Page 30 - MetalForming July 2019

Brings Tier-One
Auto Supplier
Together
With an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system implemented and expanding, TOA USA can better monitor processes and movement across departments and across its supply chain, and make real-time, difference-making decisions.
TOA USA LLC produces body structures and suspension parts for numerous auto- motive OEMs, with inhouse processes including conventional and hot stamping as well as welding. The real-time report- ing capability of a recent ERP-system implementation allows associates and management to “react immediately instead of finding out the next day about an issue yesterday or last week,” explains Bob Whyte, TOA USA vice president of operations and quality. “And, instead of waiting weeks or a month, we can access reports, including trends, when we want them. That’s a big change, making us all more effective.”
and gas metal arc welding. The opera- tion also includes two e-coating lines. Presses, primarily mechanical, range in capacities from 250 to 3000 tons, with six dedicated hot stamping lines added to the mix. TOA USA’s formidable welding capabilities include 180 work- cells and 559 robots. While the com- pany buys its tooling—progressive, transfer and tandem dies—it houses a large toolroom for maintenance and repair. Materials routing through TOA USA include cold- and hot-rolled steels, with the majority galvannealed dual-
phase 590.
TOA USA has leveraged these robust
capabilities to grow steadily. As a meas- ure of its growth, the operation has
To call TOA USA LLC large is an understatement. And, the task of tracking and managing every- thing that goes on there, as well as every- thing that goes in and out is, like the size of the complex itself, truly massive.
Located just outside of Indianapolis, IN, in Mooresville, the Tier-One auto- motive supplier opened its doors in 2000, and began mass production in
BY LOUIS A. KREN, SENIOR EDITOR
2001 to feed nearby assembly opera- tions. With 1 million-plus sq. ft. of floor space, the company, a subsidiary of Japan-based TOA Industries Co., Ltd., carries more than 1100 employees across two shifts. They produce body structures and suspension parts for automotive OEMs, with inhouse processes including conventional and hot stamping as well as projection, spot
28 MetalForming/July 2019
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FABRICATION
ERP