TICO Tractors Reduced Quality Inspection and Rework Time by 60%

After decades of manufacturing terminal tractors to support its terminal services arm, TICO introduced its equipment to the retail market in 2008. Since then, the demand for their equipment has grown significantly.

TICO Tractors is unique in that they have a long history of using (and testing) the equipment they manufacture in the real-world — to support shipping terminals with equipment and services in the port, terminal, distribution, logistics, and intermodal space.

Since its beginnings in the 1970s, TICO has become North America's largest terminal tractor fleet owner and operator.

From its early days, TICO relied on paper-based processes for quality inspections, SOPs, and production dashboards. However, as onboarding and retaining operators became more challenging, this approach proved inefficient.

In hopes of making process guidance more accessible for operators, TICO introduced PDFs for work instructions and BOMs. While these improved onboarding, they were still risky—operators could easily reference the wrong instructions. Additionally, production tracking remained a challenge.

To address these issues, TICO started evaluating digital production systems that could scale with them.

"We were really looking for something scalable and that could grow with us. I wanted to find something that fit our do-it-yourself approach that we could build up ourselves and customize. I found a couple of softwares where you could edit easily, but that is all you could do. There wasn’t the possibility of doing additional things" — Mike Rousch, Director of Production Operations, TICO Tractors

Within months of implementing Tulip for digital work instructions, they saw value—reducing errors, speeding up onboarding, and easing the burden on supervisors. Leveraging the flexibility of the Tulip platform and the scalability and agility of the AWS cloud, they expanded their Tulip apps. Integrating barcode readers to streamline order data collection, TICO deployed apps to track orders throughout their production and record relevant data (completion times, operator, etc.).

Barcode readers aren’t the only device powering TICO’s efficiency. TICO has leveraged other connected devices, like Andons and location devices, to explore innovative solutions for driving productivity and efficiency.

By connecting LIFX lights to their workflow, they’ve created a smart, responsive Andon system that enhances real-time communication between teams. Each workstation is equipped with a dedicated LIFX light, along with an additional light for engineering. When an issue arises, the system automatically sends a text notification to the engineer while also providing a visual cue by turning the LIFX on—ensuring they stay informed even if they aren’t checking their phone. Both the station and engineering lights turn blue, signaling that assistance is needed and guiding the engineer to the correct location for support.

TICO has also explored connected devices in their digital work instructions to precisely track and record data on bolts secured onto tires, further enhancing process visibility and accuracy. TICO first introduced Ingersoll Rand to track the torque applied to each bolt. However, the challenge was identifying which bolt operators were tightening. While they initially tried using vision systems—with good results—the lack of 3D positioning made it difficult to use when bolts were too close together. That’s when TICO began exploring other options.

ZeroKey is a large-scale 3D real-time location system (RTLS) that digitizes the precise 3D location of critical assets in real time. By attaching ZeroKey’s devices to the Ingersoll Rand torque drivers, TICO can associate the torque used with the specific bolt within a 1.5mm accuracy – adding a new layer of traceability and quality assurance to their bolt sequencing. All of this data is tracked within Tulip, ensuring confidence and proof that TICO delivers only high-quality products.

As a leader in the terminal industry, TICO’s product quality has been at the forefront of its reputation, and maintaining the quality of its products as it scaled production was critical. This was difficult to do with paper-based checklists and hand-written defect logs. “Everything was handwritten,” Mike explained. “That physical sheet, there is only one copy.”

The inspector would go through the truck looking for defects and then document them on a piece of paper for the person who would rework them.

To address their quality assurance challenges, they worked with their quality team to deploy apps on mobile tablets to guide operators through the inspection process. If the operator discovers a defect, they can easily log defects using standardized defect codes, add a description with voice-to-text, and take a photo via the tablet’s camera.

With the truck defect log, they can see all of the defects reported for that truck and the status of the defect to ensure nothing slips through the cracks. The app also captures who reported the defect, who fixed the defect, and who completed the final quality check.

By digitizing the quality inspection and defect reporting process, the TICO team now has the data they need centralized – enabling them to identify trends and uncover insights with a holistic view of their operations.

With centralized access to Pareto charts and data, managers can address training and personnel challenges, while quality leads can assess whether process improvements are needed. Mike estimates that the quality app has cut the time and effort for quality inspection and rework “down by 50%-60%, if not more,”.

Tulip has become a key tool for innovation for TICO. When the team does Kaizens, they often start with Tulip to solve problems.

“It's just very easy,” said Mike. “It’s no risk. It has been really a shift in the culture. That was an unintended benefit. If we're going to solve this, let's start with the software solution versus ‘how can I do it with paper and Excel spreadsheet?’”