posted 10-19-2002 10:11 PM                  

How Vipers and Prowlers Teach Production Control.Author/s: Lindsay Brooke
Issue: Feb, 1999

Connor Ave. pioneered major modules and single-sourced fasteners with niche vehicles. It may become another role model for DaimlerChrysler.

Compared with the flashy Dodge Vipers and Plymouth Prowlers that rumble off the assembly line, bins full of nuts, bolts and other parts seem insignificant. Yet how DaimlerChrysler manages incoming material and suppliers at its Conner Ave. plant in Detroit may be more important to the automaker's future strategy than the high-profile sports cars and hot rods it makes there.

In fact, as this issue of AI went to press, Conner Ave. was preparing to host a summit meeting of worldwide production-control officials from the DaimlerChrysler manufacturing empire. They will see the plant in action and share knowledge.

"This (meeting) is part of how we're going to pick the best ways to manage our new extended enterprise," notes Mike Carey, production control manager at Conner Ave.

As the stow on page 117 explains, Conner Ave. showed Chrysler, and the auto industry how to build niche vehicles at low cost. Now, DaimlerChrysler (DC) hopes to emulate many of the basic systems used there and apply them to higher-volume facilities, and to its supply chain. DC officials feel lessons learned in making Vipers and Prowlers could pave the way for more "boutique" cars and trucks, greater mass-customization and further cost reduction.

"We're a non-contiguous plant -- one that's not all under one management," says Casey, a 22-year Chrysler veteran. "All of our chassis fabrication, body-panel production and paint work is done by suppliers." Conner Ave. outsources far more sub-assemblies and modules than any facility in the former Chrysler system. Such aspects are of keen interest to DC, analysts say.

Casey and his small team currently manage material flow using the same basic methods as the big factories. Production Control sets the build schedule, and assigns cars to the line. Then, working with purchasing and supply (P&S), it brings in the parts to match those cars based on just-in-time (JIT) principals. However, JIT is not dogma at Conner Ave. "It is tough to apply as a system across the entire facility," claims Casey, "because of our low volume, specialty products, and their high-tech parts."

No body or paint shops means longer-lead scheduling on the painted sets of body panels for both the Viper and Prowler. If Prowler dealers suddenly shout, "no more black cars, give us red ones" for example, the entire supply base gets a 20-day advance notice of the change. The plant aims to reduce that.

DC calculates its inventory from when it takes ownership of parts from the supplier. For Viper and Prowler, that even includes the SMC plastic and aluminum sheet used for body panels. Conner Ave. thus averages about eight days' worth of in-process inventory.

The plant continues to consolidate its supply base. Last year, all Viper paint work was sourced to a single vendor, ASC. Previously, five painters handled the car's various panels with predictable paint-match and scheduling issues. And, where the plant once had 260 fastener suppliers, it now single-sources all fasteners from Bamal, a Detroit-area specialist.

"Fastener management can be a nightmare anywhere," Casey says. "The bigger the plant the more complex it is. We took complexity out of the equation." Conner Ave. maintains one days' supply of fasteners.

Fast decision making and agility are a key to reacting to market demand. To commemorate last year's world GT-2 racing championship by Viper, Dodge announced a special GT-2 package for 100 coupes. While a similar package for a high-volume vehicle might require eight months' lead time, the GT-2 package was done in four months by a small team of plant and purchasing staff, suppliers and Viper engineers.

That's the kind of responsiveness DC wants to spin into the rest of its facilities. "We invite everyone from P&S with an idea to try it here first," offers Mike Casey.

COPYRIGHT 1999 Cahners Publishing Company

COPYRIGHT 2000 Gale Group