06/28/2004 – LONDON, Ontario, Canada

TDS automotive is pleased to announce the launch of its first facility in North America fully dedicated to the Tier Zero™ business model for inbound logistics services. The new TDS Tier Zero™ complex is located in Chicago, Illinois, within the Ford Supplier Park.

What sets this facility apart from other TDS locations in Canada and the US is the unique approach to the contracts under which services are provided. In a traditional facility TDS is directly contracted to the OEM. In this case Ford Motor Company is the ultimate recipient of the material handled and the end customer, but under one roof TDS holds the multiple individual contracts directly with each Tier 1 material supplier.

In Chicago the TDS automotive facility is extremely diverse in its service offerings and most notably offers FLEXIBILITY to its customers. TDS holds contracts with the Tier 1 manufacturers, but a close partnership between Ford and TDS is key to the success of this approach. .

In the earliest stages of operation TDS was able to relieve some pressure from Ford as it transitioned the Chicago Assembly Plant, by providing fascia sequencing in support of the Taurus build-out. By moving the space-intensive fascia off-site, Ford was able to free-up enough square footage inside their plant to carry out the necessary alterations. Currently in the pre-build phase, beginning in July full production will start on the all new Ford Five Hundred, Mercury Montego and the Ford Freestyle crossover vehicle.

For the 5 years of this Ford program in Chicago, TDS is looking forward to providing unique Tier Zero™ services including small lot metering, sequencing and assembly to Tier 1 customers Visteon, Flex N Gate, Decoma, Plascoat, Aisin, and Facil. Commodities handled will range from nuts and bolts and fasteners to fascias, body-side moldings and transmissions.

TDS refers to its inbound logistics services as Tier Zero™ because the value-added services are performed to commodities somewhere between the Tier 1 component manufacturers and the OEM assembly process. Where Tier 1 core competencies are to design and manufacture components and OEM core competencies are to design, assemble and market vehicles, TDS focuses on being the interface between the two, specializing in complex material integration. Contracting out these material handling services allows both OEM’s and Tier 1’s to focus on their core strengths, safe in the knowledge that their parts will be managed, assembled, delivered or sequenced to the final assembly point in the right quantity and condition at the right time.

The Chicago business model lets TDS automotive provide the critical core competency to enable the OEM to have Tier 1 companies provide material directly, while at the same time providing an economy of scale to each of the individual Tier 1 manufacturers. This low cost, high competency model may be the beginning of what could become a common approach in the North American automotive logistics supply chain.