Chrysler rises from ashes with production revolution
Three years after its near collapse, US auto maker Chrysler has pulled back into market contention helped not just by snazzy new models but also a revolution on the factory floor.
Hundreds of small changes in production, more than any radical technology, has increased flexibility and output and brought once at-odds workers and management back on the same page, according to employees.
"You wouldn't believe this plant -- four years ago it looked like a dungeon. Now it's beautiful, clean," said Robert Figlioli, a tradesman at Chrysler's Jefferson North plant in Detroit.
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The revival and changes have meant sacrifices for the workforce, however -- new workers earn half the wages of pre-crisis levels, but Figlioli says it has been necessary.
"The majority of the personnel has accepted this change," he said.
"We were coming out of a bankruptcy. If we wanted our job, we had to make a change. The people in this plant know that if they don't perform, their plant can close."
http://www.france24.com/en/20120815-chrysler-rises-ashes-with-production-revolution
