01/30/2015 18h45

GM inaugurates supply center at the plant in São Caetano do Sul

The governor Geraldo Alckmin and the director of Investe SP participated in the event, which marks the 90th anniversary of the company and the production of 14.5 million cars

Investe SP, with information from GM and SP Notícias
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    During the event, the Governor Geraldo Alckmin mentioned works that should boost the automotive industry in Brazil

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    More than half of the foreseen investment by GM in Brazil in the next years will be in the State of São Paulo

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    R$100 million was invested in the construction of MASC

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    The supply center will handle approximately 1.4 million components on a daily basis

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    The new building covers an area of 30,000 square meters and is approximately 11 meters high

On Monday, January 26, the governor Geraldo Alckmin participated in the ceremony to celebrate the 90th anniversary of General Motors do Brasil in São Caetano do Sul, and the inauguration of the new building of GM’s Center for receiving and sequencing national and imported production materials. The director of Investe São Paulo, Sérgio Costa, also attended the event.

Called MASC – Logistics Center for Receiving and Sequencing Production Materials, the structure makes use of an innovative management method in relation to the standards of the automotive industry and aims to increase productivity.

“General Motors is a leader in the state of São Paulo, a retail leader in Brazil and is among the three largest companies in the world, completing its 90 years here in Brazil and São Paulo. An investment of R$ 6.5 billion was announced in Brazil, and more than half of it will virtually be in the state of São Paulo, most of it here in São Caetano,” said the governor during the event.

Alckmin also reinforced the importance of investments in the region to support the demand created by the company. “We should prepare to increase exports, and that is why the cloverleaf interchange of Anchieta and the extension of Cônego Domenico Rangoni, with access to the port of Santos, are already completed. Tamoios highway duplicated up to Alto da Serra and the road of Caraguá to the port of São Sebastião are under construction. We are preparing for a recovery in exports with the improvement in exchange rates and then we will be able to go further,” he added.

The new building covers an area of 30,000 square meters and is approximately 11 meters high. It will handle approximately 1.4 million components on a daily basis, including finishing parts, upholstery and mechanical parts intended to supply the local assembly line that produces five of the eleven national models of the brand, including Cruze, Cobalt and Spin.

The new storage and supply center for components has twice the storage capacity in relation to the previous one – storing 4,000 types of components – and also includes a much more efficient management system for addressing materials.

This combination of factors makes the MASC of São Caetano do Sul the most modern of its kind at GM and will serve as a model for future company’s units worldwide. In total, R$100 million was invested in the works.

“Managing the inventory of parts and uninterruptedly supply the line is one of the key processes in the manufacture of a car and it directly reflects on its costs,” said Santiago Chamorro, president of General Motors do Brasil.

“A car has thousands of items and each one of them has a distinct inventory flow due to the most diverse specificities, such as place of origin, replacement intervals and even the component size,” said the executive.

The construction works took approximately two years and were held without any interruptions in production at the unit during the period. 

The oldest industrial complex of GM in Brazil has gone through several expansions. Currently, the production capacity is roughly one car per minute, but it started operating around 1930 assembling a few vans per week, which was almost a handmade process, because of the technology available at the time.


Sustainability

Both the demolition of the old building and the construction of the new GM Logistics Center for Receiving and Sequencing Production Materials was guided by sustainability.

The Technological Research Institute (IPT), which is associated with the Department of Development of São Paulo, provided full support to the deconstruction phase, allowing debris to be recycled and used in the new works, reducing the environmental impact.

In addition to enabling a flow for receiving goods 40% faster, MASC comes with a very dynamic layout. This will result in a better organization in the delivery flow and the trend is that the transit of suppliers’ trucks is optimized in the region by 20%.

Another interesting point to note is the estimated reduction in power consumption of the new building: 60%. This reduction is due to the use of technologies such as thermal translucent walls, which allows natural light without an increase in the internal temperature.


About Chevrolet and GM

Founded in 1911, in Detroit, Chevrolet is one of the largest brands of vehicles in the world, with business in more than 140 countries and annual sales of over 4.9 million vehicles. Chevrolet provides customers with fuel-efficient vehicles and great performance, unique design and high quality.

In Brazil, GM has been manufacturing and commercializing vehicles under the Chevrolet brand for 89 years. In 2014, Chevrolet sold 578,983 vehicles in the country. The company has three Industrial Complexes that produce vehicles in São Caetano do Sul and São José dos Campos, both in São Paulo, in addition to Gravataí (RS). It also has units in Joinville (production of engines and aluminum heads), Mogi das Cruzes (production stamped components), Sorocaba (Chevrolet Logistics Center) and Indaiatuba (Test Field), all in São Paulo, and a Technology Center, in São Caetano do Sul (SP), with capacity for the full development of new vehicles. The Brazilian subsidiary is one of five global centers in the creation and development of vehicles.