Doing Double Time

OSHKOSH, A WISCONSIN city of 63,000 about 50 miles north-northwest of Milwaukee, is best known as the home of OshKosh B'Gosh Inc., a maker of children's wear, and the Experimental Aircraft Association Inc.'s annual summer show, an event aviation buffs refer to simply as Oshkosh.

But there's another reason to know Oshkosh. It's home to $2.96 billion Oshkosh Truck Corp. and a best practice the firm has dubbed flexible integrated manufacturing. In addition to allowing the company to be more responsive to the requests of its specialized-vehide customers, the 2,160-foot flexible integrated manufacturing line in Oshkosh Truck's 320,000-square-foot main production facility has resulted in greater efficiency, higher quality, increased capacity and less inventory. The factory, for example, once carried up to a week and a half s worth of engines in inventory; now it's 1.5 days' worth. The truck line has more than doubled production, with a cycle time per station of about 22 minutes.