Page 18: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (June 1986)

PROPULSION

UPDATE

Indianapolis distribution center, parts and service. The Colt-Pielstick PC 4.2 diesel.

Fairbanks Morse Invests In Future—

Expands Parts/Service Operations,

Increases Production And R&D

Faced with current marine mar- ket conditions—an outlook that in- dicates at least several years of con- tinued low activity in new construc- tion and repowering projects—what strategy should a major manufac- turer of diesel engines pursue?

Colt Industries' Fairbanks Morse

Engine Division considers this chal- lenging period as an opportunity.

For one thing, the company is actively undertaking a number of programs designed to strengthen re- lationships with existing customers.

In addition, the company is making a substantial commitment to R&D and manufacturing improvements, to enhance productivity and effi- ciency and to be ready for the next period of increased demand for new power. "We're taking full advantage of this situation," said John Steb- bins, marketing and sales vice pres- ident. "We've made very substantial capital outlays for new facilities, systems, machine tools and produc- tion equipment. The objective is to improve our new engine production capability; equally important, we're finding ways to better support the needs of engine owners for parts and service. As a matter of fact, this effort is already paying dividends— we've been able to lower the prices of hundreds of parts, even though our quality standards have actually been raised. "We've invested in new quality control and test equipment, includ- ing laser measurement and metal- lurgical testing systems. Our Op- posed Piston engineering lab is one of the finest installations of its kind, anywhere. In addition, we now have in place a zero-defects program, a statistical process control system designed to detect any manufactur- ing problems before bad parts are made. "In the area of product R&D, we're examining ways to improve fuel economy, increase reliability and lower the manufacturing costs of our engines," Mr. Stebbins con- tinued. "We want to be able to offer an even more cost-effective product line when repowering and new con- struction activity picks up again."

Parts/Service Operations

Restructured

Over the last two years, the com- pany has completed a major reor- ganization of parts and service oper- ations. "A major part of this program involved relocating our principal re- placement parts inventory to a new parts distribution warehouse in In- dianapolis, Indiana," said Paul

McAlpine, parts and service mar- keting manager. "We stock over 12,000 line items, using more than a million cubic feet of storage area in the new facility. It's well-placed to serve our customers and our satel- lite service facilities; it's located just minutes from major air, truck and package express carrier terminals. "Our goal is to provide faster response to our customers' parts and service needs," he said. "We want to help the owner minimize downtime and achieve a maximum return on engine investment. Mak- ing our parts and service business operate independently from our new engine business is helping us do that. "For one thing, we're able to focus more attention on the ongoing needs of existing engine owners, because the parts and service sales operation is now completely separate from new engine sales," he said. "We've also achieved much better control over parts inventory to achieve much higher fill rates."

New Computerized Parts

Inventory Control

A new computerized inventory control system now links the Indi- anapolis central parts facility to the factory in Beloit, Wisconsin—and to all regional parts and service cen- ters. "The new system enables us to respond much more quickly," Mr.

Engine service training programs. Computerized parts inventory control. -u—1„ r> nnnoor