Site: ATEL Bus & Truck

88% Space Savings + 40% Labor Reduction is Atlantic Transportation’s Equation for Success!

Application: Storage of bus and truck repair and maintenance parts

Equipment: Shuttle® VLMs with a certified FastPic® Auto ADP interface

Summary: Decreased labor by 40% and increased productivity in only 12% of the floor space

In our nation’s capital, buses run night and day thanks to Atlantic Transportation (ATEL). They are responsible for all of the maintenance and repair of over 29 new European style Van Hool buses for the city of Washington, D.C. And that’s just one of their customers!

Keeping buses on the road is what drives their business, and when their buses are out of commission ATEL pays, literally based on their pay for performance contract. To fix buses quickly ATEL stores over 100,000 parts at their 70,000 square foot service and repair facility in Landover, MD. When designing the new facility, an efficient parts and storage area was on the top of their list.

With a new building purchased and a corporate relocation pending ATEL had to fit their 12,000 square foot parts department into a 1,500 square foot area in the new building. President of ATEL, Brian Connolly summed up the options, “We had two choices; expand the existing building to accommodate the 12,000 square feet of parts or find a way to get all of the parts into only 12% of the space.”

ATEL turned to Remstar. “We initially turned to Remstar as a storage solution to prevent a building expansion. After learning more about the technology and the added efficiency and reduced staffing benefits we’d get in addition to the space savings it was a no-brainer; this is the direction we wanted to go,” said Connolly. With four Remstar Shuttle VLM’s came space savings, process improvements, productivity increases and labor savings.

Making It All Fit
Prior to purchasing the Shuttle VLMs, parts were stored on shelving. “We had 12,000 square feet dedicated to our parts department in the old building,” Connolly said, “With the purchase of four Remstar Shuttle VLMs we were able to fit the same number of parts in only 1,500 square feet.” That equates to a space savings of just over 88%. This space savings eliminated a costly building expansion and allowed more room for service bays in the new facility. The four Remstar Shuttle VLMs store just over $800,000 of inventory parts, which equates to 99% of over 100,000 parts ATEL keeps on hand.

New and Improved Processes
When a technician or customer comes to the parts department, the counter person enters the part number into the host ADP software. The software pulls up the cost, location and quantity of the part on-hand. With a simple click of a mouse, the ADP software communicates with FasPic Auto, the software that controls the Shuttle VLM’s, and the Shuttle VLM automatically delivers the tray to the pick window.

By the time the employee walks from the computer terminal to the VLM the part has been presented in the pick window at an ergonomic waist high level. Using pick-to-light technology, the product position light indicates the exact part’s location on the tray. “Parts are now exactly where they are supposed to be,” says the parts manager, Matt Lunney. The employee then verifies the part ID and confirms removal of the part by pushing the task complete button on the machine keypad. The Shuttle VLM stores the tray and positions itself for the next transaction.

ATEL has 4 Shuttle VLMs and two computer terminals so employees aren’t tripping over each other or waiting for parts. All four units can operate at the same time from either terminal. “The VLMs rarely stop moving,” said Lunney.

Using the FastPic Auto software, minimum re-order inventory levels have also been set for each part. When inventory of a part drops below the re-order quantity, it is flagged on an inventory level report. “With the shelving we often found ourselves without parts and guessing on when to reorder. Now our FastPic Auto software flags parts that need to be ordered,” said Lunney.

Restocking product has gotten easier too. When parts are delivered to the facility the packing slip is checked against the physical product received and the quantities are entered into the ADP software. ADP prints a stock label to attach to the product so it can be easily identified and the FastPic Auto software automatically selects a location in the Shuttle VLM to store the product. Pick lights direct the employee to the correct location and the employee confirms the store transaction by pushing the task complete button. Inventory levels are auto-matically updated and the tray is stored inside the Shuttle VLM.

Increasing Productivity and Decreasing Labor
Eliminating the time spent walking and searching for parts, ATEL has been able to reduce their parts department counter staff from 5 employees to only 3, reducing their labor needs by 40%. “Instead of walking and searching through the shelving for parts, the Shuttle VLM delivers the parts to us. The counter people are retrieving parts quicker, reducing customer wait time and increasing overall customer service,” said Lunney.

Training new employees is also easier. “With a little bit of training and some basic computer skills a new employee can be an expert very quickly,” continued Lunney.

Taking physical inventory at year end is always a challenge for any company. Before the Shuttle VLMs, ATEL had to hire 15 temporary employees to inventory parts stored in the shelving. Now inventory is done without hiring any additional labor. Each tray is called into the pick window and verified against the inventory on file, making year end inventory faster and more accurate.

“The Remstar Shuttle VLMs have played a role in the recent success of our business,” said Connolly, “It’s not just about storing parts; it’s about increasing efficiencies, improving processes and overall providing the best possible service to our customers.”