A leading North American manufacturer of autonomous guided vehicles (AGVs) for warehouse and logistics applications came to TelcoMotion with a sourcing problem that was undermining their cost structure and production reliability.
A leading North American manufacturer of autonomous guided vehicles (AGVs) for warehouse and logistics applications came to TelcoMotion with a sourcing problem that was undermining their cost structure and production reliability.
Over seven years of product evolution, the company had accumulated 14 separate motor suppliers across their AGV product line. Each supplier relationship had made sense in isolation — a specialized BLDC motor for one drive platform, a custom gearmotor for a narrow-aisle variant, a different brushless motor for the tugger configuration. But the cumulative effect was a procurement and engineering nightmare.
Engineering teams spent an estimated 200+ hours per year managing 14 different supplier relationships: 14 sets of documentation, 14 qualification processes for any design change, 14 lead time profiles to coordinate, and 14 separate quality audit requirements. When a supplier missed a delivery window — which happened several times a year — production schedulers scrambled to reallocate inventory across variant lines.
Quality consistency was another problem. With each supplier using different testing protocols and component tolerances, field reliability varied significantly across AGV variants. The warranty claims rate for motor-related failures was running at 3.2% across the installed base — unacceptably high for a product marketed on its reliability credentials.
The sourcing team had attempted partial consolidation twice, reducing supplier count from 19 to 14 over three years. Each consolidation effort stalled when engineering identified a specific performance or dimensional requirement that seemed to justify keeping a particular supplier. The underlying issue was that no single supplier had been engaged at the application engineering level — vendors were responding to RFQs for existing specs, not participating in the design process.
The company brought TelcoMotion in with a clear mandate: reduce motor supplier count dramatically, improve reliability, and do it without requiring a full product redesign.
One partner. One specification. Full accountability.
TelcoMotion's engagement began not with a product catalog but with an application engineering audit. TelcoMotion engineers visited the customer's manufacturing facility and spent two days reviewing each of the 14 motor applications in detail: documenting actual operating conditions, reviewing field failure data, and identifying which specifications were truly critical versus which had been carried forward from earlier designs without re-examination.
The audit revealed significant rationalization opportunities. Several "different" motor specifications were functionally identical applications where historical accidents — different engineers specifying slightly different parameters, or supplier capabilities driving specs rather than application requirements — had created artificial variation.
TelcoMotion proposed a three-tier consolidation strategy:
- Tier 1 — Core Drive Motors: The primary traction BLDC motors across all AGV variants were unified around a single Kyneks BLDC motor platform in two frame sizes, covering the full payload range. The two-frame solution replaced seven previously distinct motor specifications.
- Tier 2 — Steering and Auxiliary BLDC Motors: Three separate steering motor specs were rationalized to a single BLDC motor with two winding options. The same motor was also qualified for the onboard hydraulic pump drive.
- Tier 3 — Specialty Applications: Three remaining applications with genuinely unique requirements were addressed with custom-wound versions of the Kyneks platform, maintaining single-supplier accountability.
The transition was phased over 18 months to minimize production disruption. Throughout the project, TelcoMotion provided direct technical support: motor controller parameter tuning for the Kyneks FOC drives, field failure root cause analysis, and application-specific documentation.
Results
The 18-month consolidation program delivered outcomes that exceeded the original business case across every measured dimension.
Cost Reduction — 28%
Total motor program spend decreased by 28% compared to the pre-consolidation baseline. Savings came from volume concentration, engineering overhead reduction (~150 hours/year freed), and lower warranty claim costs.
Field Reliability — 99.4% Uptime
Motor-related warranty claim rate fell from 3.2% to under 0.6% within 12 months of full deployment. Fleet uptime improved to 99.4% across 340 AGV units in continuous operation.
Lead Time and Supply Chain Stability
Post-consolidation, TelcoMotion managed a single production schedule with committed lead times of 8 weeks standard and 14 weeks for custom winding variants. Safety stock requirements fell by 35%.
Engineering Agility
Design changes that previously required multi-supplier coordination now complete in weeks rather than months. A new narrow-aisle variant requiring a modified motor mounting flange was delivered in six weeks from spec.
Team Feedback
Supplier management time for the motor program fell from approximately 200 hours/year to under 40 hours/year.
Results that compound
Motor technologies in this program
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