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Six Standard Products Plants Earn Gold Pentastar Awards

18 June 1999

Six Standard Products Plants Earn Gold Pentastar Awards

    DEARBORN, Mich., June 17 -- The Standard Products Company
announced that six of its rubber and plastic automotive components
plants have earned the Gold Pentastar Award from DaimlerChrysler for their
quality performance in the 1998 model year. Standard Products produces
automotive weatherstrip, body seals, exterior trim, and engine & chassis
mounts for DaimlerChrysler and other automotive manufacturers. DaimlerChrysler
models supplied by Standard Products include the Cirrus/Stratus, Cherokee,
Minivan, Neon, Prowler and Wrangler.
    The award-winning Standard Products plants are located in Gaylord,
Michigan; Griffin, Georgia; Kittanning, Pennsylvania; Winnsboro, South
Carolina; and Mitchell and Stratford, Ontario.  These core production plants
earned their valued awards for the second year in a row.
    "I want to emphasize how tough it is to win a Gold Pentastar," said Tom
Trudell, supplier operating systems specialist with DaimlerChrysler in
presenting the awards at the Stratford plant.  "Very few of our suppliers
actually receive this award, and the requirements get tougher and tougher
every year."
    The Gold Pentastar recognizes the top one percent of DaimlerChrysler
suppliers for consistently meeting rigorous goals in product quality,
delivery, warranty, cost savings and customer support.  For the 1998 model
year the automaker raised the standard for the award, requiring suppliers to
achieve manufacturing quality at or better than a rate of 50 parts per million
defects.
    "Our plants' ability to meet these increasingly rigorous standards is due
in large part to our Low Cost Producer Strategy, which we introduced in 1996,"
said Ted Zampetis, Standard Products president and chief operating officer.
"The LCPS program focuses on achieving Six Sigma-level product quality, 100-
percent on-time delivery and lean manufacturing.  Our LCPS initiatives
resulted in an 86% reduction in parts per million defects in 1998 compared
with 1997."
    Standard Products produces highly engineered polymer-based products and
systems on a global basis for the automotive, appliance and construction
industries.  More information may be found on the Internet at
http://www.standardproducts.com .