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Article: Laser FMS slashes leadtimes at New Holland North America.
- Article from:
- Tooling & Production
- Article date:
- May 1, 1998
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1998 Nelson Publishing. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Mazak's laser flexible manufacturing system (FMS) from Mazak Nissho Iwai, Schaumburg, IL, can be hard to find at the New Holland North America plant in Grand Island, NE, taking up only 3570 sq ft in a 683,000-sq-ft factory. But the system makes its mark on the company in other ways - through an increase in productivity and a decrease in costs.
The Grand Island plant produces combines, windrowers, discmowers, balewagons, and earthmoving equipment. Eighteen percent of the plant is still devoted to storing in-process inventory on 20-ft-high storage racks. Because of a lack of room, welding and assembly stations are set up and torn down depending on production line ...