Late last month, Detroit Diesel‘s 65-year-old Redford, Mich., manufacturing facility played host to a wide range of dignitaries, media and guests. The full house was on hand to witness the Redford facility being reborn – cast anew as a model for efficiency, forward thinking and technological expertise.
An initial modernization investment of $275 million would soon transform a plant built in 1938 into the Freightliner Group‘s diesel engine headquarters not just for North America, but for its NAFTA operations and ultimately global engine production as well.
But a bright future for Redford was never a given. In June 2003, after taking a hard look at Redford’s operations, DaimlerChrylser management came to an unpleasant realization: The facility simply wasn’t competitive. The plant was filled with old, outdated manufacturing equipment. Abandoned machinery sat vacant in vast, darkened parts of the plant. Dramatic changes would be needed if the Redford facility was going to take Detroit Diesel into the 21st century.
High-level discussions began at once to see if Redford could be saved. A litany of concerned officials met with top DaimlerChrysler management on the issue: Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm and U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., were among the many state and local politicians who fought to keep Detroit Diesel in its ancestral home. Representatives from the United Auto Workers collaborated with company officials to cast new, innovative labor contracts.
Over time, Redford’s future evolved into something unforeseen: It became a model for a new type of plant – a so-called “mall concept” – a plant big enough and flexible enough to allow DaimlerChrysler to use every single bit of workspace to maximum effect. Instead of just one company, Redford would become home to a host of companies producing symbiotic products for the Freightliner truck group.
But the “mall” doesn’t refer only to the different business units that will occupy the Redford building. “It’s also a ground-breaking agreement with the UAW,” said Carsten Reinhardt, president and chief executive of Detroit Diesel. “For the first time ever, the workers in this plant will all be working together, but under different labor contracts based on their respective business unit. It was this key agreement – and we’re so honored that Local 162 looked ahead and voted to ratify this new business model – that gives us the flexibility to make the “mall” manufacturing concept a reality. That agreement is the beginning of the Redford renaissance — the symbolic start of a new future at Redford.”
The plan is ambitious: In addition to Series 60 diesel engine production, the plant will also be upgraded to produce Detroit Diesel’s new heavy-duty engine line appearing in 2007. That same year, Redford will begin assembly of Mercedes-Benz MBE 900 medium-duty truck diesel engines.
