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cowger.qxd 24/11/06 10:50 am Page 10 the GMS you can't compromise quality, because our environment or a highly-manual environment, the Bill of system is devised around an operator not letting a defect Process should never change, says Cowger. pass his or her station. When you look at the dramatic Another key enabler to GM's flexibility strategy is a improvements in quality and productivity we've made common Bill of Equipment. This is defined in terms of cells over the last ten years, not only in North America, but that vary by labour rate and production rate. The build globally, it's been driven by getting the waste out. Repair must still take place in the sequence determined by the is waste, so any manufacturer that tries to put in quality at Bill of Process, but the Bill of Equipment takes it a step the end of the line through repair is wasting resources and further by helping to determine the level of automation jeopardising quality. The best quality is quality that's built needed in a given plant, wherever it may be in the world. in the first time around. Because we build in all countries and regions around the Support for the operator is the essence of GMS. The world, we have labour rates that go from five dollars an whole system and process is built around allowing each hour to fifty dollars an hour, depending on what the and every operator to do their job correctly every time competitive wage rate is in that region, says Cowger. In they do it. That means everything from having responders many cases this drives a significantly different Bill of to having the right kinds of ergonomic help, depending Equipment, which needs to be responsive to whatever the on what the operation may be. The degree to which plants needs are at the time of launch, and as they change are automated will vary. There will clearly be some through the life of the product. operations that will never be Assembly is flexible if you a u t o m a t e d, because they get the right material systems if a product gets hot in one market need judgement and things and the right supplier and you've got excess capacity in that only an operator can footprint to deliver to the another, you can shift things provide, says Cowger. We had plant, he continues. GM is around and move that product our share of problems early on work ing towards flexible, Gary Cowger and we found that the global facilities that meet our elec trical/mechanical interfaces and the speed and requirement to respond to ever-changing consumer accuracy of the computing just weren't there. Making demand. This will mean significant savings for us because controls and robotics one of our main focus centres in our it drives up capacity utilisation. We think that, over time, manufacturing engineering group has shown us that, if we will be able to have 25 percent less investment, drive you get the controls and the interfaces right, the down required floor space 20 percent by implementing technology will go a long, long way. We've had excellent the common processes and continue to improve start-ups over the last three or four years, particularly on manpower utilisation and productivity. We optimise this controls and robotics. I believe it's a core competency that process through flex valves, which just means that, if a really needs to be understood. product gets hot in one market and you've got excess At the heart of GM's manufacturing system is what the capacity in another, you can shift things around and move company calls its Bill of Process. This defines the sequence that product back and forth. in which all vehicles are assembled, regardless of location, A lot has been written about manufacturing flexibility and spells out a globally common, balanced and and the definition often depends on who you talk to. documented approach for manufacturing and assembly. Classically, however, it is the ability to build multiple In order to execute this effectively, there must be one, models in the same facility. Over the last ten years, our coordinated engineering and manufacturing team that ability to build three, four or five models in a plant has does not deviate from the agreed-upon standards. grown and is growing dramatically because of the Whether you're building in a highly-automated product enablers and the common process, says Cowger. 10 

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AutoMOTIVE 5

Editors Note
News
Here For The Long Haul
Halewood. Rebirth of a Car Plant
Safety First
Focus on Flexibility
A Prophet Without Honour?
Chrysler Cuts It Four Ways
A MINI For All Reasons
Porsche Plans Continuous Logistics Improvement
Flawless, Consistent Execution
Ford's European Supplier Parks Deliver Lean Manufacturing Efficiencies
Cheap and Cheerful
Onwards and Upwards
Schrader and Siemens Electronics Assembly Systems Take the Pressure
No Faults Forward
A Long Way From Wheelbarrows and Bath Tubs
A New Era in US/Japanese Cooperation
A Dialogue of the Deaf

AutoMOTIVE 5

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