Faurecia opens just-in-time plant for Pontiac

By Liz White, UT contributing editorAuburn Hills, Michigan-Faurecia has inaugurated a just-in-time production facility in Auburn Hills, supplying complete seating systems for the Pontiac G6 to a General Motors assembly plant nearby in Lake Orion. Faurecia, which claims to be Europe's second-largest automotive supplier, is rapidly expanding its operations in North America, having only gained its first complete seat programme with GM in North America in 1999. "North America is crucial to the success of our company," said Faurecia chairman and ceo Pierre Lévi, at the official opening. "In our Auburn Hills seating plant, we are delighted to be able to combine our innovation with the immense expertise of GM and the American automotive community." Using electronic data interchange, Faurecia's new seating facility receives an order from GM's plant every 45 to 60 seconds, with specifications for seating trim and content. Each seating system is built in the same sequence as the vehicles being produced in the GM plant. The seats are then delivered by truck, in time and in sequence, to the Pontiac G6 assembly line at the rate one truck every 40 minutes at full production. It takes only four hours between the EDI order and seat installation. "Faurecia's focus on innovative design … [has] resulted in a truly classy and comfortable seating system for the G6," said Gene Stefanyshyn General Motors vehicle line executive for the G6. "The new JIT facility is turning out top-quality, 100 percent-tested products in perfect synchronisation with our assembly operations." "