Productivity improves at GM, but it's still not at the top in North America

The Lordstown plant manager said he's pleased with progress made last year.
By DON SHILLING
VINDICATOR BUSINESS EDITOR
LORDSTOWN -- Productivity increased at the General Motors car assembly plant here, but not enough to match the top small-car plants.
A widely watched industry report said Thursday that the plant's productivity increased 19 percent in 2005, but it still ranked fifth out of seven North American plants in its category.
The plant needed 21.68 work hours per car produced last year, down from 26.74 the year before, said the Harbour Report, which is published by Harbour Consulting in Troy, Mich.
"We are pleased with the steady progress we have made in our productivity over the last year," said John Donahoe, Lordstown plant manager.
The leading small-car plant in North America is GM's line in Spring Hill, Tenn., which produces the Saturn Ion. It recorded 18.34 hours per vehicle. The Ion is being discontinued later this year or early next year.
Despite the improvement last year, Lordstown was still shy of its productivity number in 2003 -- 21.38. That was the last full year of production of the Chevrolet Cavalier and Pontiac Sunfire.
What happened in 2004
In 2004, the plant's productivity ranking suffered as it launched new vehicles -- the Chevrolet Cobalt and Pontiac Pursuit.
Donahoe noted, however, that the $1 billion renovation and expansion of the plant continued into last year when a newly constructed paint shop came on line. He said the opening of the shop, which includes all-new painting procedures, was outstanding.
Dan Flores, a GM spokesman in Detroit, said he couldn't compare the Lordstown plant and the segment-leading Saturn plant because they produce different products. He added, however, that all GM plants are focused on continuous improvement.
"Lordstown has made tremendous strides in recent years, but our competition is getting better along with us. It's a constant dog fight," he said.
Flores noted that in the past seven years, GM's assembly plants have closed the gap that existed with Toyota's plants by 90 percent.
The Harbour Report noted that GM had five of the top 10 assembly plants and also led in six of the 15 vehicle segments.
It also pointed out that GM increased its productivity by 3 percent to 22.42 hours per vehicle even though it cut production last year. Nissan led all automakers at 18.93.
Nissan also was the leader when assembly, stamping and powertrain plants were considered. Nissan's total productivity rating was 28.46 hours per vehicle, compared with 33.19 at GM.
The top two individual plants were Ford's Atlanta operation with 15.37 hours per vehicle and GM's No. 2 line in Oshawa, Ontario, at 16.08.
Both of those lines are being closed, however, as Ford and GM cut their capacity. The Atlanta plant makes the Ford Taurus, which is being discontinued, while the Ontario line produces the Pontiac Grand Prix and Buick Lacrosse and Allure.
shilling@vindy.com