U.S. Automakers Fast Achieving Parity in Efficiency
DETROIT-The manufacturing productivity gap among North American automotive factories is smaller than ever, thanks to continuing quality advances and the fact that manufacturers-both foreign and domestic-are getting more from their workforces and capital investments.
According to "The Harbour Report North America 2006," an annual study by Harbour Consulting (Troy, MI), the difference between the most and least productive U.S. factories in terms of labor expenditures on automotive manufacture was 7.33 hours per vehicle (HPV) in 2005. This is down from a 9.08 HPV range in 2004 and a range of 16.56 HPV as recently as 1998.