Delphi Becomes Top Shingo Winner in Award's History As Four Plants Receive 2003 Prize

TROY, Mich., March 11 -- Four Delphi Corp. plants have been recognized for their lean manufacturing excellence by winning the 2003 Shingo Prize -- making Delphi the company to win the most Shingo Prizes in the award's history -- bringing its total to 12.

"Delphi is honored to once again be recognized with this respected award for its lean journey achievements," said Donald L. Runkle, vice chairman, Enterprise Technologies, and chief technology officer, Delphi. "Lean implementation in our plants is at the heart of Delphi's manufacturing philosophy and will allow us to compete globally while making significant product, process and safety improvements."

Delphi topped the list of large-business recipients this year with four of the 13 awards. Two additional Delphi plants were also named as finalists. The winning plants will be recognized at the 2003 awards ceremony on May 14 at the Detroit Marriott, where Dave Wohleen, Delphi's president of Electrical, Electronics, Safety & Interior sector, will be a keynote speaker to discuss Delphi's approach to accomplishing world-class manufacturing excellence.

Shingo is run by Utah State University's College of Business. The Shingo Prize promotes world-class manufacturing strategies and practices that achieve world-class results.

"Delphi is one of the companies that has consistently raised the standards in manufacturing excellence for not only automotive manufacturers, but also for all industry manufacturers," said Ross Robson, executive director of the Shingo Prize. "As evidenced in receiving 12 Shingo Prizes, Delphi has demonstrated its clear commitment to the implementation of lean manufacturing processes and the proven results it produces."

The four Delphi plants to receive the 2003 Shingo Prize for Excellence in Manufacturing are:

* Delphi Flint Operations, Flint, Mich. -- This plant supplies instrumentation assemblies and components showcased in General Motors cars and trucks, Harley-Davidson motorcycles, and the Segway Human Transporter. Applying the concepts found in the Delphi Manufacturing System, this facility and its UAW Local 651 workforce have achieved rapid, year-to-year, double- digit improvement in the primary aspects of the business, particularly safety and quality. Productivity has improved 45 percent during the period 1999 through 2002. Manufacturing expertise includes plastic injection molding, laser-cut lenses, electronic circuit board assembly, and final product assembly and test.

* Delphi Energy & Chassis Systems, Sistemas Electricos y Conmutadores, S.A. de C. V. (SEC), Juarez Mexico -- Sistemas Electricos y Conmutadores, S.A. de C. V. (SEC), is a state-of-the-art facility that is known as a leader and an innovator, employing and developing new lean manufacturing techniques. Products manufactured and assembled include emission control devices, transmission controls, anti-lock brake systems, cruise control and fuel system components. The 286,761-square-foot facility began operations in February 1980. The more than 3,600 employees working at SEC are dedicated to continuous improvement and exceeding customer expectations. This commitment to customer satisfaction is evident in SEC's growth as it currently satisfies customers in Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and the United States.

* Delphi Delco Electronics de Mexico, Delnosa 1 through 4 Operations, Reynosa, Mexico -- With more than 4,000 employees, Delnosa 1-4 manufactures over 100,000 vehicle electronics products daily to customers in 11 countries around the world. Delnosa product lines include driver instrumentation; HVAC controllers; chassis, safety and security modules; and Powertrain electronics. Through the use of lean manufacturing principles, the facility has been able to increase productivity by 34 percent, double inventory turns and achieve 100 percent employee participation in the suggestion program. In addition, Delnosa has implemented improvement ideas that cut customer defects in half, improved first-time quality by 45 percent and achieved 25 million hours without a lost-time injury.

* Delphi Corporation, Packard Electric Systems, Plant 19, Warren, Ohio -- Plant 19 was established in 1996 as a North American hub for the manufacture of Bussed Electrical Centers (BECs) and related molded components. Nearly 600 employees assemble well over 100 combined original equipment part numbers and service-part BECs on 17 U-cell assembly stations, with average annual production approaching 5 million units. Through comprehensive implementation of the lean-driven concepts within the Delphi Manufacturing System, Plant 19 employees have been able to drive significant operation improvements in cost, quality, delivery and productivity, and have integrated continuous improvement methodologies to ensure continued success. Some of those improvements include an 86 percent reduction in rejected/returned parts per million since 2000, a first-time quality improvement of over 50 percent, and a reduction in scrap of 50 percent since 1998.

The two Delphi plants named as 2003 Shingo Prize finalists are:

* Delphi Safety & Interior Systems, Columbus, Ohio -- Delphi's Columbus Operation produces latches and power products, including power sliding doors, lift gates and deck releases. Following the Delphi Manufacturing System's lean principles, in 2002 the team achieved excellent profitability, significant cost reductions, zero spills; 83 percent quality improvement; 50 percent FTQ improvement; 99.8 percent on-time delivery; and over 2 million hours without a lost-time injury.

* Delphi Steering Systems, Plant 7, Saginaw, Mich. -- Plant 7 produces integral and rack and pinion steering gears. In 2001, due to a significant decrease in integral gear demand, the 500,000 square foot Plant 2 was consolidated into Plant 7 in Saginaw, Mich. This massive undertaking resulted in the movement of 1,131 machines and over 2000 job changes. Despite this enormous task, there were no customer disruptions or related quality issues. The application of lean manufacturing principles throughout Plant 7 greatly improved the profitability of all its product lines. In the case of the 700 series integral gear, the value stream was dramatically streamlined and became profitable for the first time in over six years. The plant has clearly demonstrated how applying lean manufacturing principles can lead to large gains in health and safety, productivity, quality, cost, and delivery, while reducing overtime, inventory and manufacturing lead time.

For more information on Delphi Corporation, please visit the company's media room at www.delphi.com/media .

Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20020315/DEF002LOGO
PRN Photo Desk, +1-888-776-6555 or +1-212-782-2840

Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com/gh/cnoc/comp/076666.html