Quality and productivity

How do UAW-represented plants stack up against the competition in terms of quality and productivity?

Recent studies by J.D. Power and Associates and Harbour Associates demonstrate that UAW-represented plants all over the United States are achieving impressive quality and productivity results.

According to J.D. Power’s study of initial vehicle quality, UAW members build the top-ranked full-size pickup, the top-ranked full-size SUV and the top-ranked compact van.

The Harbour Report, which measures factory productivity, found that four of the top 10 assembly plants in North America are UAW-represented. Ford’s Chicago plant, for example, which takes 17.71 hours to assemble a midsize car, and Ford’s Atlanta plant, which takes 17.78 hours, both outrank Toyota’s Georgetown plant, which required more than 20 hours to assemble a mid-size vehicle.

Harbour found that UAW-represented plants set the benchmark in plants representing six of 14 vehicle segments: compact car, sports car, full-size SUV, minivan, large van and mid-luxury car.

How did UAW plants perform in the 2003 J.D. Power Initial Quality Study (IQS)?

All three of the top-rated plants in the 2003 J.D. Power and Initial Quality Study (IQS) for North and South America are union plants, rating ahead of the Asian and European automakers’ nonunion assembly plants in North America.

Gold Award: GM, Oshawa #1 plant, Ontario, Canada – Chevrolet Impala, Monte Carlo (Canadian Auto Workers)

Silver Award: GM, Lansing Grand River plant, Michigan – Cadillac CTS (UAW Local 652)

Bronze Award: Ford, Atlanta – Ford Taurus, Mercury Sable (UAW Local 882)

The 2003 J.D. Power IQS found that “the initial quality gap between Domestic, European, Japanese and Korean brands continues to narrow. While Domestics trailed their European and Japanese counterparts by at least 19 PP100 (problems per 100 vehicles) five years ago, Domestics and Europeans are now equal, and both trail the Japanese by 9 PP100.” (J.D. Power and Associates news release, May 6, 2003.)

Eighteen vehicles assembled by UAW members ranked among the top three vehicles in their respective segments.

Compact Car
Second: Toyota Corolla – UAW Local 2244, NUMMI (GM-Toyota joint venture)

Entry Midsize Car
Highest ranked: Chevrolet Malibu – UAW Local 1999
Third: Pontiac Grand Am – UAW Local 602

Premium Midsize Car
Highest ranked: Mercury Sable – UAW Locals 551 and 882

Full-Size Car
Second: Buick LeSabre – UAW Locals 5960 and 22
Third: Pontiac Bonneville – UAW Local 5960

Entry Luxury Car
Second: Cadillac CTS – UAW Local 652

Mid-Luxury Car
Third: Cadillac DeVille – UAW Local 22

Sporty Car
Second: Chrysler Sebring coupe – UAW Local 2488
Third: Dodge Stratus coupe – UAW Local 2488

Compact Pickup
Second: Ford Ranger – UAW Locals 879 and 980

Full-Size Pickup
Highest ranked: Ford F-Series LD – UAW Locals 249 and 919
Second: Chevrolet Silverado LD – UAW Locals 594, 598 and 2209
Third: Dodge Ram HD – UAW Local 136

Full-Size SUV
Highest ranked: Chevrolet Suburban – UAW Locals 594, 598 and 2209
Second: Chevrolet Tahoe – UAW Locals 95 and 276
Third: GMC Yukon – UAW Locals 95 and 275

Compact Van
Highest ranked: Oldsmobile Silhouette – UAW Local 10
Third: Dodge Caravan/Grand Caravan – UAW Local 110

Although many people assume that quality is higher in the Japanese and German automakers’ nonunion U.S. assembly plants than in UAW-Big Three plants, several major “transplant” products didn’t rank in the top three vehicles in their respective segments in the 2003 J.D. Power ISQ, including Toyota Camry, Toyota Avalon, Toyota Tundra, Honda Accord, Honda Civic, Nissan Altima and Nissan Maxima.

How did UAW plants perform in the 2003 Harbour Report study of auto plant productivity?

It’s widely assumed that nonunion assembly plants invariably have higher productivity than unionized facilities – in fact, we wish we had a dollar for every time we’ve read about inflexible union work rules holding back the productivity of the Big Three U.S. automakers.

In the real world, a wide range of factors affect a plant’s productivity – including vehicle design, quality of plant process engineering, condition of equipment, management, volume, steady flow of quality parts and the overall robustness of a company’s manufacturing system.

Based on the Harbour Report’s standard of hours per vehicle (HPV), the top unionized assembly plants in North America compared favorably to their nonunion counterparts.

The UAW represents workers at four of the top 10 assembly plants in The Harbour Report North America 2003: Ford Motor Co.’s Atlanta (UAW Local 882) and Chicago (UAW Local 551) assembly plants ranked third and fourth, respectively, and GM’s Lansing M (UAW Local 602) and Lansing C (UAW Local 652) assembly plants ranked eighth and ninth, respectively. Harbour’s second-and third-rated North American assembly plant are unionized plants as well – GM’s Oshawa #1 and Oshawa #2 plants, represented by the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW).
Chrysler Group’s St. Louis North Assembly Plant (UAW Local 136) posted the greatest year-over-year improvement (28.6 percent) during the launch of the Dodge Ram heavy-duty pickup truck. And Chrysler Group’s Kokomo (Ind.) Transmission Plant (UAW Local 685) set the benchmark in the front-wheel drive transmission segment.
GM’s Toledo transmission plant (UAW Local 14) was the most productive transmission plant in North America, while GM’s Romulus (Mich.) engine plant (UAW Local 163) was the top-rated V-8 engine plant.
The UAW represents workers at the two most productive metal stamping plants in North America: GM Lansing (UAW Local 652) and GM Parma, Ohio (UAW Local 1005).

UAW-represented assembly plants set the benchmark in six of 14 segments:

Compact Car – GM, Lansing M, UAW Local 602 (Chevrolet Malibu, Pontiac Grand Am)

Sports Car – Ford, Dearborn, Mich., Local 600 (Ford Mustang)

Full-size SUV – GM, Arlington, Texas, UAW Local 276 (Cadillac Escalade, Chevrolet Tahoe, GMC Yukon, Chevrolet Suburban, GMC Yukon XL)

Minivan – GM, Doraville, Ga., UAW Local 10 (Chevrolet Venture, Oldsmobile Silhouette, Pontiac Montana)

Large van – Ford, Lorain, Ohio, UAW Local 425 (Ford Econoline)

Luxury car – GM, Detroit/Hamtramck, UAW Local 22 (Cadillac DeVille, Cadillac Seville, Buick LeSabre)