Lear Corporation has officially opened its new facility at Ford Motor Company’s Chicago Manufacturing Campus. The facility supplies headliners and distributes package trays for the Five Hundred sedan, Freestyle all-purpose vehicle and Mercury Montego sedan.
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Lear invested nearly $4 million to build the 53,760 square-foot facility, which employs 70 people and is located a half mile from Ford’s Chicago Assembly Plant where the all-new models are built.
In manufacturing the headliners, Lear is utilising a unique automated assembly process to deliver these components in sequence to the Chicago Assembly Plant. Lear also supplies seat systems for the three models from a nearby just-in-time facility in Hammond, Indiana, and flooring, acoustics and electronics manufactured at various other facilities.
Lear is one of 12 suppliers participating in the 155-acre supplier manufacturing campus, the first of its kind for Ford in the U.S. The benefits associated with establishing a supplier park include reduced travel time and cost from supplier to customer, increased flexibility and quicker response to customer preferences, and elimination of the costs of packaging and the risk of product damage associated with long-distance freight hauling.
