SUPPLIER in DEMAND

By Don Shilling

Comprehensive Logistics builds future with GM

A Liberty-based company is named one of the best of GM’s worldwide suppliers.

An award-winning local company that does the bulk of its work with General Motors Corp. expects to continue growing despite the automaker’s bankruptcy.

Comprehensive Logistics in Liberty handles parts for nine GM assembly plants, and none of them is expected to close as the automaker slims down, said Brad Constantini, executive vice president of the local company.

Comprehensive serves car plants, including GM’s Lordstown complex, that are expected to grow as the automaker focuses on producing fuel-efficient vehicles.

In addition, GM recently named Comprehensive as a Supplier of the Year, which should help the company expand its business with the automaker and develop contracts in other industries, Constantini said.

“It proves we’re a very capable supplier to one of the largest manufacturers in the world,” he said.

In granting the award, GM cited Comprehensive’s product-failure rate of zero and its on-time delivery performance of 99.4 percent.

That’s quite a performance given the volume of work the company does with GM.

For example, Comprehensive’s Austintown warehouse handles 85 percent of the parts used by the Lordstown plant. It receives the parts from suppliers, arranges them in the order they will be needed and sends 240 truckloads per eight-hour shift to Lordstown so the parts are received just in time to be placed into cars.

Comprehensive’s level of involvement varies depending on the needs of each car assembly plant. At Lordstown, for instance, it also pieces together the radiator assembly and rear-axle assembly so they can be shipped to the car plant as a complete unit.

GM also cited Comprehensive’s problem-solving abilities in granting the award. When another supplier closed its operations last year, GM turned to the local company to transfer 400 truckloads of molds, tools, racks and parts on an emergency basis so vehicle production lines could be maintained.

GM said during the award presentation earlier this month that Comprehensive’s “approach was always positive, methodical, and they reacted very quickly to our needs in the dynamic environment that we faced.”

Constantini said the company also has stepped up to solve other emergency needs for GM by using trucks, planes and railroads to move parts that are needed by an assembly line.

“It only takes one part to not be able to build a car,” he said.

GM was so impressed with Comprehensive’s work in 2008 that it was the only logistics company selected among the 99 Suppliers of the Year for GM’s worldwide operations.

It was the first time the 13-year-old company won the award, but its sister company, Falcon Transport, has won it four times since the award started in 1992.

The award comes at a difficult time for GM and its suppliers. GM has extended the regular summer shutdown at many of its plants, including Lordstown, to whittle down the inventory of vehicles on dealer lots. This is after shutting down its plants in January as well.

Comprehensive has all of its hourly workers in Austintown and some other warehouses laid off because of the assembly plant shutdowns. Constantini said the decreased revenue from GM makes it more difficult for Comprehensive to cover its fixed costs, but added that the supplier will persevere until GM recovers.

The Constantini family owns both the logistics and trucking companies, which are based on Belmont Avenue in the former Delphi Packard Electric headquarters. The other senior executives are Constantini’s father, Don, and brother, Mark.

Besides its work with GM’s assembly plants, Comprehensive has people on staff at GM’s metal stamping plants to handle transportation issues.

Comprehensive also has been named a manager of troubled suppliers for GM. It has established warehouses, mostly in Michigan, that house parts for suppliers that are in financial trouble or in danger of a work stoppage.

If something happens to production at one of those suppliers, Comprehensive can move the parts to GM plants to keep the assembly plants running.

Despite the success with GM, Comprehensive is moving to diversify its business.

Recently, it has been developing marketing plans so it can pitch its warehousing and transportation know-how in other industries, such as heavy equipment and farm equipment manufacturers. Company executives also think it can win contracts with makers of electronics and consumer products as well as food and beverage processors.

The key to their confidence is computer programs that were developed in-house to manage items stored in warehouses and their shipment.

The product being handled doesn’t matter, Constantini said. These systems and the company’s experience will allow Comprehensive to handle any commodity in a warehouse, plus perform any value-added service that’s needed, he said.

The efforts to diversify don’t mean Comprehensive is giving up on GM, however.

Constantini said he was impressed by GM’s business plans, which were described to the suppliers at the awards event. He said he thinks future vehicle designs are appealing, and GM’s manufacturing operations will succeed as it pares down its debt and operating costs.

“We see GM as a survivor,” he added.

shilling@vindy.com