Federal-Mogul celebrates 75 years of success
Resource from: automotive parts Likes:217
Sep 14,2015
What: Federal-Mogul’s 75th anniversary open house. The public is welcome to come and enjoy the celebration, which will feature carnival games, food, employee/retiree car show and tours of the plant.
When: 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday
Where: 510 E. Grove St., Greenville
GREENVILLE — On the corner of Grove and N. Court streets, there is a steady, constant hum. It is the sound of production, and it’s been humming along well now for 75 years.
Outside the large Federal-Mogul building is a scenic view of a bicycle trail, the Flat River and an old train station building that harkens to days of old. Inside the plant, however, history is alive, as Henry Ford’s famous assembly line process is put in to action, with as many as 500,000 automotive parts being produced daily.
When the global automotive parts maker Federal-Mogul opened a 25,000-square-foot plant in Greenville in 1940, making engine bearings for the automotive and heavy truck markets, it started a tradition of working careers for many local families, a tradition that can still be seen today, with one generation after another having made or are making a living at the plant.
“In the short time I’ve been here, it is very clear that this is kind of a family affair here,” said Damien DeVol, who has been the Greenville plant manager for the past five years. “There’s a lot of employees here that have multiple relatives that worked here, that have had neighbors that have worked here. Many have raised their children (and grandchildren) while working here. It’s a generational thing.”
The plant employs more than 370 people, with more than 60 of them having worked there for more than 30 years, according to Katie Paulen, the plant’s human resources manager.
But its employees’ dedication and family generations tradition is only one of many impressive features the Greenville plant boasts.
ADAPTABILITY
Just as impressive as its employee dedication is the company’s durability and adaptability to economic and cultural changes in America.
Joe Vos of Greenville, who has been with Federal-Mogul in the maintenance department for the past 27 years, is one of 20 mechanics and electricians that keep the plant’s many machines running and tools working daily. Vos opts to walk to work every single day throughout the year.
Having opened its doors when the country was on the brink of World War II, Federal-Mogul’s adaptability was challenged quickly and was rushed into being a part of the country’s war machine, producing parts for military use. Bearings were made for struts in Douglas bombers, bushings were made for Canadian tanks and copper-, lead- and steel-backed bearings were produced for Rolls Royce Merlin aircraft engines.
When Federal-Mogul opened a marine division, producing specialized propellers, the Greenville plant flexed its adaptability muscles once again, opening a new marine foundry in 1941. The Greenville plant, along with ones in Grand Rapids, Marshall and Mooresville, Ind., supplemented the Detroit facilities.
The plant was eventually awarded the U.S. Army-Navy “E” Award, which was presented to companies for excellence in production of war equipment.
The plant’s pride for its support of the U.S. military still beams today, as a wall in the plant is dedicated to employees and relatives who have served in the military.
Since 1940, the Greenville plant has expanded its floor space 19 times, increasing its square footage to 210,000 square feet, and rents space in the nearby building (the former Tower Automotive building), which serves as an example of its ability to adapt and succeed through trying times, through wars, economic recessions and ever-changing automotive standards and demands.
“Federal-Mogul as a name, people need to understand the vast amount of products it makes and how far reaching it is in the vehicles we drive every day,” DeVol said. “In that drive to bring new products to market, what we are really looking to do is improve efficiencies, reduce emissions and do this more cost-effectively every day for the customer.”
Working with hot liquids that reach up to 2,400 degrees, 27-year Federal-Mogul veteran Dave Burke of Greenville, a foundry operator at the plant, produces powder that will be used for the plant’s material prep process. Parts are made so precise, they are measured down to a fraction of a hair, according to plant manager Damien DeVol.
INNOVATION AND EXPERIENCE
The Greenville plant today is one of 72 plants in Federal-Mogul’s powertrain division (the other division being motor parts). It has sister plants in Blacksburg, Va., and Pueblo, Mexico.
The automotive parts company produces engine and transmission parts, including bearings, bushings, pistons and piston rings, valuetrain components, sealing and ignition parts.
In the last 12 months, the Greenville plant alone produced 137,554,030 automotive pieces. The plant is responsible for 962 active part numbers for more than 200 customers, including Detroit’s Big 3 — General Motors, Ford Motor Company and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.
Today, Greenville is a Q1 supplier to Ford Motor Company and has received quality certifications from various other customers. Much of the plant’s success can be credited to continuous innovation and expanding technologies.
“We make precision engine bearings and transmission bushings and we do it very well,” said Kim Simmons, a stream value manager who has worked at the plant for more than 30 years.
Simmons said it is innovative ideas like the plant’s “connected processes” that has helped the plant be more efficient and be able to keep up with the advances of the industry, which has kept the business competitive and thriving.
“Machines used to sit by themselves and we’d have materials in between each machine,” Simmons explained. “And now we’ve connected the machines with transfers where the bearings transfer from machine to machine without someone loading them.”
Charlie Jensen of Sheridan, a strip line operator who has worked at Federal-Mogul in Greenville for the past five years, breaks strips of material down into segments using a strip slitter machine on the prep side of the plant. These materials go through up to 10 processes in the Greenville plant before they become an actual automotive part.
These innovative ideas, both large and small, are a priceless commodity that comes from the wisdom of the plant’s employees, according to DeVol.
“The most impressive thing about this place is the ability of the people and the knowledge here,” DeVol said about the plant’s employees. “Their knowledge of what makes a good part and how to manage the processes to make that product is very, very impressive. There’s an incredible amount of know-how with the people that work here and their abilities to figure new ways to do things and how resolve issues.”
With three shifts of employees changing each day, an assembly line of big and small machines all working at once and 10 processes to create a product, not to mention the more than 50,000 items that are stocked in the plant’s too crib, reliability of the company’s employees is vital to running the plant’s operation smoothly each day.
The Greenville plant today is as efficient and productive as its ever been, making parts that are measured down to the fraction of a hair.
It produced as much as 9,537,498 feet of material strip last year alone.
“That’s roughly the distance between Greenville and Las Vegas, 1,807 miles,” Paulen pointed out.
Paulen also said the plant is expecting to begin producing a line of as many as 80 new parts by 2018.
In as much as the plant produces on a daily basis, there is just as much pride in the work that is done, Simmons said.
“Manufacturing is really rewarding. What we do here we do very well,” he said. “Greenville has always been a good, team-family facility. People start here, they stay here. People enjoy to work here. The people make it what it is.”
Although many things have changed since 1940, Greenville’s Federal-Mogul plant continues to serve as a staple of the automotive industry, the community and a way of living for generations of families then and now.
As the company celebrates its 75th year, DeVol said many employees will reflect on what the company means to them.
“One of the things I hear, when you look at our history, Federal-Mogul was and is a place our employees can look back on fondly and say, ‘It’s something to work at Federal-Mogul,’” DeVol said. “I think everybody has a tendency to look back at things about what they really appreciate about the company, and I’m very sure that 25 years from now, we’ll look back and say, ‘those were good times. Look at the amount of growth we’re having, the amount of change and the impact we’re having.’”
(automotive parts)
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1.The news above mentioned with detailed source are from internet.We are trying our best to assure they are accurate ,timely and safe so as to let bearing users and sellers read more related info.However, it doesn't mean we agree with any point of view referred in above contents and we are not responsible for the authenticity. If you want to publish the news,please note the source and you will be legally responsible for the news published.
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