General Motors Increases Its Production Throughput

  • Authors:

  • Jeffrey M. Alden;Lawrence D. Burns;Theodore Costy;Richard D. Hutton;Craig A. Jackson;David S. Kim;Kevin A. Kohls;Jonathan H. Owen;Mark A. Turnquist;David J. Vander Veen

  • Affiliations:

  • General Motors Corporation, Mail Code 480-106-359, 30500 Mound Road, Warren, Michigan 48090;General Motors Corporation, Mail Code 480-106-EX2, 30500 Mound Road, Warren, Michigan 48090;General Motors Corporation, Mail Code 480-206-325, 30009 Van Dyke Avenue, Warren, Michigan 48090;General Motors Europe, International Technical Development Center, IPC 30-06, D-65423 Rsselsheim, Germany;General Motors Corporation, Mail Code 480-106-359, 30500 Mound Road, Warren, Michigan 48090;Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, Oregon State University, 121 Covell Hall, Corvallis, Oregon 97331;Soar Technology, Inc., 3600 Green Court, Suite 600, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48105;General Motors Corporation, Mail Code 480-106-359, 30500 Mound Road, Warren, Michigan 48090;School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Cornell University, 309 Hollister Hall, Ithaca, New York 14853;General Motors Corporation, Mail Code 480-734-214, 30003 Van Dyke Road, Warren, Michigan 48093

  • Venue:
  • Interfaces
  • Year:
  • 2006

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Abstract

In the late 1980s, General Motors Corporation (GM) initiated a long-term project to predict and improve the throughput performance of its production lines to increase productivity throughout its manufacturing operations and provide GM with a strategic competitive advantage. GM quantified throughput performance and focused improvement efforts in the design and operations of its manufacturing systems through coordinated activities in three areas: (1) it developed algorithms for estimating throughput performance, identifying bottlenecks, and optimizing buffer allocation, (2) it installed real-time plant-floor data-collection systems to support the algorithms, and (3) it established common processes for identifying opportunities and implementing performance improvements. Through these activities, GM has increased revenue and saved over 2.1 billion in over 30 vehicle plants and 10 countries.