SOUTHFIELD, Mich. - Twenty-four managers, union leaders and supervisors from five Ford Motor Company plants visited Federal-Mogul Corporation's Greenville, Michigan, Powertrain Plant to learn first-hand how to move product swiftly and reduce inventory, as part of a five-day Ford Production Systems Boot Camp program. 

The Federal-Mogul facility was selected by Ford as an example of excellence in constraint management practices.  During their benchmarking visit, the Ford employees toured the Greenville plant, and spent three hours shadowing Greenville Federal-Mogul employees to get a closer look at how constraint management processes help the plant achieve nearly 100 percent on-time delivery with high quality ratings. Ed Kemmerling, Ford department manager of the process support office and leader of the 24 boot camp participants, said the overall cleanliness, the visual displays and employee enthusiasm were hallmarks of a well-run operation at Greenville. 

"This is the kind of plant that is passionate about being lean and effective," said Kemmerling.  "You can see that the operators get the support from management to make decisions and produce a good product. In watching this operation, it reinvigorates our managers to make changes at their plants." 

Ford selects top performing supplier plants as benchmarking locations following a quality and delivery analysis.  The sites are then visited by Ford leadership to ensure that they follow the principles that Ford wants to instill in its boot camp participants. 

"For 10 years now we've been working at constraint management -- a process for eliminating waste and improving employee involvement," explained Mike Craig, Greenville plant manager.  "We gained even more insight from the suggestions and observations made by the Ford boot camp team. The exchange was valuable for both teams." 

The Federal-Mogul Greenville Powertrain Systems Plant produces original equipment and replacement engine bearings for automotive and heavy-duty applications. The plant, which employs 405 people, began production in 1940, and has expanded 17 times to reach its current 210,000 square-feet.  

(June 22, 2000)