Lean ways lower TI Automotive costs.(News)(TI Automotive)(Brief Article)

Automotive News, August, 2004 by Jewett, Dale

Byline: Dale Jewett

For companies looking to adopt lean manufacturing principles, the key is to find workers who adopt the plan early and make their efforts to lead the change highly visible.

That was the strategy of fuel system and chassis component supplier TI Automotive of Warren, Mich., when it started its move to lean manufacturing in 1997.

In the past seven years, TI Automotive has seen its labor and inventory costs drop 50 percent because it is using lean principles, said Mike Vella, vice president of the supplier's brake and fuel group in North America, at the Management Briefing Seminars yesterday.

TI Automotive also has seen a drop in quality problems. "We're down to 2 parts per million with GM,'' Vella said. "You can't...

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