Swedish-owned EH, based in North Tyneside, has supplied print to the automotive industry for more than 60 years. Previously Hindson Print, the firm was purchased by the Elanders Group in August 1999 as it sought to boost its automotive print revenue.
Hindson had been supplying owner manuals and other print to Land Rover for several years before the Elanders acquisition. Mark Rhodes, automotive sector manager at EH, says the starting point for the move to JIT production was his realisation that for the 180,000 vehicles manufactured by Land Rover every year, around 220,000 packs were being produced; leading to a level of wastage of nearly 25%.
To Rhodes, the deal almost suggested itself. He explains: “Land Rover would place an order with us for, say, 5,000 copies of a user manual and we would question that, saying it was either not enough or too many. It became clear that if we took on the risk of over-production and obsolescence, it could make the relationship more profitable for both parties.”
Working with Land Rover publishing supervisor Melanie Gadd, Rhodes devised a JIT production and delivery system that cut out waste. That process took over a year, but the final system was workable, water-tight and benefitted all involved. Gadd was pleased: “Just-in-time ordering is a great theory, but this is it in practice, and it works well for both of us,” she says.
Spec-specific
In the 10- to 12-week period prior to manufacture, Land Rover informs EH of the projected number of vehicles to be produced, together with details of the optional extras (satellite navigation, air conditioning, seat heating etc) and information on their intended markets – Land Rover translates its vehicle documentation into 26 different languages.
As the vehicles are being produced, Land Rover updates EH and specifies the type of literature required to be on-site as the vehicles roll off the line. For example, Spanish documentation including a satellite navigation manual, followed by Portuguese documentation, followed by English with information on rear seat DVD screens, followed by Arabic.
This updated data is then used by EH to create the literature packs based on the stocks it holds at its warehouse just outside Birmingham.
To ensure integrity, the packs are collated by hand, checked by another member of staff and then randomly spot-checked. Staff are identifiable by a unique number so that if a pack proves incorrect, the mistake can be traced and investigated. The literature is printed offset on 90gsm silk stock, with a 250gsm silk cover and a matt laminate, and adhesive-bound, using a burst-binding process for strength.
The finish line
Packs are sorted into production line order and delivered to the ‘trackside’, where Land Rover workers place them in the vehicles. Deliveries to the trackside take place every four hours during each shift.
Although the bulk of the print for Land Rover is done in the UK, Rhodes has access to capacity on Elanders presses in other countries – including, significantly, presses in lower-cost economies. Rhodes says EH in the UK sometimes makes use of that capacity, “particularly in Hungary and China.” Weekly deliveries are made to EH’s Midlands warehouse to keep it stocked with the necessary pack components.
The pricing of the packs is all-important in terms of making the deal profitable. “The system is very simple,” explains Rhodes. “Land Rover has a pack price. Each element of the pack has a part number and we negotiate a price per part-numbered pack. They tell us of how many packs are required and what those part numbers are, so they know exactly what they have ordered and what they have spent. From that data, they self-bill and make us a monthly payment.”
According to Gadd, the system offers real cost savings to Land Rover. “Before this system, we’d have a lot of print sitting around waiting to be used – if it ever was. Now that we are only paying for what is used, we are making real savings,” she says.
Printer Elanders Hindson
Job Owner manuals for Land Rover vehicles
Purpose of job To cut waste by optimising print runs and delivery processes
Number printed 180,000 annually
Print type 90gsm and 250gsm silk, matt laminate, adhesive-bound
