02/04/2005 – Auburn Hills, Michigan, USA

Parts center to go next to its plant

By Jim Mateja
Tribune auto reporter
Published February 3, 2005

Only a week after announcing it will add 1,000 jobs at its Belvidere assembly plant, Chrysler Group on Thursday will detail plans to add another 500 jobs by building a parts sorting center next to the plant.

The center is the result of the largest minority contract ever awarded by Chrysler Group, a $200 million pact that calls for TDS/US of Brownstown, Mich., a Detroit suburb, to operate the center.

"This is an investment in the future of Belvidere, Ill., and the minority community. It ensures the plant's future and will make Belvidere a trendsetter and a model of efficiency," said Peter Rosenfeld, Chrysler Group executive vice president in charge of procurement and supply.

The center will sort 80 percent of the 2,300 parts and components delivered by 550 trailers to the plant daily.

Rosenfeld likened the change to giving a child a box of Legos and asking him to build a plane. "He has to sort through and pick which pieces to use. With a sequence center, it would be like having someone stand next to the child handing him the correct pieces to assemble a plane."

Parts, ranging from interior and exterior moldings and trim, to interior panels, wiring harnesses, brake calipers and fuel tanks, will be sorted by assembly line workstation and by color.

The center will aid in Belvidere's conversion to flex-plant operation, which was announced last week. Belvidere will produce up to four models, requiring the use of different sets of parts at the same time.

"Workers now install components into a chassis rolling down the line," Rosenfeld said. "They have to walk to the component bin, pick the right part, come back to the line and install it.

"Now, 2,300 different parts will first be sorted in the sequencing center and then moved to the assembly line to assure the right part is there for the assembler and all he has to do is pick it up and install it."

Construction of the 500,000-square-foot sequencing center will begin in a few weeks. The plant is expected to employ mostly new hires, Rosenfeld said, represented by the United Auto Workers.

Rosenfeld said Chrysler Group's minority contract commitment totaled $3.3 billion at the end of 2004, a $300 million increase from 2003. He said the value of the contract will be regained in reduced cost and enhanced quality.

"We're looking forward to working with D/C in taking an innovative approach to manufacturing and in reaching out to work with minority firms," said Paul McQuirter, president and CEO of TDS/US.

Rosenfeld said Belvidere was chosen for the center because of its record for efficiency. The 2004 Harbour Report, a key automotive indicator, named Belvidere the industry's third-most-productive plant and Chrysler Group's most efficient plant.