Automobile Assembly Plant Research Articles

Leadership and Productivity: A Study of U.S. Automobile Assembly Plants

We examine the effect of plant managers on productivity using unique matched manager-plant panel data on U.S. auto-assembly plants during 1993–2007. Our econometric approach is two-pronged. Our first approach relies on using the panel nature of our data to measure variation in productivity due to managerial influence. We estimate the interquartile range of the effect of individual plant managers on average hours-per-vehicle to be about 30%. Further, we find that plant managers’ experience with the models that are in production ameliorates the negative impact of new model introductions on productivity. We also observe evidence that managers’ plant-specific tenure has a positive impact on productivity. In our second approach, we use high-frequency time-series data, along with structural-break tests and machine-learning methodologies, to predict variation in production using plant-manager switches. We find that a plant manager’s identity is predictive of changes in both the mean and variance of production, further highlighting their channels of managerial influence. These findings are robust to narrowing the sample to focus on retirements as an exogenous source of managerial switches. This paper was accepted by Serguei Netessine, operations management. Supplemental Material: The online appendix and data files are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2022.4427 .

Conveyor-Less Urban-Car Assembly Factory with VaaC and Matrix System

The advent of autonomous electric vehicles (AEVs) will give drivers time and space instead of focusing on driving. Because of this, some drivers may want to personalize their car for their work, while others may want to customize their vehicle space to be more suitable for relaxation, which will accelerate the megatrend of mass individualization. However, the production of individualized cars faces several challenges. For example, since high-level automation during individualized car production is difficult, a stable skilled labor supply is essential, low-volume/high-variety production is required, and customer proximity or involvement is also important. These conditions can be satisfied by building a car assembly plant in an urban area. The problem is that urban areas are often spatially and environmentally constrained. However, it is be possible to overcome these urban limitations by implementing a conveyor-less micro factory. The objective of this study is to propose a new iterative matrix-system layout design method that can realize a conveyor-less urban car assembly factory with two technologies—VaaC (vehicle as a conveyor) and matrix assembly system. VaaC consists of three novel ideas: sensor skid, safety-sensor guidance system, and vehicle-powered devices, and this paper views each of them in detail. The proposed iterative matrix-system layout design method consists of four steps: (1) layout refinement, (2) simulation, (3) cost analysis, and (4) optimization check, and will examine how each step is performed through simple examples. The authors hope that this paper will arouse interest and provide elements to spur future research on the conveyor-less urban car assembly system.

Spatial patterns and time-accessibility of supplier network of the automotive industry in Slovakia

The article deals with the spatial pattern of the supply network of the automotive industry according to the time-accessibility to four car assembly plants in Slovakia. Empirical results are anchored in the spatial concept of integrated periphery and theoretical framework of the nested structure. We obtained the data after a personal meeting with the General Secretary of the Association of the Automotive Industry in Slovakia. The database contains a list of 313 suppliers of different levels. We assume that with increasing distance from automobile assembly plants and decreasing level of the supply network, the geographical concentration of the supply network will become lower. Our results confirm the assumption that tier-1 suppliers are located closer to assembly plants with higher geographical concentration compared to bottom suppliers‘ levels. On the other hand, these spatial patterns change when we consider a regional production system of the automotive industry that reaches beyond the national territory scale (e.g., KIA) or a launch of a new car assembly plant (JLR) arriving into a developed environment with an existing network of suppliers.

Leadership and Productivity: A Study of US Automobile Assembly Plants

Leadership and Productivity: A Study of US Automobile Assembly Plants

ПРОБЛЕМЫ И НАПРАВЛЕНИЯ РАЗВИТИЯ ЦИФРОВИЗАЦИИ СИСТЕМЫ МЕНЕДЖМЕНТА КАЧЕСТВА АВТОСБОРОЧНОГО ПРЕДПРИЯТИЯ

The article presents research on the problem of digitalization of the quality management system of an automobile assembly plant. The directions of development of the processes of informatization and digitalization of the quality management system in production are proposed.

КОМПЛЕКСНЫЕ ИНСТРУМЕНТАРИЙ ПОВЫШЕНИЯ ЭФФЕКТИВНОСТИ ПРОИЗВОДСТВЕННОЙ СИСТЕМЫ МАШИНОСТРОИТЕЛЬНОГО ПРЕДПРИЯТИЯ

The article presents the results of the development and implementation of comprehensive tools for increasing efficiency in modern production systems of car assembly plants.

Process Design and System Layout for an Automobile Manufacturing and Assembly Plant

The Automobile is the most complex product, and the development of a vehicle will take years of Research and Development (R&D) starting from designing, analyzing the product structure from sub-levels, building prototypes, testing the prototypes, finalizing the vehicle to manufacture. It is also essential to find the correct suppliers to manufacture the components, parts for the vehicle, assembly of all these to the vehicle, and go through examination and analysis of various stages of the processes in building the vehicle, and it is a herculean task. With the increase in competitiveness in the Automobile industry, the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM’s) want to reduce their investments in manufacturing, keeping core competencies of R&D within the industry, and outsourcing remaining functionaries to Tire companies. The main goal of this paper is to illustrate the step by a step manufacturing process that is needed to produce an Automobile. And explaining each step that takes the Automobile from sheet metal to complete product, this helps to understand the process chain, logistical and distribution network that an Automobile follows throughout its Product Life Cycle (PLC).

Violências contra trabalhadores adoecidos e instrumentos de gestão

Trata-se de estudo realizado por demanda de um sindicato de trabalhadores metalúrgicos à Fundacentro, objetivando analisar as situações de violências vividas por trabalhadores adoecidos pelo trabalho em uma montadora de automóveis. Foram realizadas entrevistas com sindicalistas, visita à montadora, entrevistas individuais e coletivas com trabalhadores, validação dos dados. À luz da discussão sobre violências relacionadas ao trabalho e intensificação do trabalho, analisou-se sua relação com instrumentos de gestão. Com base na compreensão de gestão de Gaulejac e na perspectiva das evoluções conceituais sobre violência no trabalho, expressada por Soboll, entre outros, confirmaram-se práticas de exclusão e isolamento de trabalhadores adoecidos, humilhações e descaracterização das doenças relacionadas ao trabalho, deslegitimando e colocando os adoecidos sob suspeita. Instrumentos de gestão e elementos da cultura organizacional eram utilizados nestas práticas violentas caracterizando um modo de agir sistêmico que contribui para a cronificação de doenças e a geração de incapacidade, além de prejudicarem ações preventivas, tanto da própria empresa, como do Estado, pela ocultação de riscos e danos. Demandas dessa natureza são frequentes, evidenciando que a violência contra adoecidos pelo trabalho e o ocultamento de doenças do trabalho constituem sério problema social com impacto dramático nas vidas de trabalhadores e no sistema de saúde pública.

Studies of Application of LED-Based Lighting Devices in a Car Assembly Shop

The article describes the problem of replacement of active fluorescent lamp lighting installations of an assembly line of a car assembly plant with LED LDs including a comparison of the gained lighting and economic indicators. Therefore, several LED-based LDs by different manufacturers were selected. Based on LI computer modelling using DIALux Evo, an optimal option in terms of light engineering and economy was found. Lighting characteristics of the active LI and areas of the assembly line with the application of LED-based LDs were determined experimentally. The results of the study allow assessing relevant changing of visual performance of shop workers and to compare the pay-off periods of LED and fluorescent lamps-based lighting devices.

Effects of model change rate on local content development issues for the springing automobile assembly plants in emerging economies

The concern of this paper is to elucidate the consequences of frequently changing from one motor vehicle model to another on the local content development for the automobile manufacturing industry especially in the developing economies. The local content input of vehicles manufactured since 1975 to date were analysed to determine their level of local component substitution. It was found that none of the vehicles models achieved up to 50% target local content before being phased out. It appears that the models marketing cycle were too short to enable the local content manufacturers get acquainted with the possible replaceable components in the models before being phased out by their original equipment manufacturers with the attendant cost consequence for the local content developers. There is therefore need for adoption of few models with strict control on their marketing cycle.

Effects of model change rate on local content development issues for the springing automobile assembly plants in emerging economies

The concern of this paper is to elucidate the consequences of frequently changing from one motor vehicle model to another on the local content development for the automobile manufacturing industry especially in the developing economies. The local content input of vehicles manufactured since 1975 to date were analysed to determine their level of local component substitution. It was found that none of the vehicles models achieved up to 50% target local content before being phased out. It appears that the models marketing cycle were too short to enable the local content manufacturers get acquainted with the possible replaceable components in the models before being phased out by their original equipment manufacturers with the attendant cost consequence for the local content developers. There is therefore need for adoption of few models with strict control on their marketing cycle.

Uso do QFD para definir requisitos necessários para a aplicação da estratégia da modularidade nos fornecedores de primeiro nível do setor automotivo

Este trabalho tem como objetivo realizar um estudo da aplicação teórica do QFD, para definir requisitos necessários à aplicação da estratégia modular nos fornecedores de primeiro nível das montadoras do setor automotivo. Este projeto envolveu a construção da Matriz da Qualidade teórica utilizando dados da literatura para identificar os requisitos necessários a aplicação da modularidade. Com a conclusão da matriz da qualidade, verificou-se que os aspectos de infraestrutura estão relacionados com: (i) treinamento, experiência na função e nível de qualificação; (ii) gestão da qualidade; (iii) a busca da excelência e do know how, e; (iv) ter eficiência na logística. Somente após desenvolver estas competências em qualidade, logística e Know how a empresa estará pronta para assumir como fornecedora de módulos numa relação de parceria estratégica com a montadora.

Use of Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs and Associated Gastroprotection in a Cohort of Workers.

Background: This study describes the prevalence of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) use, and analyses prescribing patterns of NSAIDs and associated gastroprotection. Methods: The study population consisted of 5650 workers at the General Motors automobile assembly plant in Zaragoza, Spain. NSAID prescription data for 2014 were obtained from the prescription database of Aragon (Spain). NSAID consumption was determined based on the number of defined daily doses purchased per year. Heavy NSAIDs users were identified using Lorenz curves. Results: NSAID use in the cohort was high (40.7% of workers, 95% CI 39.4–41.9). The prescription of proton pump inhibitors increased with age. Gastrointestinal protection was lacking in some participants who were being treated with drugs associated with a high risk of gastrointestinal bleeding. Heavy NSAID users (defined as those above the 95th percentile of consumption), accounted for 26% of total DDDs, and consumed a greater proportion of coxibs than non-heavy users. Conclusions: The rate of NSAID consumption in the cohort was high. To reduce the risk of gastrointestinal complications, monitoring and adequate gastroprotection are essential in patients who are prescribed NSAIDs for long periods of time or who are treated concomitantly with drugs that increase the risk of gastrointestinal bleeding.

"Compatible" workers, a compound fracture in the automobile industry: intensification of labor and the health implications

Today's intensification of labor is part of the industrial transformations under way in Brazil since the 1990s, involving changes in the social production of auto workers' strain and epidemiological profile. Accident- and disease-related absenteeism is an important indicator of auto workers' strain, with relevance to the health field. The study aims to analyze the intensification of labor and its health implications from the perspective of the health-disease process, based on workers' perceptions at an automobile assembly plant in the ABC Industrial Belt of São Paulo. Workers were asked about the obstacles to returning to work following work-related accidents or diseases (commonly referred to as "compatible" workers). We conducted six visits to the plant and 20 interviews with assembly line workers. Data were collected from March 2010 to November 2014. The results depict the social figure of the "compatible" worker, a "compound fracture" in the production process, expressed as the intensification of labor, characterized by an intense work pace, denser work, extended workdays, and heavy stress, while simultaneously pointing to a trend toward laying off "compatible" workers. The study contributes to the search for knowledge on the intensification of labor and its health implications. We hope to have produced backing for further research on determination of the health-disease process, based on the incorporation of workers' experience.

International Political Economy of Labour and collective bargaining in the automotive industry

This article shows how International Political Economy of Labour (IPEL) approaches can be fruitful in the study of working class and institutional transformation in contemporary capitalism. It draws from an analysis of variegated union strategies in the Mercedes-Benz-Vitoria Global Value Chain (MBV-GVC), located in the autonomous community of the Basque Country (north Spain). More concretely, it explains how the recurring adoption of micro-corporatist strategies at the car assembly plant undermined and fragmented working conditions whilst, in sharp contrast, the adoption of confrontational strategies in supplier companies led to the empowerment of the workforce, increasing salaries of new entrants well above new assembly workers’. This occurred parallel to Basque unions’ challenge of prevailing institutionalised forms of collective bargaining, especially by questioning the power that Provincial Metal Sector Agreements have in the regulation of salaries and working conditions of medium and small (non-unionised) companies. Thus, in exploring how Spanish and Basque trade unions’ strategies produced different institutional settings, this article argues that IPEL approaches are helpful in providing complex and nuanced accounts of the uneven development of capitalism as a result of labour’s agency.

A Study on Lean Manufacturing Practice Carried Out for Axle Housing Plant

Lean Manufacturing is a way to deal with the elimination of waste through persistent change within the system. The assembling units in India should likewise hope to take its preferences. The Industries are energetically following the Lean assembling strategies to reduce waste and cost. The present work is the study of a manufacturing process for axle housing and to decide how Lean manufacturing process carried out for axle housing plant to improve productivity. The new shot peening machine was installed in a heat treatment plant of a housing line in an automobile rear axle assembly plant and material handling time from storage to this new machine was more and this increased lead time subsequently. To reduce this Kaizens technique was employed and a direct gravity conveyor was chosen and installed between two work stations and the part was directly fed to the new machine installed and this reduces the material handling time considerably. A cost analysis was done to realize the benefits of implementing this lean technique. Therefore reducing lead time and increasing productivity is the Prime benefits of lean manufacturing practices like lean assembly.

Modeling and analysis with real-world data for global production planning and location of automobile assembly plants

Modeling and analysis with real-world data for global production planning and location of automobile assembly plants

Logística de uma montadora automobilística completely knocked down

Este trabalho analisa a cadeia de suprimentos de uma montadora automobilística que opera em regime Completely Knocked Down (CKD). O objetivo é apresentar e discutir as condicionantes operacionais que essa cadeia gera sobre as operações produtivas da montadora em questão. A pesquisa, realizada por meio de um estudo de caso, considerou a cadeia a partir da solicitação de importação das peças até a distribuição dos carros montados. Foi observado que a montadora sofria uma série de condicionantes que afetavam diretamente suas operações logísticas. Esses condicionantes têm origem em três lógicas operacionais: a Lógica do Emitente, a Lógica do Destinatário e a Lógica da Distribuição. Foram identificados os conflitos existentes entre essas lógicas, os quais interferem nas operações e nos limites físicos da montadora. Essa pesquisa introduziu uma nova perspectiva de análise de um sistema CKD.

An adaptive SVM-based real-time scheduling mechanism and simulation for multiple-load carriers in automobile assembly lines

Multiple-load carriers are widely introduced for material delivery in manufacturing systems. The real-time scheduling of multiple-load carriers is so complex that it deserves attention to pursue higher productivity and better system performance. In this paper, a support vector machine (SVM)-based real-time scheduling mechanism was proposed to tackle the scheduling problem of parts replenishment with multiple-load carriers in automobile assembly plants under dynamic environment. The SVM-based scheduling mechanism was trained first and then used to make the optimal real-time decisions between “wait” and “deliver” on the basis of real-time system states. An objective function considering throughput and delivery distances was established to evaluate the system performance. Moreover, a simulation model in eM-Plant software was developed to validate and compare the proposed SVM-based scheduling mechanism with the classic minimum batch size (MBS) heuristic. It simulated both the steady and dynamic environments which are characterized by the uncertainty of demands or scheduling criteria. The simulation results demonstrated that the SVM-based scheduling mechanism could dynamically make optimal real-time decisions for multiple-load carriers and outperform the MBS heuristic as well.

Inside China's Automobile Factories

This book is about labor relations in contemporary China's automobile industry. Drawing on in-depth fieldwork in seven automobile assembly plants in China, Zhang explores a wide array of topics ranging from day-to-day workplace interaction to labor legislation at the national level. This book is packed with valuable information and insightful discussion. Rather than attempting to summarize, I identify and comment on three contributions of this book that are the most salient. First, in this book Zhang brings us a detailed ethnographic account of the conditions and experiences of Chinese autoworkers in the wake of the twenty-first century. Starting with a comprehensive description of the economic and policy contexts for the automobile industry (chapter 2), Zhang quickly zooms in on the firms and highlights how intense competition and China's unique institutional arrangements combined to shape workforce composition, the organization of production, and the labor management system in automobile factories (chapters 3 and 4). Zhang then examines in detail the experiences of formal workers and temporary workers under a tiered labor regime (chapters 5 and 6), focusing on how such a regime, which Zhang calls “labor force dualism,” creates distinct grievances and shapes compliance and resistance for the two groups of workers. This comparative ethnography is a valuable contribution to the literature in that it not only illustrates the complexity and dynamic nature of labor politics in China but also sheds new light on many long-held beliefs, such as those regarding autoworkers as a privileged group and the possibility of effecting broad changes with localized and short-lived labor resistance.