By Mike Boyer
The Cincinnati Enquirer

FAIRFIELD - The latest export from O'Gara-Hess & Eisenhardt's armoring plant here isn't a car or truck. It's a manufacturing philosophy.

Mike Wagner and Don McClane install ballistic glass in the passenger side of an Australian Holden sedan. (Glenn Hartong photos) | ZOOM |

The 126-year-old company, acquired just over a year ago by Armor Holdings Inc., is transplanting its "lean manufacturing" techniques to Trasco Bremen, a Bremen, Germany supplier of armored Mercedes-Benzes and BMWs acquired last month by Jacksonville, Fla.-based Armor.

O'Gara has exported its expertise in taking the waste out of its manufacturing process before, most notably to new plants in Latin America.

This is the first time the company has tried to instill its approach at an existing facility, one with a reputation for sophisticated German engineering.

"The challenge for us over there is uncomplicating their process," said Gary Allen, senior vice president of Armor's Mobile Security Division.

"What we have do to is take an experienced work force and make the change which is always a challenge,'' he said.

Using techniques popularized by Japanese automakers like Toyota Motor Corp. to eliminate waste, O'Gara over the last six years transformed the process of installing armor in cars and trucks.

Richard Hopper and Linda Rogers work on the interior of a Chevrolet Suburban. | ZOOM |

In the old days, O'Gara craftsmen would cut and fit armor plates and other components one vehicle at a time. With the aid of Midwest Manufacturing Solutions, a Cincinnati manufacturing training firm started by Ray Attiyah, O'Gara transformed its manufacturing operations.

O'Gara created product flow lines where pre-cut components are brought to the line, installed and the vehicle moved to the next step.

That and an unrelenting effort to remove waste from the process "really revolutionized the industry," said Mr. Allen, a former manufacturing manager at GE Aircraft Engines.

"We used to put in 1,000 pieces into an armored car but through our technology and drive to cut waste we can now do it in 100 pieces," he said.

Those steps - including a move away from armored limousines to higher-volume cars and sport utility vehicles, and a sole-source agreement armoring the military's High Mobility Multi-purpose Wheeled Vehicle, or Humvee, built O'Gara's revenues to more than $120 million annually.

Improve delivery, cut costs

O'Gara is now headquarters for Armor's Mobile Security business which consists of eight plants around the world turning out more than 2,000 armored cars, trucks and Humvees annually.

The business employs about 1,000 worldwide, including about 200 at the Fairfield plant.

As O'Gara's armoring operations have grown, the company has continued to seek ways to improve delivery and cut costs.

Early next year, O'Gara expects to add a glass fabricating operation here to provide bullet-resistant windshields and other glass for its vehicles.

The company has already set up similar operations in its Latin America plants to bend and laminate plastic for vehicle glazing.

The project is another example of O'Gara's lean manufacturing approach, Mr. Allen said.

By reducing inventory and moving daily requirements to the production line, the Fairfield plant was able to free up a 15,000 square-foot warehouse for the glass-making operation.

More military business

O'Gara is also expanding its military contracting business.

The plant still armors about 600 military Humvees annually.

After several years of development work, the company has won an initial contract to armor and seal truck cabs for the Army's High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARs, being developed by Lockheed Martin Corp.

The plant is doing initial production of a handful of units for truck builder Stewart & Stevenson Services Inc. in Texas. Ultimately, the Army could order several hundred of the wheeled rocket launchers, which can be airlifted to hot spots.

Trasco expands the reach of Armor's vehicle business into Eastern Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, gives it a complete line of armored vehicles and returns the business to O'Gara's historic roots as a supplier of armored limousines for U.S. presidents and heads of state.

"What I want to do (with Trasco) is what the Japanese did to the luxury car market with Lexus and Infiniti, building them with the same productivity they did Toyotas and Nissans," Mr. Allen said.

Trasco has a long relationship armoring and building stretch limousines.

"They make a very nice-looking car. We felt the name and the assets in that business were a great buy," Mr. Allen said.

Trasco was owned by Sachsenring Fahrzeughau GmbH, an auto parts maker best known as manufacturer of the Trabant vehicle. But the company ran into financial difficulties and filed for bankruptcy protection in Germany this year.

In September, Armor acquired Trasco's 300,000 square-foot plant, about 2.5 times larger than the Fairfield facility, and agreed to rehire about 105 workers, about half its former work force. The purchase price wasn't disclosed.

A lot to learn

Armor would like to establish closer ties with the German automakers, such as Mercedes. Trasco gives Armor a foot in the door.

"You have to have German engineers talking to German engineers," Mr. Allen said.

To lead Trasco Bremen, Armor has named Tony Russell, O'Gara's former vice president of engineering who holds a doctorate in aerospace engineering.

The reception among Trasco workers has been good.

"I think we'll be successful with the integration because there are a lot of similarities. We've known each other for a long time," Mr. Allen said.

O'Gara may also benefit.

"We don't have a not-invented-here mentality," he said "So I think there's a lot of things that we're going to learn from this."

E-mail mboyer@enquirer.com