43
Cruze production impacted by supply chain issue again
By Kalea Hall
LORDSTOWN
A supply-chain issue has led to canceled production of the Chevrolet Cruze on Monday at the General Motors Lordstown Assembly Plant.
Monday’s first and second shifts will be off, and the third shift, which runs Sunday night into Monday morning, will be cut to four hours.
On Friday, second-shift employees worked four hours. Employees in the body and paint shops worked the full eight-hour shift.
Normal production of the Cruze is expected to resume for the Tuesday shifts.
The specific supply chain issue was not released, but Glenn Johnson, president of United Auto Workers Local 1112, which represents the 3,000 assembly workers at the plant, said the union was informed by general management that there was a parts shortage.
“It’s a supplier issue that happens from time to time,” Johnson said. “We look forward to getting back to production Monday night at 11 p.m.”
Production was affected at the plant in Ramos Arizpe, Mexico, where the Cruze also is produced. Cruzes built in Ramos have been supplementing the U.S. market temporarily because of high demand here for the compact car, the automaker has said.
“This is a situation that’s out of our control,” said Robert Morales, president of UAW Local 1714, representing the 1,400 fabrication plant workers at GM Lordstown.
Overall, Morales and Johnson said production of the Cruze is going well.
“We are making progress,” Morales said. “We are running the business meaner and leaner, and we’re able to build cars at a competitive rate and still produce a quality car.”
The next-generation Cruze production has been underway since the beginning of this year, with the new Cruzes starting to ship out to dealers March 21.
This is not the first supply-chain issue at the plant that has affected production.
In mid-August, a scheduled Saturday production was canceled, and there was a temporary suspension of Cruze deliveries to dealers.
The specifics of that issue also were not released.
“You know you have a multifacility, a multinational company, and at times these things will happen,” Johnson said. “We just take them in stride and do the very best for our customer. Other than this, we have been steadily making progress, and I think that things are on the bright side.”