Phil Biggs covers the automotive industry for NewsTalk 1340 WJRW
August 16, 2013 – 10:30 am ET
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. – At the Center for Automotive Research Management Briefings last week the themes were Mobility, Profitability & Sustainability and the discussion centered on how, despite ever-growing new challenges, today there are profitable, sustainable opportunities throughout the auto space. Sustainability has become critical to OEM and supplier success and it takes several forms. As a keynote presenter, Jim Tetreault, Ford Motor VP of North America Manufacturing, talked about how Ford is taking sustainability in two directions: one where they have built eco-friendly processes into their manufacturing footprint, and the other relates to how Ford is transforming its workforce to itself become more sustainable.
Transforming the workplace. Tetreault explained how Ford Motor’s Michigan Assembly Plant (MAP) has become sustainable 24/7, with the use of recycled materials now standard in plant operations. Traditional lighting has been converted to DC LED lighting, while solar arrays and photovoltaic systems are now generating clean electrical power in the plant. Along with 750kW battery infrastructure in place, these improvements raise efficiency by more than 25% and offset 500 tons of carbon CO2 waste annually. In addition, Ford has EV charging stations on site, and they’ve modernized waste-laden and messy vehicle paint systems to further reduce MAP’s carbon footprint.
Many of the other automakers have model manufacturing plants as well. Volkswagen, for example, has made its Chattanooga, TN plant the blueprint for all its worldwide plant development. Dr. Jan Spies, Volkswagen’s VP of Factory Planning, spoke about VW’s Think Blue Factory concept being launched in Chattanooga, their first holistic approach to factory planning. This concept encompasses everything from materials re-use to LEED certification to greater energy efficiencies. Spies highlighted the reduction of volatile organic compounds, LED installation to reduce light pollution, innovative water processes i.e. re-use of storm waters, restoring nearby rivers and creeks, and heat recuperation, all leading to overall reduction of CO2 and other carbon emissions.
The Chattanooga plant is now VW’s bridge between leading-edge machines, equipment, standards, and best practice clean manufacturing processes, as it will become the worldwide, sustainable blueprint for the Foshan, Changsha and Yizheng, China, and Emden, Germany plants as they all come on-line beginning in 2014.
Valuing people by making the workforce sustainable in the long term. Regarding its shop floor workers, Ford Motor, Honda and Nissan have all made significant efforts to create sustainable workforce plans. Ford Motor has put high performance requirements in place that include the skills a worker brings plus the ability to learn. Ford’s view is its workforce must show aptitude (what you can do) as well as motivation (what are you are willing to do) in order to be successful. The skills you need to learn plus the willingness to learn them are more critical today than the knowledge you bring with you to the job.
At Ford, before a hired worker ever makes it to the first day on the assembly line, there is up to six months of classroom and simulation factory training. This training is comprehensive to accommodate EV, hybrid and other advanced powertrain variants, as well as other on-board advanced technologies. Ford’s virtual factory helps to anticipate and reduce chronic injuries due to repetition. Motion-capture technology and digital simulation determine how to prevent injuries before launching new assembly lines. Ford’s Louisville and Flat Rock plants have simulation training as a global standard.
These new automated processes enable the OEMs to better measure results and hold people accountable for sustainability. Another benefit is that as new manufacturing methods are launched, safety training has increased too, due in part to OSHA rules changing as technologies are introduced on the floor. But there is an economic benefit: sustainable worker training helps lower labor costs, and increase retention that now compares favorably overall with China. Labor costs in China have tripled in some cases due to hiring, retention and training costs spiking to the point that the once highly-touted advantage held by the Chinese has nearly evaporated today.
What is the impact of sustainability focus? Ford Oakville, Chicago, Kansas City, Flat Rock and Dearborn plants are together hiring 12,000 new workers this year – and when coupled with 8,000 hourly workers hired last year – it makes for exciting and much-needed news on the industry job front. Much of the automation, robotics, and simulator training is now completed in partnership with area community colleges, as pointed out by Missouri Governor Jay Nixon in his remarks here last week. New OEM training centers linked to community colleges will equip workers with everything from laser welding skills to software-enabled process knowledge on the assembly line.
Co-investment between community colleges and OEMs is crucial, and this new workforce training insures that sustainable workers have real opportunities ahead. Michigan Governor Rick Snyder talked about creating joint marketing opportunities between the State of Michigan and OEMs, encouraging plant tours for students, and perhaps even offering guaranteed employment for the engineer/skilled trade positions…to build sustainability one plant, one worker at a time.
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