I have been telling them that the Fraser plant is the best lean plant I have seen. Plant manager, Joe Lupinski, makes a detailed presenta- tion about the Faurecia production system, or what they call the Faurecia Excellence System (FES). He stresses the lean principles of the Faurecia production system, which are as follows: standardized work, elimination of waste, kanban pull system, takt time production, leveling, flexibility, kaizen and auto quality. He then reviews and explains each of the prin- ciples so that the students can understand exactly how they work in the Fraser plant. He provides many charts, diagrams and pictures so that the students can see how all these principles fit together into the Faurecia production system. He also talks about the Fraser workforce, which he praises for its commitment to continuous improvement. The Fraser plant employees are averaging almost 23 improvement ideas per employee per year.
Joe and his team have definitely proven that you can efficiently and profitably run an auto supplier plant in the Metro Detroit area with a unionized workforce and practice lean at the highest levels.
The students really seem to learn from and appreciate the outstanding presentation. Joe then takes all of us on a plant tour in white lab coats and safety glasses. They see first- hand the cleanliness, order and visual systems throughout the plant. There is no question that 5S is regularly practiced here. They watch the efficiencies of the kanban pull system and the straight line process flows through the plant. They see the cells where teams work and where production and quality results are posted daily. Joe takes them to several workstations and points out the various poka-yokes that make defects nearly impossible.
Plant manager, Joe Lupinski, makes a detailed presentation to the students about the Faurecia production system, or what the company calls its Faurecia Excellence System (FES).
The students are impressed, as well they should be. It is a great learning experience for everyone. One student, Krista Huber, an English major who just decided to pursue her MBA, said after the visit: “It is one thing to read about an assembly plant being lean and operating with all the various lean tools and practices—kanbans, pull systems, poka-yokes, 5S and the like. It is quite another to visit a plant like Faurecia and see these tools actually being used for real work. I was over- whelmed by the cleanliness and organization of the plant floor and the efficiency with which the plant ran.”
This class session is unique because several Fitzpatrick employees, along with its leadership team, sit in on the class. The class starts with an overview of Fitzpatrick presented by Kevin LaComb, who details how the CNC job shop company started in the kids’ bedroom of the founder, William Fitzpat- rick, in 1948 and has grown progressively since then to its current 80,000 square foot state-of-the-art facility. In addition to local facility visits, the students also hear from several guest lecturers during the term. I have been able to bring in experts such as Vickie Dolis from GM, who did a stint at NUMMI, Robert Simonis from Lear, Bob Hemrick from DTE Energy, Ed Sosnowski from Uni-Solar, Jeff Engle from Takata and several other noted lean experts.
Students Get Down to Business
Once the students have learned the basics of lean, they descend on sponsor companies that have agreed to partici-
Last term the students also visited Fitzpatrick Manufactur- ing in Sterling Heights, MI. As I told the class, they have had the good fortune of visiting two of the best lean companies in SE Michigan—Faurecia and Fitzpatrick Manufacturing. The site visit to Fitzpatrick came at a great time because we had just finished learning about 5S. Fitzpatrick lives and breathes by 5S. The students were immediately struck by how clean and bright and shiny the Fitzpatrick office area and factory floor were. Everything was spotless and in its place. As one of the students said, “If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t have believed it.”