Freudenberg-NOK CEO Tells Sub-Tier Suppliers: Without Lean Systems You Won't Survive
12 October 2000
Freudenberg-NOK CEO Tells Sub-Tier Suppliers: Without Lean Systems You Won't Survive
PLYMOUTH, Mich., Oct. 12 At the grand opening of the new
Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center (MMTC) headquarters here today,
Freudenberg-NOK Chairman & CEO Joseph C. Day offered sub-tier suppliers some
advice about succeeding in the increasingly competitive auto industry: adopt
lean systems now!
The Freudenberg-NOK CEO -- who also serves as the chairman of the Original
Equipment Suppliers Association and a member of MMTC's Automotive Advisory --
told MMTC grand opening guests and media that based on his company's
experience over 15,000 kaizen projects and eight years of practicing the
principles of the Toyota Production System, lean systems have proven to be the
single most powerful and effective tool an automotive supplier can use to
improve productivity, quality and responsiveness.
"Lean systems can generate more robust, higher quality products that can
eliminate warranty cost and win consumer loyalty. And while the automakers
and the major Tier 1 suppliers have adopted lean programs, the lean culture
has only penetrated the tip of the iceberg. For every manufacturer that has
implemented lean, there are literally thousands in the supply chain that have
not," Day said. "And that must change."
"If we as an industry want to offer consumers a five-day or 10-day car,
we're going to need lean systems to do it ... because lean systems show us the
way to remove the wasted steps and bottlenecks ... and reset the supply
chain's clockspeed. And there's no better way to implement lean systems than
through the training programs that MMTC is offering through its new facility,"
he said.
MMTC's lean approach, Day said, is proven and ready -- since it is based
on Freudenberg-NOK's highly successful GROWTTH(R) lean program, which the
supplier donated to MMTC almost two years ago. During the ensuing months,
MMTC has adapted and scaled the training to meet the varying needs and
resources of smaller sub-tier suppliers.
The donation of the GROWTTH training is just another example of
Freudenberg-NOK's commitment to support the North American automotive
industry.
"Over the years, we trained more than 1,200 industry personnel in our
factories, wrote the training manuals and supported the Ford Production System
launch, participated actively in Chrysler and Delphi launches, and
passionately encouraged the industry to move to lean as quickly as possible,"
Day said.
He now expects the practice of lean systems to become a requirement for
suppliers, much as QS-9000 certification is today: "Eventually, if you as a
supplier don't adopt the lean culture, you simply won't make the purchasing
cut. The industry should adopt the SAE J4000 lean standard to evaluate its
supply base capabilities."
The requirement for lean will cascade down the tiers of the supply chain
quickly, Day predicted, since each company's leanness ultimately depends upon
the leanness of its own suppliers. That's one reason the supplier launched
its own program -- which mirrors the MMTC offering -- earlier this year to
help its own suppliers learn the lean culture.
Now known as the North American benchmark for lean systems, Freudenberg-
NOK's GROWTTH program has helped the company to enhance its profitability,
quadruple its annual sales and boost the quality of its products to Six Sigma
(single-digit ppm) quality levels. For his personal role in helping
automakers and other suppliers to understand and adopt lean systems, Day
himself has been recognized with the Wu Foundation's Manufacturing Leadership
Award and induction into the Shingo Prize Academy.
Plymouth, Mich.-based Freudenberg-NOK is part of the Freudenberg and NOK
Group Companies, which have total annual sales of nearly $7 billion. With
global automotive sales of approximately $4 billion, the Freudenberg and NOK
Group ranks among the 15 largest OEM automotive suppliers (per Crain's Detroit
Business) and is one of only eight in the top 100 that has global balance in
each of the three major automotive markets -- Asia, Europe and North America
(according to Automotive News).
Through a global network of facilities spanning 27 countries with some
23,000 automotive employees worldwide, the supplier group offers its
automotive customers globally integrated products, including sealing packages
for transmissions, engines, brakes, axles and steering, NVH (noise, vibration
and harshness) components and packages, and all rubber, plastic and PTFE
components for suspension, electrical and fuel systems.
The Freudenberg and NOK Group also offers an extensive portfolio of
precision-molded products for the aerospace, appliance, business machine,
fluid power, marine, medical, off-highway equipment and recreational vehicle
markets. For more information, visit the Freudenberg-NOK web site at
http://www.freudenberg-nok.com .