MEXICO CITY — Chrysler Group has extended its World Class Manufacturing system to Mexico, three years after launching it in Warren, Mich.
The system allows employees and suppliers to study the production and assembly methods used by Chrysler at its plants and for suppliers to incorporate them into their own operations, if they wish.
In a Spanish language news release April 2 Mauro Pino, Chrysler Group LLC's vice president for manufacturing, said Mexico is the first country outside the United States to get the so-called WCM.
It is being introduced at Chrysler's Derramadero Class 8 truck assembly facility in the city of Saltillo in the northern state of Coahuila.
“Not only will it be used to train [workers] at Chrysler de México plants but it will also be extended to suppliers and Chrysler Group affiliate companies,” the auto maker stated in the release.
Chrysler describes WCM as a “methodology that concentrates on the reduction of waste, increasing productivity and improving quality and safety in a systematic and organized manner.”
Fiat introduced the program to Chrysler in 2009 shortly after purchasing a stake in the U.S. company.
Chrysler has seven plants in Mexico, and a vehicle engineering center in Mexico City.