Tech glitches bog Chrysler's Caliber plant

Josee Valcourt / The Detroit News - -

Hot seller dampened by problems at Illinois facility, where robots bump into
each other.

A highly automated Chrysler plant touted as a factory of the future is experiencing technical glitches that are slowing the production of the hot-selling Dodge Caliber hatchback.

Some of the 780 Swedish-made ABB Ltd. robots that weld and assemble cars at Chrysler Group's Belvidere, Ill. assembly plant are bumping into each other -- stopping work anywhere from a few minutes to more than an hour, and at least once ending an entire shift.

The glitches are slowing production of the Caliber, which in turn slows shipments of the vehicle to dealers, who say they want as many cars as the company can ship.

The Belvidere plant's $419 million upgrade completed last year was reportedly inspired by a James Bond movie "Die Another Day," in which 007 battled killer robots. The factory, which recently started building the Jeep Compass compact SUV, is missing its daily production target of 1,050 units by 250 vehicles. Production of a third vehicle, the Jeep Patriot, will start later this year.

Chrysler officials said some production issues are to be expected, given the plant's recent upgrade to become flexible and automated enough to build several different vehicles on the same line.

Even so, "it's a concern that the body shop isn't operating at 100 percent and is causing the line to be halted," said Catherine Madden, a production analyst with Boston-based Global Insight Inc. "You don't want to break the momentum that the vehicle has set."

The Caliber has sold well since its February launch, providing a boost to the truck-heavy Dodge lineup. Dodge has taken a hit as consumers, pinched by high gas prices, move from trucks to cars.

Through June, Chrysler sold 43,694 Calibers and dealers say they could sell more. Many have expanding waiting lists with names of interested Caliber buyers. Dodge has 78,000 dealer orders for the Caliber, Chrysler reports.

"I have 15 people waiting for it right now," said Ken Zangara, owner of Zangara Dodge in Albuquerque, N.M. "It's not staying on the ground at all. I wish I had 100 of them to sell."

The dealership is receiving about eight Calibers weekly. Zangara said he could sell 20 Calibers per week if shipments increased.

Caliber owner Brennan Brown of Lansing said he waited nearly a month for the new car.

The dealership called Brown weekly, updating him on how long he would have to wait for the vehicle. The conversations with the dealership persuaded him to wait for the new batch of Calibers to be shipped rather than purchase a car elsewhere. "But then again, I wasn't a customer who was in urgent need of a car," Brown said.

Downtime hurts bottom line
Golling Chrysler Jeep Dodge in Bloomfield Hills receives between 20 to 25 Calibers a month, said Joe Ellsasser, general manager. "Our sales are exceeding supply, but that's great because that means people want (Calibers)," he said.

The Caliber sat on dealer lots an average of 11 days in June compared with the industry average of 59 days, said J.D. Power and Associates.

Global Insight estimates the Belvidere plant will build between 170,000 and 180,000 Calibers this year. But falling short of those numbers could hurt Chrysler's bottom line. Because the Caliber has a base price of $13,985, Chrysler must sell a large quantity of them to turn a profit.

Furthermore, production downtime translates to losses in capital investment, labor and equipment cost, Madden said.

On July 16, about 1,000 recently hired third-shift employees were sent home early because of robotic problems.

There is no time frame for fixing the programming problem, but Chrysler expects it won't take long.
Tom Littlejohn, president of United Auto Workers Local 1268 in Belvidere, said last week the third shift was expected to work. "We may not be able to deliver as many Calibers as we like, but the quality of the vehicles being produced are on par."

Plant's flexibility a boon
Chrysler says such manufacturing hiccups are not uncommon given the complexity of the launch and the retooled plant, which produces Calibers for the U.S. market and also diesel versions with right-hand drive for overseas.

In addition, all-wheel-drive vehicles and test models of the new Jeep Patriot SUV, which will be added to the mix later this year, are being assembled.

"Right now we're in the middle of bringing on a third shift. We're in the middle of launching eight different configurations of products," Frank Ewasyshyn, Chrysler's executive vice president of manufacturing, said in an interview. "The demand is unbelievable. We're pushing harder than ever before."

Similar upgrades are also being made to Chrysler's assembly plants in Sterling Heights and St. Louis as the automaker pushes to launch a record 10 new products this year.
"It's bad timing for sure," said Jesse Toprak, senior analyst for Edmunds.com, a car buyer's research Web site.

"It's certainly not going to help, but I don't know if (the glitches) are going to really be detrimental to the long-term success of this vehicle."

You can reach Josee Valcourt at (313) 222-2300 or jmvalcourt@detnews.com.