Johnson Controls Automotive Group Begins Largest Deployment Of Lean Operations Software Factory Logic™ Solution Extends and Enhances Company's Lean Manufacturing Methodology January 5, 2005 - Austin, TX. Factory Logic, the leading provider of lean manufacturing and supply chain management solutions, announces that the Automotive Group of Johnson Controls, Inc. (NYSE: JCI) has initiated deployment of the Factory Logic Lean Operations Management System across 30 Johnson Controls manufacturing facilities in North America. Johnson Controls is one of the world's largest automotive suppliers, and this implementation of Factory Logic is the largest deployment of lean operations software ever undertaken. Factory Logic is a comprehensive operations management solution built around key concepts of the Toyota Production System (TPS). It complements existing business systems to help manufacturers accelerate the adoption of lean techniques, sustain their benefits, and ensure their consistent application across the enterprise. "We place a significant emphasis on lean manufacturing as a means of continuous improvement throughout our organization," states Steve Valentine, director of supply chain management for Johnson Controls North American operations. " Factory Logic aligns very closely with our lean manufacturing methodologies. This was a key decision factor." Johnson Controls' decision to implement Factory Logic across its North American operations follows an extensive pilot implementation at one of the company's facilities in Holland, Michigan "We are very pleased with what we achieved in the Factory Logic pilot," said Valentine. "We found that Factory Logic's integrated leveling, sequencing, scheduling, and kanban /supermarket capabilities enable us to respond to changes in demand, production, and inventory levels, and ensure that all production and supply resources remain in sync with the production plan. Those capabilities, combined with Factory Logic's exception-based monitoring and alerting, help us to manage our production closely and consistently across multiple locations." Johnson Controls will deploy Factory Logic in its plants in 2005 and early 2006. Automotive and Beyond Allan Wilson, Factory Logic CEO and president, says, "We are delighted to have been chosen by Johnson Controls Every upper-tier automotive supplier is working to better respond to OEM demand while further reducing costs and maintaining perfect order delivery. At the same time, a lot of companies have hit a plateau in performance improvements based on what they can achieve with spreadsheets and other unintegrated tools. Johnson Controls has already recognized the value of a highly integrated support system for their lean management methods that more effectively integrates those processes with enterprise-level business systems. With the insight gained through our strategic relationships with Johnson Controls and other automotive suppliers, Factory Logic is delivering the first off-the-shelf software application engineered to fully support the rigorous lean manufacturing and supply chain management needs of industry. We think this approach could help propel the manufacturing sector into the next era of performance improvement by speeding and simplifying the path to efficient demand-driven manufacturing operations." Importantly, in a market where manufacturers must be able to respond quickly to changes in customer demand and its impact on the supply chain, the Factory Logic Lean Operations Management System is a revolutionary solution that can transform any organization, currently using any ERP, into a lean demand-driven enterprise. The Factory Logic solution allows companies to leverage their existing ERP-speeding response while protecting IT investment.
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