Details Finalized With Dixie Electric: Plant Tour Kicks Off By Traci Matt Promoters of the joint E+/ Auto Electric Rebuilders Association of Canada Trade Show have announced that final plans have been made for plant tours of Dixie Electric, Ltd. (Dixie) during the “Rebuilding 2000” event. ““We’re so pleased to offer our at- tendees such an outstanding opportu- nity to see this state-of-the-art facil- ity,’ said E+ Show promoter and Elec- trical Rebuilder’s Exchange publisher Polly Ferree. “Rebuilders will be able to view a number of automated pro- cesses, as well as custom testing equip- ment and procedures. For many, it will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.” Ferree said the Dixie tour will take the place of the previously announced tour of Prestolite in Arcade, NY. Fine points ofa Prestolite visit were not able to be worked out. The Dixie tour, which will kick off the weekend trade show at Niagara Falls, Ontario, May 5 through 7, will take place on Friday. The exhibition and hands-on training stations will be presented Saturday, followed by semi- nars and a roundtable discussion on Sunday. Jeff Reynolds, president of the A.E.R.A.C. and site manager for Dixie, said guests will see everything from low-volume to mass-capacity production in the brand new, 180,000 square foot facility which was opened in July 1999. However, he said the most profound image many people take from the plant is the sheer volume of product that is handled. “Tt’s the mass amount of product that goes through the building at one time that amazes people,” said Reynolds. “Most people are over- whelmed to see over $1 million in raw materials. They see tear down, pre- work assembly, subassembly, finished assembly, testing, packaging and ware- housing all running at a feverish pace.” Dixie, which enjoyed sales in ex- cess of $65 million last year, runs 5,000 new and remanufactured units through this site per day when operating two shifts. They are currently operating one shift with approximately 300 employ- ees. Reynolds said they run two basic types of production work. The low- volume production is done much like a small shop would do it, on a “‘tradi- tional” bench, five to 20 units at a time. The higher volume items are produced on semi-automated assembly line benches. “Even with the mass production going on, special or custom one-off rebuilds are handled quickly and effi- ciently, providing all customers with service in a timely manner,” said Reynolds. Dixie’s own engineering staff has designed many unique pieces of equip- ment including tear down, production tools and equipment—even custom baking ovens. “Tn the pre work area, we use an electronic camera to test measure- ments of starter housings to make sure they’ re not off center,” he said. “If there is apiece of equipment we need and it isn’t available, we build it ourselves.” Reynolds is particularly pleased that rebuilders will see their large au- tomated CNC rotor and armature fin- ishing/ refinishing machines, as well as the specially designed 5ODN tester which “tests the unit as if it’s on the bus itself’ with oil flowing through the FEBRUARY, 2000 unit at correct operating temperature, creating real-life load conditions. The ISO 9000 certified company produces new and remanufactured starters, alternators and generators for markets worldwide. “All units leaving the factory are put through a set of rigorous computer controlled tests, matching and often exceeding OEM specifications,” said Reynolds. They also build new components (stators, coils, armatures and rotors) and testers. Field coil assemblies, test equipment and controls are manufac- tured at another location. Reynolds stated that “the test equip- ment division is internationally known, producing testers not only for Dixie and their customers but also for many other companies including OEM manufac- turers.” Dixie has warehouses across Canada and the U.S., as well as a plant in Shanghai, China, which brings the total number of company employees to over 450. Dixie’s customers include traditional jobber markets and “large buying groups” across North America. Overseas customers, plus more than a dozen private-label customers, are also serviced from the Concord facility. Angelo Buccoil, who is company president, founded Dixie Electric in 1967. “He started like most people do with just a few employees, and through his leadership Dixie has become the world leader it is today,” said Reynolds. The Canadian plant is located in the Toronto metropolitan area, ap- proximately two hours from the Niagara Falls Memorial Arena. Ac- cording to Ferree, attendees will be picked up by coach at 8:30 am from the arena and return at approximately Page 1 of 2