The top two most efficient Auto plants in North America--operated by Ford and GM, respectively--are among several slated to be closed in the coming years.
As the price, size, and ecological impact of American automobiles continue to cause market concerns and US companies see their market share being eroded by Japanese and other foreign competitors, bittersweet and alarmingly unsurprising news was released today by respected Michigan research group Harbour Consulting.
The firm anually researches the efficiency of most North American auto plants, including the plants of foreign companies such as Nissan and Toyota as well as American staples like GM and Ford.
Japanese companies have been outperforming American companies in terms of efficiency for quite a while now. The report shows that US auto manufacturers are making strides toward closing that "efficiency gap," but, in keeping with another American trend of late--slash and burn productivity--the two best performing overall plants are American plants, and both are to be closed.
More below the fold.
Originally posted at
Deny My Freedom
The findings are being reported by CNN Money:
The two most efficient auto assembly plants in North America are a Ford plant in Atlanta and a General Motors plant in Ontario ... and both of them are going to be closed.
[snip]
Ford spokeswoman Anne Marie Gattari said one of the reasons the Atlanta plant was so productive was that the Taurus and Sable sedans built there are vehicles that have not been changed in many years and are essentially built for sale to rental car companies, making assembly more simplified than at plants building newer vehicles for the consumer market.
The Atlanta plant, which employs about 2,000 people, took an average of 15.37 work hours to build each vehicle, while GM's Oshawa No. 2 assembly plant in Ontario, took an average of 16.08 hours to build the Allure, Grand Prix and Lacrosse. It is slated for closure after GM stops making those models in 2008.
I'm always among the first people to cry out about factory closings and thousands of jobs being cut. But there is plenty of evidence to suggest that American car companies have a long way to go before they can truly be considered "most efficient," and that is their excuse for this most recent round of closings:
"There are many business factors that go into deciding which plants will be idled and which plant will not be," she said, citing the life cycle of the vehicle being built there, the logistics costs and need for additional investment going forward. "We are very pleased with this plant's performance over the years."
A spokesperson for GM was not available for immediate comment Thursday morning on the Harbour report rankings.
Both GM and Ford announced plans to close about a dozen plants and facilities apiece in the coming years in order to trim capacity. The Harbour report shows a need for both companies to make those cuts, as it put GM production at 90 percent of capacity and Ford operating at only 79 percent of capacity. Toyota's North American plants operated at 106 percent of capacity, while Nissan was at 95 percent of capacity. Honda plants here were operating at 91 percent of capacity.
But, excuse me for being a bit of a killjoy here, perhaps it is the business practices and engineering of the actual automobiles which the companies need to look at rather than their workforce.
The only thing this story says to me is that the US companies' progress toward efficiency is going to be completely deflated once they close their two most well-oiled plants.
I hope I'm wrong. But maybe it will be some incentive for foreign companies to utilize this disenfranchised, highly qualified workforce to open more of their own North American plants.
Here are some more resources:
For a look at GM's plant closing plans, click here.
For a look at Ford's plant closing plans, click here.
Update: This is an excellent comment from "Nearly Normal" below. I live in Indiana as well and have experienced many of the same things through my parents and extended family members:
I worked for GM at the Fisher Body
plant in Marion Ind. in the early 70's. I had lots of family members that worked there too, and they made pretty good money, and I did too, though I hated the job. In 74 when the oil crisis hit they laid us off by the thousands, and devestated the economy of the area since there were also auto plants in Anderson and Kokomo. During this same time period I worked at a RCA plant in Marion (that was the largest picture tube plant in the world) for a short period of time during one of the temporary lay-offs for retooling at Fisher.
Now, the Fisher Body plant has gone from about 4,ooo workers to 1,200 or so, and the RCA plant is shut down with the loss of maybe 3,000 jobs. The replacement jobs are not union, and have less-if any-benefits, and actually pay just marginally more than what I received 30 years ago.
Damn fools voted overwhelmingly for Bush and Reagan and are reaping the whirlwind, but I have to say that Clinton was no great friend to labor either.