from India has gone up 300% since the beginning of the year. The price today is not the price tomorrow because of exchange rates.” The global consolidation


of engine block makers could hurt Navistar, which would not carry the same weight as a large automotive manufacturer with orders for higher volumes. Keeping its Indianapolis


“ Purchasing guys shop for the best price, and engineering looks at it


differently. Given the global economic challenges, quoted


casting plant open may give Navistar another block and head source it thought would be disappearing, but it will take time to ramp the facility back up for produc- tion. Kashanipour sees the options for casting sources becoming more limited as other plants around the world close or consolidate. “There are going to be very few


prices are not necessarily the final landed cost which can be difficult to predict. —Ronald Poland, Navistar


”


concerns in order to find the lowest total cost of a product, a feat that has proven easier said than done. “Company A and B both turn in a


players, and they are going to have bigger control of our destiny going forward,” Kashanipour said. “Glob- ally, that is going to be a challenge for consumers like ourselves. I think about it constantly.” Kashanipour must juggle these


quote; one’s $10 and one is $11,” he said. “I have hundreds of cases for you where it turns out that $10 was $14 and the $11 bid was more accurate because that company had a better understand- ing of the product.” Poland witnesses the same phenom- enon on the engine plant floor. “Purchasing guys shop for the best price, and engineering looks at it differ-


ently,” he said. “Given the global economic challenges, quoted prices are not necessarily the final landed cost which can be difficult to predict.” Along with base part cost,


Poland said the cost of re-tooling and validating should be a factor in a new sourcing strategy. “Every supplier performs


its process different, so [how a part runs on the line] will be different, even with the same tooling,” he said. “I don’t take anything for granted. I’m ner-


vous about re-sourcing a nut.” To better estimate total cost, Navi-


star recently restructured its purchasing department. It formed a handful of commodity teams that consist of rep- resentatives from purchasing, finance, manufacturing engineering, supplier quality and product engineering. A group devoted to castings includes a manufacturing representative with 10-plus years of casting experience. The theory is that each team should have a combination of experiences and knowledge to help it make the


The 1.3 million sq. ft. Melrose Park, Ill., Navistar engine plant employs 1,400.


24 MetAl CAsting Design AnD PurChAsing July/August 2010


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60