General Motors today announced that it will invest $44.5(€34.5) million to build a Logistics Optimization Center at the Lansing Grand River Assembly plant. The new facility will create 200 new jobs and will consist of a 400,000-square-foot (37,100-square-meters) building near the plant where parts will be sequenced and assembled to make manufacturing more flexible at the site.
“We’ve developed an innovative material strategy that increases efficiency and improves quality to benefit our customers, employees and the bottom line,” said Christine Sitek, GM North America manufacturing manager.
GM says the investment will save money and improve efficiency by “leveraging available plant real estate and streamlining the flow of materials.” It will also reduce transportation and handling, thus increasing quality.
“This investment was earned through the quality and flexibility that has been a hallmark of Lansing Grand River since it opened in 2001,” said Lansing Regional Plant Manager Tony Francavilla.
GM builds the Cadillac ATS at Lansing Grand River and three Cadillac (current) CTS models – the sedan, coupe and wagon – as well as high-performance V-Series models of each.
Opened in 2001, the Lansing Grand River Assembly plant currently has 1,541 employees, and a footprint of 2.5 million square-feet (232,260 square-meters). In October 2010 it has received an investment of $190 million to make the new Cadillac ATS, with 600 jobs created in the process. Another big investment was announced in May 2011, as Lansing was chosen to build the next-generation Cadillac CTS.
By Dan Mihalascu
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