Dylan Wilson
Operations & Supply Chain Management
Pr. Prof. Mark Goudreau
Wednesday, November 14, 2017
Virtual Tour Project
The company I did was Chrysler and within this company I did a review of their 2015 Chrysler 200. The reason I chose this topic was because I never was really aware of this car brand until I met my Girlfriend, she has a 2011 Chrysler 200 and quite frankly they are well constructed cars. This has led me to gain more knowledge in regard to this brand and the whole process it forgoes before reaching a customer.
According to their website this car is a sophisticated four-door coupe-like design that incorporates efficiency, power and agility (Chrysler, 2015 Tour). They go on to say that all components, systems and processes are designed, engineered and applied to ensure the highest levels of quality, reliability and durability (Chrysler, 2015 Tour). I found that this company relies on its employees to help drive the performance of each car. They stated that, “Our workers use their heads and hearts to build cars, as well as their hands” (Chrysler, 2015 Tour). They are committed to making everything better, every day (Chrysler, 2015 Tour).. Adhering to these levels of quality result in outstanding fit and finish, overall harmony of the elements, excellent road manners and exceptional performance (Chrysler, 2015 Tour).. The confidence we have in the quality of the All-New 2015 Chrysler 200 is demonstrated by the warranties we back them up with. The 5-Year/100,000-Mile Powertrain Limited Warranty and the 3-Year/36,000-Mile Basic Limited Warranty+ are included with every Chrysler 200 model” (Chrysler, 2015).
This tour led me to 12 steps in to creating such a car with four different main processes used. These are as followed; The Body Shop, which included the frame, the roof, the doors, trunk and quality inspection. Next you have the Metrology Center which includes, a body analysis and blue light scanner. After was the paint shop which includes washing, underbody, powder coating, painting and the final stage consists of the final assembly which has general assembly and the Final 200 after all these steps.
After overseeing the website some of the low value inputs were equipment, facilities, labor, energy and raw materials with the ultimate aim of creating the Chrysler 200 as the High Value Output. The transformation Process was quite impeccable they had advanced framing which they used in their Open Gate Framer. This area is equipped with 18 robots that allow for precision to be a big priority (Chrysler, 2015). They focus on extreme accuracy and make sure that everything is consistent and that dimensions are the same within each car that is built. What I noticed was that this technology is so advanced it allows this company to produce vehicles that are efficient and designed quite precise. The frame work is a vital part because if not attached properly it could come apart, especially since robots are putting these together. The accuracy of these robots is so fascinating. Most of the manufacturing is done by robots. The next following steps of the body shop still use robots to weld the doors, roof and trunk. They then do a quality check to see how each frame came out so that each car is identical by every dimension. This process includes using a Blue light scanner to give real time results about how each door, roof, trunk etc. works to verify that they can close and that the measurements are precise (Chrysler, 2015). The steps they use are so incredible they give each car seven different washes using electrocoating to make sure no particles are in, on, or around the car before it starts to get painted. While I continued the tour something just blew my mind away. It was a powder coating which coats 97% of the car and this allows for the paint to stay and gives that added protection from things like flying rocks to your car or other little things that can chip away at your paint. The remaining 3% that doesn’t go on your car falls down into the ground into their system that retains that to use it on the next car (Chrysler, 2015).
Once this process is fully completed, the frame is assembled and the car is fully painted. It goes to their final assembly where American workers attach the engine, wheels, tires and other electrics to make sure that the quality of it is overseen by someone of knowledge and experience to give you that ultimate driving experience. Finally, each car is seen by Chryslers quality control team to give the go ahead so it can be shipped to Chrysler dealerships around the world. All of this information was so much to take in but, it was so eye opening and interesting and I definitely enjoyed the transformation process from start to end.
I have to say going through this tour was like no other. It amazes me at how great technology is in this world and that people have designed such instruments that are mind blowing and make all that hard labor nonexistent to give the consumer a product they believe is road ready with safety, accuracy and precision a major factor in this whole development process.
This leads me to what I believe this company is whether they are a Product Innovator or Product Imitator. I think they are a Product Innovator. This is because they don’t have a big selection of vehicles but, what they do have they make sure everything is finished right and appropriate and money is put into this company that is to make sure the customer is happy and satisfied. With all the precision, the robots use and how detailed everything is under went they still don’t price their cars very high which would make people very interested if they understood how each of these cars are made, developed and assembled. The factors that led me to this decision were the information I received from this tour. The materials that they use, the people controlling this system, the design factor, the precision of the robots, the love for not just the car but, that the place is operated here in America and uses American’s to help assemble things like the engine, wheels, electric wiring and everything the cars needs to operate. They are put in the hands of people to allow them to use their intellect to create a hard worked on project which is this Chrysler 200 Series.
How would I describe this process? Honestly, I believe it would be Continuous, Assembly line, Batch, Job Shop and Project, the main one out of these is of course Assembly line but here is explanation for each. First, Continuous process refers to the so-called process industries (Schroeder, Roger) which technically is what Chrysler is. Now, in this process flexibility is easy and change is easy and you would think that Chrysler may not be able to do that but, I see it like this they have about three different types of cars and system that seems flawless and robots they do everything so changing may take some time but it could be done. They rely on making cars to make money, if stopped they do not make any profit so putting them in the continuous process can evidently sound okay to do so in my opinion.
Next you have Assembly this is the main process for this company being this video was about manufacturing and that is developing cars. They have sequenced operations which starts with the frame of the product to the final assembly. This may seem inflexible but I beg to differ. This company is car company which means they can be described for their mass customization which gives consumers the ability to design their own car, with any added features that do not come in the stock versions on these vehicles. The Assembly line for this process is what I stated before which includes The Body Shop, which does the exterior of the car. Next you have the Metrology Center which includes, a body analysis and blue light scanner that checks to make sure the dimensions of each unit of the car are precise. After is the paint shop that gives the car that beautiful look and protective coating around, and the final stage consists of the final assembly which puts all the interior details there that is then inspected and shipped around the world.
Another one I would include is Batch flow this is because of how this product is put together. There are so many different parts to assembling a car that are categorized in different batches that bring the whole thing together to create this finished product that is astounding. This product layout is used in each category of the body shop to allow each product to be separated but the ultimate aim is to bring the whole thing together as one. There are things used like cutting, drilling, and painting that is required which is way I have referred it as Batch flow as well.
I would categorize Job Shop & Project to be in the same category because these are very customer based things and that is what Chrysler gives. They offer the option of Build & Price which allows you to create a layout of the type of Chrysler you seek to purchase and gives you a base price, “MSRP” of what they will offer and also, if it is found in your area to which you live they can direct you to that dealership. These process is done in small batches and by the customer’s preferences which isn’t or may not be one of Chrysler Stock options for this car. Now, for Project I believe this sums up the whole entire process. It is from a drawing that someone did that led to finding the right parts and other equipment needed to manufacture this vehicle which in my opinion sounds like a big project that has had many successes within the years. It is different than others and provides a unique touch to each and every vehicle that Chrysler creates. These many processes caught my attention and I did believe that each of them made sense to me in what that car process could be classified as.
High-Level Process Flow Chart
Lean Concepts in this film included were the precision of the robots and the main one that I found was in the paint shop. They had coated each car with a powder coating and it only coats 97% of the car given 3% of the coating that could be wasted but they designed a ventilation system that sucks that extra coating down through the floor to use it on the next car that enters the coating section. It’s quite hard to identify any lean manufacturing ideas/concepts because this company does such a good job at what I’ve seen at balancing human’s vs robots, precision in designs, saving things so they don’t go to waste and many more.
The most interesting part of the online tour was how they cleaned the car, they did it so many in many different materials to make sure that each car was so clean before they decided to paint it and added coatings of protection to keep it from rust, erosion, scratches and other little incident’s that could occur while driving. What I found surprising about the process was the robots, how precise and intelligent they are welding and making everything the right dimensions. Also, how they have used a blue light to check and make sure that these dimensions were precise, that in my opinion is amazing and I hope that all car companies are doing this, to maximize the best car that they could put out to keep all their customers happy and satisfied.
Works Citied
“Choose Your Site.” 2015 Chrysler 200 Factory Tour – Take the Tour – Chrysler,
www.chrysler.com/en/200/factory-tour/.
Schroeder, Roger G. Operations Management In The Supply Chain: Decisions & CASES. 7th
ed.