GM's Global Manufacturing Strategies Come Together At New Lansing Grand River Assembly Plant
FOR RELEASE: January 9, 2002GM's Global Manufacturing Strategies Come Together At New Lansing Grand River Assembly Plant
Lansing, Mich. - The all-new Lansing Grand River (LGR) Assembly plant is a state-of-the-art facility that advances an ongoing renaissance in General Motors manufacturing. Bringing together the best, most competitive manufacturing processes from around the globe, the plant represents GM's commitment to improve product quality and plant productivity in the production of world-class vehicles.
LGR's configurations and processes are based on GM's Global Manufacturing System (GMS). The system leverages what GM has learned from benchmarking competitors, working with its global partners and operating its own facilities. The GMS is dynamic, as each new plant or plant renovation builds on the lessons of its predecessors.
"The Global Manufacturing System is revolutionizing the way we design our products, lay out our plants, choose our equipment and design each operator's job," said Gary Cowger, president of GM North America. "These leading edge processes are designed around providing the support and resources to enable individual operators, working in teams, to do their jobs as effectively and safely as possible. Lansing Grand River is a model for our competitive manufacturing strategies."
Luxury vehicles built
The $559 million, 1.9-milion-square-foot LGR plant builds the new Cadillac CTS luxury sport sedan and will build other GM luxury vehicles in the future. At full volume, LGR is projected to employ about 1,320 hourly workers and 180 staff employees, with a two-shift straight-time capacity of 130,000 vehicles annually.
LGR is located on 82.5 acres, built on the site of 19 demolished buildings that were among the original Oldsmobile assembly plant complex. The remaining older facilities remain in production. LGR is GM's first all-new U.S. assembly plant since construction began on the Saturn plant in Spring Hill, Tenn. in 1986.
At LGR, the buildings are "shrink wrapped" around the various manufacturing processes. LGR's three buildings - the Body Shop, Paint Department and General Assembly - are configured for efficient material flow and to provide an optimum layout for operators. In the Body Shop, 338 state-of-the-art automated, programmable robots weld the car's framework, under the supervision of team members.
From the Body Shop, the vehicle is moved north through glass-enclosed chutes on conveyors to the multi-level Paint Department. In an evolutionary improvement of GMS practices, LGR is the first plant to locate all Paint Department production processes on a single floor. The Paint Department uses innovative conveyor systems to reduce paint floor noise and support a clean room environment. The department also features the latest technology for air emissions abatement.
The vehicle is then transported north by enclosed conveyors to the T-shaped General Assembly. Waste is reduced by line-side delivery of parts and through sub-assemblies, either built on feeder lines in the plant or brought in by suppliers. This system eliminates expensive build-up of inventories as well as multiple handling of materials.
Capturing global learnings
To capture global learnings and ensure they will be applied to current operations and future plants, GM established the Manufacturing Integration Center in Pontiac, Mich. As a storehouse for the best, most competitive manufacturing processes, the center helps leverage the GMS and ensures continual learning as each new plant or plant renovation is undertaken.
Global best manufacturing processes have been captured from a number of sources. Experience gained through NUMMI - a joint venture with Toyota - helped introduce Toyota Production System techniques into GM. GM took these experiences to the next level at its plant in Eisenach, Germany, and then continued to refine lean manufacturing techniques at its newest plants in Poland, Argentina, China, Thailand, Brazil - and now, at LGR.
Continuous focus is placed on benchmarking best practices of competitors and joint venture partners, and with forging closer ties with suppliers in order to leverage their ideas.
Supporting the operator
Under the GMS, the operator in the plant is at the heart of the system. "The organization at LGR is an upside-down pyramid, " said Robert E. "Bob" Anderson, LGR plant manager. "The operator is on top, and the structure, layouts and processes are all designed around providing support for the operators and the teams on the plant floor so that they can build high-quality vehicles at a competitive cost."
GM's system improves manufacturing performance through the consistent implementation of five principles: people involvement, standardization, built-in quality, short lead times and continuous improvement. These interrelated principles are implemented as a complete system in order to maximize performance in the areas of safety, people systems, quality, customer responsiveness and cost.
Safety: At LGR, GM and the UAW have implemented the same joint process that has enabled GM to achieve industry-leading safety. In addition, a significant safety factor at LGR is the elimination of fork lifts in General Assembly. This is possible because the plant is designed so that parts and sub-assemblies are delivered at the point of use - reducing congestion and potential for accidents.
People Systems: The operator at LGR is the most important person in the manufacturing system. LGR uses the team concept, with small teams empowered to run their areas and dedicated to problem solving and continuous improvement. Team members receive extensive training in all aspects of operations.
Quality: The customer's high quality expectations are understood and are the responsibility of everyone at LGR. Every team member is trained to be a quality inspector and problem solver. Continuous improvement through teamwork is the foundation for quality. Processes such as the Andon System and extensive use of error-proofing devices also contribute to building world-class quality vehicles.
Customer Responsiveness: LGR's production system is lean, fast and flexible in order to respond to an ever-changing market. The GMS emphasizes the development of vehicles that are simpler to build, and flexible global architectures allow GM to more easily build cars, trucks and crossovers off the same architecture in one or more plants.
Innovative tooling such as Programmable Adaptable Assembly System (PAAS) enables increased flexibility through programmable positioning and clamping of parts.
Cost: LGR maximizes cost savings by eliminating waste. This includes the design of the buildings, which require lower capital investment and enable just-in-time delivery and elimination of inventory. GM made extensive use of virtual reality and math-based applications to create a "virtual factory," helping reduce development costs and ensuring that equipment and processes support operators. In addition, the team concept plays a key part in eliminating waste, empowering team members to suggest process improvement changes at all levels.
"GMS is a system that engages everyone, in every position, to improve the business," Cowger said. "The Lansing Grand River assembly plant embodies everything we've learned about lean manufacturing. It brings together all parts of the organization to drive improvements in both quality and productivity."
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