Jun 14, 2002 By Ed Garsten Ap Auto Writer 2 min read

DETROIT (AP) – General Motors Corp. finished ahead of Ford Motor Co. for the first time in the Harbour Report on assembly plant productivity. GM, which was the most improved domestic automaker in last year’s report, showed a 4.5 percent improvement over last year in the report released Thursday.

The Oshawa, Ontario, No. 1 Assembly Plant led all North American car and truck plants in assembly productivity – the first time a GM plant has ever led in that category.

Ford’s productivity declined 3 percent over last year, but DaimlerChrysler AG’s increased 2.7 percent.

Nissan Motor Co. topped the list for an eighth consecutive year. GM finished sixth out of 10. Ford was No. 7 and DaimlerChrysler was No. 10.

Productivity is measured by the number of worker hours it takes to build a vehicle.

The report is prepared annually by Harbour and Associates Inc., a Troy-based manufacturing and management consulting business.

Ford is in the midst of changing over its assembly plants to a similar system that includes various tests and inspections of each car or truck before being shipped.

The company’s plants are also using a problem-solving method called 6 Sigma to improve quality and productivity. The process involves addressing the top 25 customer concerns for each vehicle while eliminating hidden costs.

Individual project leaders who are combinations of engineers and detectives called “black belts” and “affinity teams” address the top 20 consumer concerns across all product lines.

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On the Net:

General Motors Corp., http://www.gm.com

Ford Motor Co., http://www.ford.com

DaimlerChrysler AG, http://www.daimlerchrysler.com