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F&P Manufacturing drives energy efficiency Amid
the thunderous stamping presses and Honda subframes dangling from
conveyors in F&P’s Plant 1 — our tour guide, senior manager of
manufacturing, Mitch Lipton, explains the plant’s various just-in-time
processes. As he pauses to admire a robotic system that deftly picks
orders from a monstrous automated storage / retrieval system, it’s
apparent that developing a waste-reducing company is a little more
complex than installing a few company recycling bins.
Since
becoming ISO 14001 certified in 1999, F&P’s energy-reducing green
practices have blossomed, sparking a waste-cutting passion that now
involves lean practices as well. The lean and green combination allowed
F&P to drastically reduce its costs and increase its level of
competitiveness in a tough economic climate.
When
Japanese Honda suppliers Fukuda Press Industry Co. Ltd. and Press Giken
Kogyo Co. Ltd opened the Tottenham stamping plant in 1987, its primary
role was to stamp, weld, paint and assemble parts for Honda’s Alliston
and Ohio facilities. But an increasingly globally competitive automotive industry soon forced F&P to kick it up a notch.
To read the full story about F&P Manufacturing’s lean manufacturing initiatives, please click on the link below:
http://www.advancedmanufacturing.com/MayJune05/coverstory.htm
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