José Eugênio Pinheiro has worked 40 years at General Motors do Brasil and his obsession for manufacturing and productivity gains has delivered excellent results.
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Currently world vice-president for GM LAAM (Latin America, Africa and Middle East), he has reason to be proud: there are 22 plants and 23,000 workers under his management.
GM LAAM has three manufacturing plants in Brazil. Gravataí (in the state of Rio Grande do Sul) is just nine years old and sets a world benchmark for productivity thanks to the advanced concept of an ‘industrial condominium’ – automaker and suppliers grouped together. Rosário, in Argentina, is similar.
The others, both in the state of São Paulo, are much older. São José dos Campos was inaugurated in 1959 and the oldest, in São Caetano do Sul, in Greater São Paulo, celebrated its 79th anniversary earlier this year.
Pinheiro told Gazeta Mercantil about the results obtained in just the last four years: “We have gained 37 cars per hour among the three production sites, which means 150,000 units yearly. In other words, we have saved the equivalent of building a new plant costing US$500m. All this was done with practically no additional investment or even having to add additional shifts.”
The strategy included exhausting negotiations with workers and their unions, a lot of planning and persistence, and thousands of hours of training.
São Caetano (the oldest) and Gravataí (the youngest) each achieved productivity improvements of 40%. São José, with the country’s most radical union, managed 20%.
But Pinheiro is not completely happy yet and continues eyeing costs.
“In 2005 we had reference cost of 100 per car. Last year we got that down to 80 and the goal for 2010 is to trim it to 65. It is quite an evolution”.
Pinheiro does not condemn the older plants. “There is always room for improvement tied to strong leadership and deep dialogue with workers,” he added.
He has also mentored rising GM stars who have spread the Brazilian experience throughout several GM facilities worldwide, including in the US.
Ten Brazilian engineers are now assigned to Argentina, Venezuela, Germany and China, and have managerial or board responsibilities.
And, back in Brazil, the focus on costs continues.
Fernando Calmon
