FCA US Brampton Assembly Plant Earns World Class Manufacturing Bronze Designation

News provided by

Dec 18, 2015, 03:54 ET

AUBURN HILLS, Mich., Dec. 18, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

Canadian plant becomes the 13th FCA North American facility to achieve milestone award
Award recognizes improvements in safety, quality and productivity

The FCA US Brampton Assembly Plant has been awarded bronze status for its efforts in implementing World Class Manufacturing (WCM) and the 13th North American facility to receive this designation.

The Ontario, Canada, plant earned bronze after a two-day audit on Dec. 17 and 18 during which it earned a minimum of 50 points in 10 technical and 10 managerial pillars by demonstrating clear WCM know-how and competence through employee-conducted pillar presentations and a review of projects that have been implemented across the shop floor.

"The key to successfully implementing WCM is the engagement of the workforce," said Brian Harlow, Vice President – Manufacturing, FCA North America. "By achieving bronze, the Brampton employees have demonstrated their commitment to making improvements in their operations, which translate into providing quality vehicles for our customers.

"With the support of our Unifor partners, FCA is continuing its progress toward making our manufacturing facilities among the best in the world," said Harlow.

World Class Manufacturing is a methodology that focuses on eliminating waste, increasing productivity, and improving quality and safety in a systematic and organized way. WCM engages the workforce to provide and implement suggestions on how to improve their jobs and their plants, promoting a sense of ownership. WCM was first implemented by Fiat in 2006 and introduced to Chrysler Group as part of the alliance between the two companies in June 2009.

During an audit, zero to five points are awarded for each of the 10 technical pillars, which include safety, workplace organization, logistics and the environment, and for each of the 10 managerial pillars, such as management commitment, clarity of objectives, allocation of people, motivation of operators and commitment of the organization. A score of 85 would indicate World Class.

Two WCM-certified auditors from FCA, the Vice President of Manufacturing for CNH Industrial – IVECO and the Unit Manager at the CNH Industrial – IVECO Valladolid Plant, performed the audit.

In addition to Brampton Assembly, there are 10 other facilities that currently hold the WCM bronze designation:

Saltillo Truck Assembly Plant (Mexico)
Saltillo South Engine Plant (Mexico)
Trenton Engine Complex (Mich.)
Warren Stamping (Mich.)
Indiana Transmission Plant II (Ind.)
Kokomo Transmission Plant (Ind.)
Kokomo Casting (Mich.)
Toledo (Ohio) Assembly Complex
Toluca Assembly Plant (Mexico)
Sterling Stamping (Mich.)

Windsor Assembly Plant (Ont.) and Dundee Engine Plant (Mich.) received the WCM silver designation in March 2014 and May 2015, respectively.

The Brampton plant was built in 1986 and acquired by Chrysler Corporation with the purchase of American Motors Corporation (AMC) in August 1987. Since then, the plant has built a number of full-size cars, including the "LH"-designated vehicles – the Chrysler Concorde, Dodge Intrepid and Eagle Vision; Chrysler LHS and 300M; Chrysler 300, Dodge Magnum, Dodge Charger and Dodge Challenger, including the most powerful and fastest muscle car ever, the Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat. More than 3,600 employees work at the plant on two shifts. In 2014, Brampton built nearly 223,000 vehicles.

About FCA US LLC
FCA US LLC is a North American automaker with a new name and a long history. Headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan, FCA US is a member of the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. (FCA) family of companies. FCA US designs, engineers, manufactures and sells vehicles under the Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, Ram and FIAT brands as well as the SRT performance vehicle designation. The company also distributes the Alfa Romeo 4C model and Mopar products. FCA US is building upon the historic foundations of Chrysler, the innovative American automaker first established by Walter P. Chrysler in 1925; and Fiat, founded in Italy in 1899 by pioneering entrepreneurs, including Giovanni Agnelli.

FCA, the seventh-largest automaker in the world based on total annual vehicle sales, is an international automotive group. FCA is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "FCAU" and on the Mercato Telematico Azionario under the symbol "FCA."

Follow FCA US news and video on:
FCA Content On Demand (COD): www.fcacod.com
Company blog: blog.fcanorthamerica.com
Company website: www.fcanorthamerica.com
FCA360: 360.fcanorthamerica.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChryslerGroup
Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/chryslergroup/
Media website: media.fcanorthamerica.com
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/fcacorporate
Instagram: www.instagram.com/FiatChrysler_NA
Streetfire: www.streetfire.net/uploaded/chryslervideo.htm
Twitter: www.twitter.com/FiatChrysler_NA
Twitter (Spanish): www.twitter.com/fcausespanol
YouTube: www.youtube.com/pentastarvideo