditional materials, it is more effective overall at decreasing cabin noise. "We have achieved up to a 50% better sound reduction in some applications," he says. And as the product's name implies, it is very light weight. For example, the dash insulator currently installed on the Camry weighs 22 lbs., but the same part made of Ultra Light weighs only 5 lbs. [Interestingly, Ultra Light was first marketed mainly as a weight reduction measure, but automakers have now come to prize it more For its superior sound reduction capabilities.]

Still, even with the material's many advantages, UGN has had a tough time convincing vehicle manufacturers to apply what some see as a "radical" way of treating sound. But Jamison says that is changing quickly given how closely the industry watches Toyota's moves. "The interest level in Ultra Light has intensified tremendously since companies found out that Camry is making a running change" he says with a wry smile.

COPYRIGHT 2002 Gardner Publications, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group