Ransom E. Olds would no longer recognize much of the area along Michigan's Grand River where he began building Oldsmobiles over a century ago.

If he were to visit the site today, he would view one of the newest and most technologically advanced auto production plants in the world. Where he had once made his vehicles one car at a time, he would find efficient manufacturing processes and materials handling systems that, once fully up to speed, will be able to produce a car from start to finish in less than a day. He would be amazed at the state-of-the-art automation, including skillet conveyors, automatic guided vehicles, automated unloading and delivery systems, and robotic manufacturing - all used to precisely produce Cadillac's new sporty CTS model, which look quite different from the Oldsmobiles originally made there.

General Motor's new Lansing Grand River facility drew its innovative designs from the best automotive practices learned worldwide by GM and its partners. It is the first U.S. facility GM has built from the ground up since the Tennessee Saturn plant in the late 1980s, and it incorporates many of the principles made famous there. These include team management concepts, just-in-time delivery of parts to the production line, reduced inventories and lean manufacturing.

'We took everything available to GM in the world and ended up with Lansing Grand River,' says Patricia Groeneveld, material director. 'We are learning at Lansing Grand River as well, and expect the next generation to be even better.'

The city of Lansing is no stranger to automotive technology. This original home city to Oldsmobile also produces today Chevy Malibu, Pontiac Grand Am, and Oldsmobile Alero models in an adjacent plant.

The area where the new plant now resides had until a few years ago produced powertrains and engines for Oldsmobile. A hodgepodge of buildings that made up the old complex were demolished - 18 in all - to make room for the new $560-million plant.

While it might have been easier to build a new facility elsewhere, GM was committed to staying in Lansing. GM already owned the site, so it made sense to utilize it more efficiently.

'This state of the art assembly plant was built on recycled property. It is another form of driving out waste,' explains Groeneveld.

Even so, it was a tight squeeze to place the three new manufacturing buildings on a site of less than 83 acres, as most plants require at least 115 acres. That required a precise space-saving design and a thorough study to alleviate congestion from the 400 trucks expected daily when the plant is fully functional.

If Mr. Olds were to visit the site, he would see one more major change that is very different from his day.

'Here the operator is the center of the universe,' says Groeneveld.

This is part of GM's philosophy of Global Manufacturing Systems that focuses processes first on the line workers. Then it designs the materials handling and other support systems to help workers do their jobs as efficiently and safely as possible.

'We start with the operators and their requirements, then shrink wrap the building around that optimum process,' explains plant manager Bob Anderson.

To begin, the operator works in a pull system. Materials are brought to the line only as they are needed and called for by line workers. There is no inventory stored in the facility, and the limited amount of materials temporarily staged is stacked with a height limit of only five feet to allow for full visibility. The buildings are exceptionally clean, quiet, and well-lit, again focusing on the comfort of the workforce. Because of the extensive automated unloading, no lift trucks are required in the general assembly building.

There are also no pits or raised platforms as found in other auto plants. Instead, the work is presented to the operator at an optimal height. The skillet conveyors used in much of assembly area continually raise and lower the cars to a comfortable working position, while also allowing the operator to ride along with the work instead of walking alongside. Ergonomic assist equipment throughout provides for more efficient handling while reducing injuries. The automation also allows GM to staff the plant with one-third less labor.

'We are not doing anything here that GM has not done before,' explains Anderson. 'We just have the luxury of doing it all from scratch.'

The manufacturing process begins in the 487,000 square foot body shop. Lift trucks unload trailers of metal panels and parts, most of which are brought from GM stamping plants in Parma, Ohio and Pontiac, Mich. The inbound docks are located at three positions within the building to shorten travel distances to the line. Versatile dock levelers (Serco, www.sercocompany.com) adjust to allow the trucks to drive directly into the trailers for efficient pick up.

Bar codes attached to the parts, racks and totes are scanned as they are gathered. The manufacturing software directs drivers to specific line-side positions where the parts are needed. If there is enough inventory currently at the line, then the driver is instructed to deposit the load at a staging area near the docks.

Upon arrival at the line-side stations, workers remove the parts from the racks and totes and place them onto specially designed in-feed conveyors. The conveyors feature upright carriers that support the part in the proper position and orientation. The parts and panels then convey directly to the main line, which utilizes an automatic electrified monorail system to support the auto body as it is being welded.

Robots at each cell within the assembly line pick up the parts from the in-feed conveyors and place them into the proper positions on the body so that other robots can weld them securely. There are 340 robots in all. The monorail transports the body throughout the many stages, including creation of the engine compartment, framing and underbody work, and attaching side panels, doors, trunks and hoods.

The body shop also keeps only limited inventory line side. When parts begin to run low, the worker assigned to the station pushes a button. This alerts the manufacturing system that more parts are needed. The system then directs a lift truck driver, through an on-board radio frequency (RF) device, to gather the needed parts and take them to the line.

Totes and cartons filled with small parts and fasteners are also delivered to the line using tuggers and carts. The tugger drivers travel to the stations, scanning the bar codes of needed inventory and dropping off new supplies.

Once all body work is complete, each unit is transferred to a skid conveyor for transport through a connecting tunnel to the paint building.

The 200,000 square foot paint shop is constructed on four levels. In most traditional paint shops, workers are spread throughout all areas of the line to facilitate the processes. At Grand River, GM designed the paint shop so that all operators are placed on only one level. This allows for improved visual management and fosters team interaction.

The paint shop has three receiving areas where paint drums and totes containing paint supplies and other materials enter the building. Lift trucks take these to the required line areas upon receipt.

Monorail and power-and-free conveyors carry the car bodies through the various processes on the four floors, as they are cleaned, electrocoated to reduce corrosion, primed and baked. The base coat, available in eight colors, is then added by robots, followed by a clear coat. The body is then dried in ovens and polished by hand. A special foam is also injected into the side panels and doors to deaden road noise.

A key innovation in the paint area is the use of a conveyor system currently used at Saab, a GM partner. This slow-moving inverted monorail raises the car bodies into the facility's ovens. The system reduces plant floor noise and keeps the cars cleaner than elevator systems that are typically used for these applications.

Upon completion of all paint processes, the dried car bodies are placed in an automated storage and retrieval system (AS/RS). The bodies are elevated to storage locations and held until they are needed for sequencing in the assembly building. The AS/RS has capacity for 250 cars, but currently holds about 100 at any given time.

At this point, 'dynamic scheduling' begins to direct the work, as cars are built-to-order from here forward. Many are built-to-order for specific customers. Others are built to fill dealer inventory needs.

Options are first determined for each vehicle. This information is then relayed to all parts suppliers about specific requirements. Most of these tier-one suppliers are located near the plant, providing parts on demand, in sequence, and within a short time window.

'Dynamic scheduling gives us flexibility and versatility,' explains Groeneveld. 'We broadcast to our subassemblers information about the car we are going to make, including its color, options and components. They then have to make their product, assemble it, load it on a truck, and have it to our dock within four hours.'

Once a build order has been determined, cars are unloaded from the AS/RS in sequence and conveyed to the 618,000 square foot general assembly building. This facility, which incorporates the most extensive materials handling operations at Grand River, was designed around the manufacturing processes beginning with receipts.

General assembly has 25 docks spread over 12 areas on the perimeter of the T-shaped building. These docks are arranged to receive products adjacent to the points where they will be used on the line. All receiving is fully automated, with the exception of items received in the central materials area (CMA).

The CMA is a staging area for temporary storage of basic parts, such as fasteners, headliners, trim pieces, carpeting and batteries. All of these arrive from suppliers on dolly carts. Tuggers simply roll the carts off their arriving trailers and stage them until needed.

As in the body shop, workers on the general assembly line signal when line-side inventory is running low. Tugger drivers are then directed by their on-board RF units to gather needed items. The driver creates a train of carts for an area of the plant, then drops off the individual carts at designated locations. An eight-foot area along the perimeter of the building holds additional inventory.

'This is a lean system, so in terms of excess materials, there is not much around,' says Groeneveld.

Automation handles unloading at all other docks. Tires, for instance, are automatically unloaded from inbound trailers and conveyed to two spiral conveyors. The conveyors deliver the tires directly to workers responsible for mounting them.

Seats are also removed automatically from their trailers. A vertical lift lowers them to floor level where they are rolled onto automatic guided carts - all without human intervention. The carts then follow strips on the floor, carrying the seats directly to workers who use ergonomic assist devices to place the seats within the car bodies.

Similarly, automatic guided vehicles (AGVs) transport work-in-process for the powertrains. Engines, transmissions, exhaust systems and rear suspension parts are automatically delivered to powertrain subassembly areas. Each part is hoisted onto the moving AGVs where workers assemble them together.

An AGV with a completed powertrain next moves itself to the main assembly line where it steers in under a car body suspended overhead from a power-and-free conveyor. Lifters on the AGV raise the powertrain upwards until it marries perfectly with the body. Workers then secure the two units together. The now-empty AGV slides out of the way and returns to the beginning of the powertrain assembly line.

Consoles are also automatically unloaded and conveyed to a vertical lift that lowers them to their position on the line. An operator using a manipulator grabs the console from a roller conveyor and inserts it into the car body.

Gas tanks, electrical harnesses, wiper modules, and other parts are handled in a similar manner. Most stations have ergonomic assist devices to help workers gently place these parts within the assembly. Groeneveld says that AGVs may also be used in the future to deliver gas tanks.

Doors are removed from the car bodies as they first arrive from the paint shop. This is so work can be performed on them apart from the remaining car body. Vacuum-assist devices aid in removing the doors. These are then placed on their own power-and-free conveyor that carries them to a door line, where each is outfitted with power windows, power locks, handles, armrests, and other accessories.

The remainder of the car body rides on a main power-and-free conveyor as parts are added. Eventually, the car is transferred to a skillet conveyor. Skillets are composed of ergonomic carriers upon which the car is set. The carrier and car ride on a moving platform that also carries the operator along with the work. The carriers are programmed to raise and lower so that work is always maintained at the optimum ergonomic height.

Flat top conveyors, which are essentially moving platforms, are used during the final assembly processes. The door line eventually swings back toward the main assembly line, and once more vacuum lift devices aid in moving the doors back into position for reattachment to the car bodies.

Final inspection is conducted on each vehicle. The car is then driven off the line over a series of bumps to check for noise or loose parts, and down a simulated street along the inner edge of the building. The street is laced with potholes and uneven pavement to simulate road conditions. Approved cars are driven out to a storage yard where they will be loaded onto car carriers.

While the Grand River facility is currently producing only one model, it has capacity to produce at least three. It is so flexible that sedans, sport utility vehicles and trucks can be built on the same assembly line, a first for GM in the U.S.

Currently the facility is producing about 160 cars daily in one shift.

That will increase next year when the Cadillac SRX model begins production. Eventually, the facility is expected to deliver 130,000 cars annually.

'This facility will be competitive with the best in the world,' Anderson notes proudly.

Click this icon to look at materials handling inside GM's Saturn plant in Wilmington, DE.