DaimlerChrysler Corporation's New Toledo North Assembly Plant Represents Worldwide Best Practices for Lean, Flexible, High-Quality Manufacturing
7 January 2001
DaimlerChrysler Corporation's New Toledo North Assembly Plant Represents Worldwide Best Practices for Lean, Flexible, High-Quality Manufacturing
* Manufacturing Processes Ensure Top Quality
* Synergies With Mercedes-Benz Yield Manufacturing Best Practices
* Flexible Manufacturing Will Enable Facility to
Add New Products and Changeover Quickly
* Virtual Manufacturing Enables the Company to Build Plant
For Only $54 Per sq. ft. - an Industry Benchmark
AUBURN HILLS, Mich., Jan. 7 DaimlerChrysler's newest
assembly plant, the Toledo North Assembly Plant (TNAP), represents the
culmination of best practices from the company's worldwide manufacturing
operations for lean, flexible, high-quality production.
Slated to begin customer production of the all-new 2002 Jeep(R) Liberty in
the Spring of 2001, the $1.2 billion facility is currently producing
pre-production prototype vehicles to validate top quality, train employees and
refine manufacturing processes.
"As our newest assembly plant, the Toledo North Assembly Plant is the
culmination of the latest manufacturing best practices from our operations
worldwide, and like all our plants, it is a learning field for innovative
processes," said Gary Henson, DaimlerChrysler Corporation Executive Vice
President -- Manufacturing. "We designed the facility to be flexible and
lean, and we have 'error-proofed' our processes to ensure top quality. It's
also a great example of incorporating new technology from our colleagues at
Mercedes-Benz."
At full production, TNAP will employ more than 2000 production employees
and is scheduled to produce approximately 800 units per day, or over 200,000
units annually, on a two-shift operation. TNAP will produce the new Jeep
Liberty for the world market.
Ensuring Top Quality
By using a combination of statistical process controls and performance
feedback systems (PFS), the company is "error proofing" its production
processes to ensure top quality. The system is designed to halt production if
quality build criteria are not met. For example, if a bolt isn't tightened to
the degree specified (measured through the torque wrench that is connected to
the computerized PFS system) the specific operation will shut down until it
has been corrected.
DaimlerChrysler also inspects vehicles throughout body, paint and assembly
processes, as well as a series of tests after the vehicles roll off the final
assembly line. Once complete, the vehicles are tested on an evaluation course
at the new facility.
Synergies with Mercedes-Benz Yield Manufacturing Best Practices
DaimlerChrysler was beginning to design TNAP when Chrysler Corporation
merged with Daimler-Benz in 1998. Part of the benchmarking with the
Mercedes-Benz plants yielded several best practices and manufacturing
synergies that can be seen in the new plant, such as skillet and "gummiband"
conveyors, a proprietary sealer system and a door weather stripping operation.
A skillet conveyor is a closed-loop, friction-drive conveyance system with
a floor-level palette carrying each vehicle. The height of each palette is
adjustable, and can be programmed through the process. Not only does this
free the space to assemble multiple models, more importantly, this kind of
conveyor is more ergonomically sound for operators. Each palette can be
customized for each product, station and operation.
The "gummiband" conveyor is a giant seven-foot wide, rubber conveyor that
replaces the traditional metal conveyor. Not only does it save millions of
dollars in maintenance fees, it is softer and more ergonomically sound for
operators.
The proprietary sealer system, referred to at TNAP as the "Sindelfingen
Sealer System," named after the Mercedes-Benz plant just outside of Stuttgart
where it came from, is an operation that applies sealer to the vehicle's body
before it is painted.
The state-of-the-art system allows the plant to precisely adjust the
amount of sealer applied to each specific body panel, which provides improved
flexibility and precision over more traditional systems. The result is a
higher quality vehicle and more efficient use of the sealer.
Virtual Manufacturing Makes Toledo North an Industry Benchmark
The entire Toledo North plant and tooling was designed using manufacturing
simulation software, which enabled the company to build the facility for only
$54 per square foot -- an industry benchmark (compared to an industry average
of $70 - $80 per sq. ft.).
"By simulating manufacturing we can make tooling and equipment updates in
a virtual environment rather than with the actual tooling, which is a
phenomenal savings of cost and manpower throughout the supply chain," said
Frank Ewasyshyn, Senior Vice President, Advanced Manufacturing Engineering and
General Manager, Minivan Operations, DaimlerChrysler. "Simulation allows the
tooling process within the manufacturing facility to be much more precise,
resulting in assembly operations being brought up to speed faster with fewer
issues."
With this application, the company can create a seamless union between
product development and manufacturing by using compatible systems to design
the vehicles and to simulate build processes in the plant.
The vision is to allow the integrated system to cover all aspects of
manufacturing, from part design to plant design, helping to get new products
to market faster. With this system, DaimlerChrysler was able to simulate the
manufacturing environment at TNAP long before any construction began. As the
new Jeep Liberty evolved through its development, the manufacturing processes
evolved with it, enabling simultaneous engineering to take place.
The system uses a single language database across the entire product
development and manufacturing process -- from product development to plant
design. This increases communication, efficiency and supply chain
integration. The goal is to use the system to simulate and visualize the
entire manufacturing process and plant before any hardware is installed.
Flexible Manufacturing for Quick Changeover
TNAP follows DaimlerChrysler's Windsor Assembly Plant as one of the most
flexible in the company and in the industry, meaning it has the ability to
change and add new products very quickly with minimal disruption or production
loss. The key to DaimlerChrysler's manufacturing flexibility is the order in
which the body is put together, using a unique underbody palette system in the
body shop. The same flexible palette system has been used at the company's
Sterling Heights Assembly Plant, as well as Windsor and TNAP -- meaning the
same system can be used to build sedans, convertibles, minivans, and now
sport-utility vehicles.
While TNAP will begin with only one product, it has the ability to produce
another and pilot a third simultaneously. In order to accomplish this, the
company first divided the tooling for welding processes into two distinct
areas: processes flexible enough to accommodate different vehicles, which are
in the aperture, underbody and framing areas; and processes that are specific
to an individual vehicle. As the company prepares to build more products
there, it will only have to add minimal tooling specific to a new model.
The Operating Principles
Similar to all of DaimlerChrysler's manufacturing facilities, TNAP
conducts its business using the company's Operating Principles. Rather than
merely a way to assemble vehicles, the Operating Principles represent the way
the company does business and maintains its lean Extended Enterprise system.
It begins with core values and beliefs, the philosophical principles from
which decisions are made. From there, the system analyzes the "how,"
identifying the enablers and subsystems needed to execute the work (like human
infrastructure, balanced schedules, value-added activities and robust
processes). It then identifies ways to support those processes, tools for
implementation, and standardized measurements to gauge effectiveness.
The Operating Principles give employees at the plant the big picture
framework from which to operate, at the same time providing standardized
methods and repeatable processes. The end result can be tracked and improved
by focusing on Safety, Quality, Delivery, Cost and Morale, internal gauges
that each employee contributes to. Because continuous improvement is one of
the core beliefs, the process never stops.
All DaimlerChrysler manufacturing facilities use the Operating Principles,
evidenced in its high-quality products, well-organized workstations,
standardized processes, ability to use visual management, efficient material
handling, flexibility and its commitment to training.
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