More Useless Info
03-09-2012, 09:47 AM
#1
Safety Car
Thread Starter
More Useless Info
By ROBYN L. MINOR The Daily Newsrminor@bgdailynews.com/783-3249 bgdailynews.com
When General Motors completes the $131 million expansion of its Bowling Green Assembly Plant, the facility will have 7.25 miles of overhead conveyor used to move the cars’ frames through various areas in the plant.
But that growth, which will bring the plant’s employment to 800 by the end of 2013, won’t come without some pain.
The plant will be shut down for the entire month of July for extensive interior construction that eventually will allow for the production of the next-generation Chevy Corvette.
“When workers come back they will still be making the C-6,” said Andrea Hales, communications manager for the plant.
Public tours won’t run during the closure, and the plant will close to the general public Sept. 14 for an undetermined amount of time, Plant Manager Dave Tatman said. The reason: to keep parts of the new car under wraps and for safety purposes. “I still don’t know when production of the new car will begin,” Tatman said.
Officially, the 2013 model will be the last of the current-generation Corvette to be made before switching to the new one, but that model year hasn’t been formally announced. “It’s an almost entirely new car but very much maintains the Corvette (look),” Tatman said.
That new car will be produced in the 100,000 or so square feet where the Cadillac XLR was once produced. That work halted in April 2009.
“We pretty much abandoned that area,” Tatman said.
All of that old production equipment was removed by recalled GM skilled-trades workers, and now outside contractors are performing tasks such as installing a new section of conveyor, reinforcing the ceiling to hold the weight of the conveyor system and other work.
“It changes every day,” Tatman said of the space while walking around it.
The space will house the body shop with new, even more technologically advanced equipment than is currently used.
“No one will be doing the same job they are doing now,” Tatman said. “The car is going to go together entirely different.”
That means employees will have to be retrained. About 23 employees already are working on the new car at a closed facility in Michigan.
Also as part of the expansion, crews will soon lay the foundation for 16,000 square feet of new space that will be used to treat the car frames to prevent corrosion. Part of the extension of the conveyor system will take the frame from the body shop to the treatment area and back to the assembly area. It’s taking time to figure out just how to do that, Tatman said.
Once production of the 2013 model ends, that production area will be mothballed. But Tatman said he hopes that won’t be for long.
While GM hasn’t ruled out the eventual production of another vehicle here, Tatman said it is more possible that parts that are assembled elsewhere could be brought to Bowling Green for assembly. That would probably mean more jobs.
As for current employment, Tatman said all employees who had been laid off from the Bowling Green plant who wanted to return to work have done so, while some transferring from other GM facilities has also begun.
Glasgow resident Todd Largent had been laid off since 2008 and returned to work Feb. 6. “I really didn’t think I would ever get called back,” he said.
Largent said his hope was revived when GM last year announced that the next-generation Corvette would be made here.
On Tuesday, he was doing sub-assembly work on a Corvette’s rear hatch and was pleased to be doing so.
“It’s exciting for the workforce to see the laid-off employees come back to work,” communications manager Andrea Hales said.
Employment on Tuesday was at 520 people. That number should grow to 630 by the end of the year and 800 by the end of 2013.
The additional new jobs will be filled first by other GM employees whose plants are being closed and then by other GM employees who are working.
“Hundreds of people have made application to come here because our product is so cool and Bowling Green is a good place to live,” Tatman said.
While the jobs won’t go to area residents, it will still mean an infusion of cash into the economy. The people moving from other GM plants will be buying homes, paying taxes and shopping here, resulting in a significant economic boon, he said.
Shane Colvard, United Auto Workers Local 2164 shop foreman, said he has seen the new car, but of course can’t talk about it.
“It’s awesome,” he said. “I think the new car will be exciting for not only Corvette lovers but for the general public as well.”
When General Motors completes the $131 million expansion of its Bowling Green Assembly Plant, the facility will have 7.25 miles of overhead conveyor used to move the cars’ frames through various areas in the plant.
But that growth, which will bring the plant’s employment to 800 by the end of 2013, won’t come without some pain.
The plant will be shut down for the entire month of July for extensive interior construction that eventually will allow for the production of the next-generation Chevy Corvette.
“When workers come back they will still be making the C-6,” said Andrea Hales, communications manager for the plant.
Public tours won’t run during the closure, and the plant will close to the general public Sept. 14 for an undetermined amount of time, Plant Manager Dave Tatman said. The reason: to keep parts of the new car under wraps and for safety purposes. “I still don’t know when production of the new car will begin,” Tatman said.
Officially, the 2013 model will be the last of the current-generation Corvette to be made before switching to the new one, but that model year hasn’t been formally announced. “It’s an almost entirely new car but very much maintains the Corvette (look),” Tatman said.
That new car will be produced in the 100,000 or so square feet where the Cadillac XLR was once produced. That work halted in April 2009.
“We pretty much abandoned that area,” Tatman said.
All of that old production equipment was removed by recalled GM skilled-trades workers, and now outside contractors are performing tasks such as installing a new section of conveyor, reinforcing the ceiling to hold the weight of the conveyor system and other work.
“It changes every day,” Tatman said of the space while walking around it.
The space will house the body shop with new, even more technologically advanced equipment than is currently used.
“No one will be doing the same job they are doing now,” Tatman said. “The car is going to go together entirely different.”
That means employees will have to be retrained. About 23 employees already are working on the new car at a closed facility in Michigan.
Also as part of the expansion, crews will soon lay the foundation for 16,000 square feet of new space that will be used to treat the car frames to prevent corrosion. Part of the extension of the conveyor system will take the frame from the body shop to the treatment area and back to the assembly area. It’s taking time to figure out just how to do that, Tatman said.
Once production of the 2013 model ends, that production area will be mothballed. But Tatman said he hopes that won’t be for long.
While GM hasn’t ruled out the eventual production of another vehicle here, Tatman said it is more possible that parts that are assembled elsewhere could be brought to Bowling Green for assembly. That would probably mean more jobs.
As for current employment, Tatman said all employees who had been laid off from the Bowling Green plant who wanted to return to work have done so, while some transferring from other GM facilities has also begun.
Glasgow resident Todd Largent had been laid off since 2008 and returned to work Feb. 6. “I really didn’t think I would ever get called back,” he said.
Largent said his hope was revived when GM last year announced that the next-generation Corvette would be made here.
On Tuesday, he was doing sub-assembly work on a Corvette’s rear hatch and was pleased to be doing so.
“It’s exciting for the workforce to see the laid-off employees come back to work,” communications manager Andrea Hales said.
Employment on Tuesday was at 520 people. That number should grow to 630 by the end of the year and 800 by the end of 2013.
The additional new jobs will be filled first by other GM employees whose plants are being closed and then by other GM employees who are working.
“Hundreds of people have made application to come here because our product is so cool and Bowling Green is a good place to live,” Tatman said.
While the jobs won’t go to area residents, it will still mean an infusion of cash into the economy. The people moving from other GM plants will be buying homes, paying taxes and shopping here, resulting in a significant economic boon, he said.
Shane Colvard, United Auto Workers Local 2164 shop foreman, said he has seen the new car, but of course can’t talk about it.
“It’s awesome,” he said. “I think the new car will be exciting for not only Corvette lovers but for the general public as well.”
... The rest sounds promising for laid off workers, the plant and the car. good article
