Company Profile
Troy Design & Manufacturing Co. Redford, Michigan
www.troydm.com
Industry: Automotive
Situation
Troy Design & Manufacturing (TDM), a Detroit-based Ford Motor Company metal stamping subsidiary, set out to expand its business to include vehicle conversion at its new Chicago Modification Center, where it planned to convert +150 base-model Ford vehicles into police interceptors each day. However, their manual, paper-based tracking the system would not be efficient enough to handle these operations. Since 1974, Lowry Solutions has been implementing technology innovations nationwide, and with over 10,000 customers, it has established itself as a premier system integrator focused on barcode and RFID, among other technologies. TDM needed a highly automated, computerized infrastructure to track and report every step of the vehicle conversion process in real-time, from receipt to completion. And, acting alone, barcode technology would not be able to provide the level of automation that TDM’s new operations required.
Solution
TDM enlisted Lowry Solutions, a trusted Motorola partner, to implement a robust vehicle tracking solution with a powerful vision. The company felt confident selecting Motorola hardware due to Lowry’s familiarity and history with its products. TDM conducted extensive research and heard numerous industry testimonials that set Motorola apart from its competitors. TDM built its tracking infrastructure using the powerful combination of Lowry’s Work-In- Process software integrated with 7iD by collecting data from Motorola’s FX9500 Fixed RFID Readers and AN200 RFID Antennae.
Results
Using Motorola RFID solutions to automate TDM’s workflow, Lowry was able to deploy a strong vehicle tracking infrastructure. Overall, the new processes that have been put in place as a result of the implementation have helped TDM’s facility run much more smoothly. RFID automation allowed TDM to realize advantages such as increased precision and accuracy of data collection processes and increased facility efficiency. For example, an automated workflow has allowed operators to focus less on paper-based documentation and more on performing vital tasks. Lowry’s implementation has also allowed TDM to augment vehicle visibility and conversion process data. The RFID data captured is reliable and consistent so the company’s operators can glean increased insight into the facility’s inventory and operations. They have been able to eliminate unnecessary steps in the data capture process to minimize downtime and expedite project turnover.
