The
first all-new 2002 Dodge Ram Truck rolled off the assembly line yesterday at Chrysler’s
St. Louis North Assembly Plant (SLNAP), marking the beginning of a three-plant
production ramp-up that will create the capacity to build more than 400,000 trucks
annually.
Guests at the Job One ceremony included Joseph L. Driskill, Missouri Director
of Economic Development and Dennis J. Hancock, Mayor of Fenton who joined Dieter
Zetsche, President & CEO of Chrysler Group, plant employees and company,
community and union leaders.
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Zetsche used the occasion to announce a new product for the plant: the Ram
2500 heavy-duty truck coming next year.
The flexibility of SLNAP enabled Chrysler to reach quality targets much earlier
in the pre-launch phase by building early prototype vehicles on the production
line to validate processes and train employees.
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SLNAP will continue to share best practices and lessons learned with Chrysler’s
Saltillo (Mexico) and Warren (Detroit) truck assembly plants as they begin ramping
up 2002 Ram production in August and September.
With next year’s closing of the Lago Alberto Assembly Plant in Mexico, Chrysler
will consolidate its truck production from four to three truck plants.
The company invested $480 million in SLNAP to launch the new Ram, including
the addition of an all new 360,000 sq. ft. body shop.
The flexibility of the plant enabled the build of more than 700 pre-production
trucks prior to launch in order to validate quality levels.
SLNAP has the capacity to produce 150,000 trucks annually, or 592 per day with
2,800 employees on a normal, two-shift operation.
The plant has the flexibility to produce Regular and Quad Cab; S+, SLT, SLT+
and Sport; 4×4 and 4×2; 3.7-liter V-6, 4.7-liter V-8 and 5.9-liter V-8 versions
of the 2002 Ram.
By using a combination of statistical process controls and performance feedback
systems (PFS), Chrysler is error proofing its production processes to ensure
top quality.
The system is designed to halt production if quality build criteria are not
met. For example, if a bolt isn’t tightened to the degree specified (measured
through the torque wrench which is connected to the PFS system) the specific
operation will be shut down until it is corrected.
Vehicles are inspected throughout body, paint and assembly processes, as well
as a series of tests after the vehicles roll off the final assembly line.
Once complete, the trucks are tested on an evaluation course.
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