TNT Logistics is part of logistics at Ford Camaçari
08 April 2002 - 15:39 CET
The Dutch company TNT Logistics is one of the companies responsible for the road transport of parts from São Paulo and Belo Horizonte to supply the assembly line in Ford's factory at Camaçari, in the state of Bahia. The new factory is one of the most modern in the world and the logistics operation is considered as the most complex in Brazil's automotive industry, involving "just in time" supply over 2,000 kilometres between São Paulo and Camaçari.
TNT was able to transport parts from São Paulo to the Camaçari plant in an average 38.5 hours after the first week in operation. Planned transit time is 48 hours for transporting parts from São Paulo and 36 hours for those parts produced in Belo Horizonte.
TNT's goal is to gradually reduce the maximum planned time by up to 25%, to be possible using a driver exchange system during the trajectory as well as rigid control enabled by the Lyra 2 software. Under the exchange system the driver rests but the truck is kept working, meaning that trucks operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The complexity of the operation required significant investment in information technology. TNT chose IT systems to eliminate any possibility of failures during operation through adapting and making available the Lyra 2 software, already successfully used in other TNT operations.
Among other options, Lyra 2 allows real time transport follow-up, definition of routes and timetables, planning of the production program collection, scheduling of transport according to the production demand, optimisation of resources, agility in collection and delivery of materials and visualisation of abnormalities in the supplied amount.
The exchange of information between the assembly line, the supplier and the logistics operator - made possible by Lyra - is essential, as Ford's new factory operates with reduced inventory. "Our experience in large scale projects, along with the technology and experience that allows us to optimise operations and reduce costs, led to the choice of TNT by Ford for this additional challenge", states TNT South America's president Gianfranco Sgro.
The investment plan also includes the acquisition - in partnership with Itapemirim - of air suspension mobile roof High Cube equipped special trucks, as well as Ford's most powerful lorry, the 30-ton capacity Cargo 4030. The acquisition of sixty-seven such vehicles is planned for dedicated service to the Camaçari plant.
