Case Studies > download T&WA case study pdf

Doing more with less. It's an enduring struggle for companies trying to compete, and one of the reasons some manufacturers choose to push their old production sequencing systems to the limit. It doesn't have to be that way. As T&WA discovered, occasionally new technologies come along that not only re-define performance, but our way of thinking too.

The Challenge

At T&WA, customer relationships aren't simply endured; they're cherished. As a global leader in the supply of mounted tire and balanced wheel assemblies, the Louisville, Kentucky-based company has earned contracts with some of the biggest automakers in the world, shipping product "on demand" to assembly plants across the U.S. operated by Daimler-Chrysler, Ford, BMW, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai and Toyota.

It's essential that the wheel sets assembled at T&WA arrive in order and just in time at their destination, and one of the reasons Tom Sirianno, Vice President of Engineering, regards supply chain management as critical to his company's success.

"Cycle time is everything," said Sirianno. "We have a responsibility to ensure our production sequencing system integrates seamlessly with that of our customers."

It's an issue Sirianno grappled with in 2000, when production demands threatened to outstrip the capacity of a manual storage and retrieval system at the T&WA facility in Paris, Kentucky. Limited space made it impractical to add more forklift trucks with clamps, and the demand for cost efficiencies ruled out additional labour costs.

"We needed to find technology that could hold finished goods, at the same time giving us access to them, using less floor space, and with greater flexibility," said Sirianno.

The answer came from RMT Robotics, a Canadian-based firm with a reputation for designing and installing the largest, fastest robotic gantry systems in the world.

The Concept

The in-house design team at RMT Robotics proposed a production sequencing system far different from anything in use at T&WA. Engineers developed plans for a pair of high-speed gantry robots (each robot servicing a separate Toyota assembly line) that would receive wheel sets from assembly, then sort and stack the tires in product groups, using the floor space below the gantry for temporary storage.

The computer-controlled system would be programmed to carry out each shipping task in sequence, with the speed and accuracy that could never be matched using a conventional pick system. Not only would the robots replace equipment and labour costs, they were capable of operating 'error-free,' and 24/7.

"We did look at other systems using vertical bins and shelving," admits Sirianno. "But in the RMT design, everything is stacked on the floor. We felt that once we purchased the framework from RMT Robotics, we wouldn't need anything else. It seemed to be the simple solution we were looking for."

"As soon as they saw the gantry concept, they knew it was the right thing to do," added Bill Torrens, Director Sales and Marketing at RMT Robotics. "What went in, came out in the order it was supposed to. The mis-picks and mis-ships went to zero."

The Installation

In June 2001, RMT Robotics completed the T&WA installation, and the gantry robots took over production sequencing duties at the Paris, Kentucky, facility. Sirianno was immediately impressed by the robustness of the technology, and the speed at which the system worked.

"The technology is first-rate," said Sirianno. "Their engineers are very innovative, and they really work hard to come up with solutions that work. In this case, the biggest challenge was integrating the controls and computer systems to ensure they would work with product from our client, Toyota."

With some fine-tuning the system functioned perfectly, assembling customized orders in the precise sequence they would be required at the assembly plant. Once a customer's electronic order or manifest arrives, the gantry robots respond, assembling each five-wheel vehicle set based on the tire size, and determining whether it required a steel or aluminum alloy rim.

"We accomplished all of their objectives," said RMT's Torrens. "We were able to store far more in less space due to the inherent advantage of the gantry operating from above. And we eliminated labour costs while significantly increasing volume."

The Future

Of course time is always the true test of technology. Today, T&WA confirms that despite ever-increasing output at its Paris, Kentucky, facility, it continues to rely on the same pair of gantry robots installed in 2001 to handle all order assembly and sequencing. It's the level of uptime dependability Sirianno was counting on, and a testament to the rigidity of the design.

"If a gantry goes down, we run the risk of shutting down an automotive assembly plant," said Torrens. "There's a lot of responsibility that goes with that. A Tier 1 supplier like T&WA counts on us to make sure downtime is not an issue."

For RMT Robotics, the T&WA installation was a 'watershed' event in the evolution of RMT's system applications.

"It was the evolutionary link that helped to catapult RMT into big warehousing solutions," said Torrens. "We learned the gantry could be used not just to move and assemble product, but could hold it in temporary storage, then send out in a calculated, controlled and sequential manner. The T&WA system began the revolution towards flexible, large-size and full-scale robotic gantry-based AS/RS picking solutions.

To learn more about RMT Robotics, the Production Sequencing System or other tire solutions, email us at or call +1 905.643.9700.

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