ADAC

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ADAC Keeps Production On Track When Forecasts and Reality Don’t Match

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ADAC Automotive is a Tier 1 automotive supplier producing vehicle entry systems, exterior and interior door handles, exterior trim, and mirrors for OEMs including Ford, GM, Stellantis, BMW, Honda, Nissan, and Volkswagen.

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In an environment where OEM schedules can shift with little notice, maintaining production continuity requires more than fixed staffing plans and long-range forecasts. Labor demand changes quickly, and operations must respond just as quickly to avoid disruption, missed shipments, or excessive overtime.

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In May 2023, ADAC faced a challenge common across automotive manufacturing: how to maintain service levels and production output in an environment where labor requirements fluctuate constantly and often unpredictably.

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Trying to solve this with a traditional staffing model meant choosing between carrying excess labor during slower periods or risking labor shortages when demand increased. Neither option aligned with the company’s operational or financial goals.

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ADAC needed a way to adjust labor capacity in real time without sacrificing productivity, service, or workforce stability.

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Building a Flexible Capacity Layer Across Operations

To address this challenge, ADAC partnered with Veryable and began building labor pools across three manufacturing facilities.

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This gave the company the ability to add support as production requirements changed, often with only a few hours of lead time.

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“If we start the day at 7 am, and we realize that we don't have enough labor on first shift to to get parts out the door, that means we need to try to reinforce 2nd or 3rd shift, traditionally you don't have those opportunities to bring in talent on a same day basis... but we did it with Veryable the first time we tried it.”

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Rather than relying solely on fixed staffing levels, ADAC built a flexible layer of labor capacity around its core workforce. This allows the operation to respond as conditions change throughout the day while maintaining continuity on the floor.

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As labor needs increase, additional operators can be brought in to reinforce production. When demand slows, labor capacity can scale back down without the need for layoffs or long-term labor commitments.

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This shift gave ADAC a way to align labor more closely with actual production requirements instead of static forecasts.

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Maintaining Production Through Demand Swings and Disruption

The impact of this model became especially important during periods of disruption. As the automotive industry navigated shifting production schedules and the seven-week UAW strike in 2023, ADAC was able to reduce labor capacity when OEM demand slowed and quickly scale back up as production resumed.

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Because labor capacity could expand and contract with demand, the company avoided carrying unnecessary labor costs during downtime while remaining prepared to respond immediately when schedules changed.

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This flexibility played a major role in helping ADAC mitigate approximately $400,000 in planned automation costs and achieve $1.6 million in total cost avoidance throughout the disruption.

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In recognition of these results, ADAC presented Veryable with its 2024 Automotive Innovation Award during the company’s annual Partner Day event.

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The award recognized the operational impact of the partnership and ADAC’s ability to maintain execution in an environment defined by volatility, shifting schedules, and constant pressure on cost and service.

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Supporting Productivity While Protecting the Core Workforce

Beyond responding to demand swings, ADAC also improved how labor was deployed across the operation.

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Additional operators are brought in to support production as requirements increase, allowing skilled full-time employees to remain focused on higher-value responsibilities instead of being stretched across every fluctuation in demand.

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This helped ADAC maintain output while reducing reliance on excessive overtime and minimizing the strain placed on the core workforce during peak periods.

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Having access to flexible labor capacity also reduced the operational risk associated with labor shortages and made it possible to maintain more consistent cost per unit across changing production conditions.

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Rather than forcing the operation to absorb variability through overtime or overhiring, labor capacity could adjust alongside demand.

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Expanding Into New Markets Without Labor Becoming the Constraint

As ADAC continued growing beyond its traditional automotive business, operational flexibility became even more important. Historically, the company focused heavily on high-volume injection molding, paint, and electronics integration as a Tier 1 supplier. More recently, ADAC launched a diversified business unit serving industries including defense, medical devices, industrial automation, agriculture, and powersports.

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The new division provides services including additive manufacturing, CNC machining, CAD design, electrical hardware design, validation testing, and engineering support.

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“Our team is in an interesting position. ADAC's unique capability set allows us to be a full product lifecycle partner to organizations who need design, engineering, and manufacturing work done and executed at a high level.”

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As customer requirements continue evolving, the ability to scale labor capacity without delay allows ADAC to pursue new opportunities without introducing unnecessary operational rigidity.

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According to ADAC President & CEO Jon Husby, the company expects this diversified business unit to account for approximately 20% of total revenue by 2028.

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What Changed

By building a flexible labor model around its core workforce, ADAC created an operation that can respond to production variability without sacrificing service, productivity, or workforce stability.

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The result is a manufacturing operation that remains aligned with real-world production conditions instead of static labor plans:

• Reinforces production shifts within the same day as labor gaps emerge
• Maintains output and on-time delivery through changing OEM schedules and demand swings
• Reduces reliance on overtime while protecting the core workforce from burnout
• Scales labor capacity up or down without carrying unnecessary fixed labor costs
• Maintained operational continuity through the seven-week UAW strike while achieving $1.6M in total cost avoidance
• Supports expansion into new industries and product lines without labor becoming a bottleneck