Sweet seats and candy canes: the recovery of Toledo inside Fiat Chrysler

TOLEDO, Ohio (Reuters) – Many workplaces have hot skin. At the Jeep Assembly Plant in Toledo, Ohio, there is a "comfortable seat".

On the production line where Jeep Wrangler sport utility vehicles are manufactured at a rate of about one minute, a sign must be screwed to the bottom of the vehicle. In the past, it was hard work for two union members to carry the panel and screw it as the vehicle moved forward.

Sometimes they lacked screws.

Now, two workers sit comfortably on adjacent chairs that follow the vehicle. Lasers indicate where the screws go, which reduces errors.

What is remarkable about the so-called "soft seat" of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV's Toledo plant is that, like many other innovations, it was originally created by members of the United Union Auto Workers in the factory.

Production workers here create proposals to simplify tasks that are "too heavy or too difficult," said millwright Greg Harman, who is part of a team of 10 UAW workers who these ideas. A handful of manufacturers have adopted some aspects of a similar system, developed by the Japanese company Toyota Motor Corp.

Unusual level of union collaboration with Fiat Chrysler (FCA) management in Toledo offers a roadmap for union negotiations this summer with the Detroit Big 3: FCA, General Motors Co and Ford Motor Co.

According to automakers, this year's contract negotiations will focus on productivity and profitability in light of the expected slowdown in vehicle sales and non-union competition from Toyota, Nissan Motor Co Ltd and Volkswagen AG.

This runs counter to union demands for continued health care benefits and job security, and follows GM's warning about the possibility of closing a car factory in Lordstown, Ontario. Ohio, with three other factories represented by the UAW. GM's decision sparked strong criticism from President Donald Trump and pushed the new UAW president to increase the strike fund – noting that the union is not afraid to fight for jobs.

While the UAW's national workforce fell by 8% in 2018 after rising for nine consecutive years and failed to hold a single badembly plant in the United States owned by a European or Asian manufacturer, the FCA plant in Toledo has more than tripled its workforce to reach 5,700 workers since. 2009. For a chart, click tmsnrt.rs/2I4S0wa.

The main reason: the love of Americans for the Wrangler and other high-margin SUVs.

The Wrangler became so hot that the FCA began operating the plant virtually day and night. UAW Local 12, which represents workers at the Toledo plant, has called for a flexible system that allows workers to choose between working four to seven days a week – a first for any FCA manufacturing plant .

Temporary workers are filling the gaps, and Local 12 has asked for more protection for these workers, including clear access to a full-time job.

"Our members have gone far beyond the call of duty to meet the needs of the company," said Mark Epley, president of the factory union. "It's a competitive market and we know that any plant can be removed at any time."

Thanks in large part to its success at FCA, the UAW Local 12 has registered a record number of members for 40 years by organizing workers in many other businesses in the region, including a Dana factory Inc. where workers manufacture Wrangler axles.

SANTA ON THE ASSEMBLY LINE

The success in Toledo took years to build. Ten years ago, while the old Chrysler Corp. threatened its bankruptcy financed by the government, Toledo had the reputation of being the worst factory of the manufacturer.

While the Italian car manufacturer Fiat SpA took control of the Chrysler, the general manager of the time, Sergio Marchionne, turned to the Fiat manager, Mauro Pino, to take up the following challenge: old American Chrysler plant should use version of Toyota's lean production strategy, but adapted to the Italian manufacturer's culture?

Pino chose Toledo to transform the less efficient facilities into better ones. He was two years old to prove he could straighten the plant, he told Reuters in an interview outside Cleveland, where he now runs an Eaton Corp. parts plant.

Pino found a workforce of about 1,700 people, demoralized by Chrysler's bankruptcy. The factory produced just over 140,000 vehicles in 2009.

He started working to earn the trust of the workers. He disguised himself as Santa before Christmas 2010 and handed out candy canes to the online workers, greeting them by name and reminding the factory workers.

Pino also insisted on more productivity, but asking workers how they would recreate their own cumbersome jobs.

"Usually you have to convince people to change, but when they saw what we were doing, they started coming to us," he said.

"The new system has given everyone a voice," said Cheryl Reash, a 36-year-old factory worker.

Tracy Seymour, also at the plant for nearly 36 years, said the team of 10 mechanics, a team created by Pino, had developed a system of parts kits to avoid large stocks. This allowed the workers to build 10 different types of engines without having to bend over, lift heavy objects or exit the chain looking for parts.

"I would not run without their equipment," said Seymour. "It would be impossible."

RUN HOT

Over time, Toledo employees and managers worked to eliminate bottlenecks in the badembly line.

"We are successful and we are going beyond because the union and management have united," said Seymour.

Growing consumer demand for sport utility vehicles has also helped the Toledo plant. As workers made about 500,000 Wrangler and Jeep Cherokee SUVs every year from 2014 to 2016, the two production lines of the plant began operating at a capacity well over 100%, according to AutoForecast data. solutions. This level of capacity utilization is rare in the industry.

Nevertheless, Fiat Chrysler could not meet the demand in the United States and in the 105 countries where the Wrangler, manufactured in Toledo, is sold.

To alleviate the problem, the company proposed moving the Cherokee to another factory so that Toledo could manufacture more Wranglers. In return, Local 12 was promised another new product. Baumhower said the local had accepted the move on the basis of this promise.

The factory is currently accelerating the production of the Gladiator van, which shares many parts with the Wrangler and receives rave reviews in the automotive media.

But if FCA's success in Toledo shows what can happen when a Detroit automaker and its union work together, it also shows that a strong local can also react. In February 2018, for example, Local 12 publicly protested FCA's plan to replace 88 truck drivers represented by the UAW by subcontractors, forcing the company to backtrack.

"We can get along well if you want to get along," said Bruce Baumhower, president of Local 12 for 26 years. "And we can fight all day if you want to fight."