The Newton Aycliffe facility is the
first of its kind outside of Japan.
OPTIMAS HELPS
HITACHI GROW ITS
MANUFACTURING
CAPABILITIES IN
EUROPE
itachi Rail Europe has
recently worked with
premium component
supplier and logistics
expert, Optimas, in order
to help simplify component and supply
chain requirements at its newest train
manufacturing facility. The factory is
the first of its kind outside of Asia as
Hitachi expands outside of its traditional
manufacturing base. Optimas is able to
offer cost saving solutions to help Asian
manufacturer find success in Europe and
North America.
H
The new Hitachi facility covers 44,000m²,
with the site also housing a 1.1km test
track. Costing £82 million, the site has the
production capacity to manufacture 35
54
PECM Issue 32
vehicles every month. These can include
high-speed trains, commuter trains and
metro trains.
Synergizing the component and logistical
demands of a facility designed to
manufacture high performance trains is
not a simple task. Peter Mould, Application
Engineer at Optimas explains: “We were
able to secure the contract initially as we
could offer fasteners at competitive prices.
We then worked closely with the Hitachi
Rail team to rationalize the number
of duplicated parts and simplify the
numbering system. We liaised with Hitachi
Rail engineers early on, so we could define
a clear plan of action, removing any
blueprint or component duplicates and
selecting preferred vendors.”
A push towards standardization also
enabled a reduced bill of materials, and
added value, as less unique components
were required. “By standardizing
component choice for Hitachi Rail we
were able to offer simplified supplier
management which further reduced
cost.” Peter continues.
With a clear component policy defined
in conjunction with Hitachi Rail, Optimas
turned its attention to increasing the
efficiency of transporting fasteners
from storage to the state-of-the-art
production line. Optimas supported the
Hitachi Rail team to develop a kanban
system on-site, a lean manufacturing
inventory control framework. The
system aims to increase the efficiency