BREAKING: Graham out at Corvette Assembly Plant; Bob Parcell of CAMI in

[Rob]

BREAKING: Graham out at Corvette Assembly Plant; Bob Parcell of CAMI in

Paul Graham announced this morning that he is leaving Bowling Green Assembly on Oct 1 to take the position as plant manager of Arlington Assembly and will be replaced by Bob Parcell of CAMI Automotive.

CAMI Automotive is a joint venture between Suzuki and GM located in Ingersoll, Ontario Canada.

Bob Parcell was President of CAMI

CAMI automotive builds sport utilities, including the Chevrolet Tracker, the Suzuki Vitara, Suzuki Swift, Suzuki Sidekick, the Geo Metro, and Chevrolet Equinox.

The announcement of Bob Parcell taking over at the General Motors Assembly Plant in Bowling Green has not been announced to employees yet.

CAMI workers enjoyed the success of the Cash for Clunkers program as optional overtime shifts were added to meet increased demand.

"It's quite a relief, especially since we were anticipating having to work enormous amounts of overtime. The numbers showed they could not fulfil the demand even with overtime,"

said CAW spokesperson Mike Murphy.

With the recent launch of the Terrain, a crossover utility vehicle, CAMI president Bob Parcell said the plant was lucky to have

"two very hot vehicles in the marketplace".

Information via @Corvettemuseum

[Rob]

Local GM plant getting new manager

By the Bowling Green Daily News
Monday, August 24, 2009 12:01 PM CDT

The General Motors Bowling Green Assembly Plant will have a new plant manager after the current manager transfers this fall, according to Eldon Renaud, president of the UAW Local 2164.

Bob Parcell, current president of Cami Automotive in Canada, will take over as the local plant manager Oct. 1 after current manager Paul Graham transfers to a plant in Arlington, Texas, Renaud said.

Graham declined comment until plant officials meet with employees.

Parcell began working in finance with Pontiac in 1981 and mainly has worked in finance since then. He has worked with electric and hybrid car divisions and has been manager of a GM plant in Missouri, Renaud said.

Graham has been manager since January 2008 when he took over from Wil Cooksey. Before coming to Bowling Green, Graham transferred from the Fairfax Assembly plant in Alabama where he was assistant plant manager.

The local plant has been temporarily closed the majority of the summer as the company works to revamp itself.

Source: Bowling Green Daily News

[VetteZr]

I don't think it'll be any loss, after looking over my 09 coupe & seeing how dismal the fit & finish is compared to my 08 coupe, there is lots of room for improvement!


[QUOTE=Rob;981952]BREAKING: Graham out at Corvette Assembly Plant; Bob Parcell of CAMI in

[Gearhead Jim]

[QUOTE=VetteZr;981964]I don't think it'll be any loss, after looking over my 09 coupe & seeing how dismal the fit & finish is compared to my 08 coupe, there is lots of room for improvement!

BREAKING: Graham out at Corvette Assembly Plant; Bob Parcell of CAMI in

My 2009 was made in August 2008 and seems as good as our 2006, except for a couple of rattles. But more recently I talked to someone who had just been on the plant tour, he said worker morale was pretty low and an unusual number of cars were tagged for rework at the end of the line. If true, it would be interesting to know if the Plant Manager was a factor.

[cadencf]

I have not encountered any build/assembly problems with my '09 that was off the line in May. Great car.
Best regards,
Charlie

[hoosierdaddy]

BREAKING: Graham out at Corvette Assembly Plant; Bob Parcell of CAMI in

Not sure if this is good news or not but at least they are still keeping the plant in Bowling Green; that in itself is encouraging Just keep them rolling down the line, curious to see what a C-7 will be like

Bill

[hoosierdaddy]

I have not encountered any build/assembly problems with my '09 that was off the line in May. Great car.
Best regards,
Charlie

Hey Charlie not sure if I have welcomed you to the group or not, so if not welcome aboard. You might want to post in the new members section for a group welcome in the event you haven't

Bill

[Rob]

CAMI President Robert Parcell

QUESTION & ANSWER: Parcell's goal: Landing new business for plant

Dan Westell
Automotive News
June 5, 2006 - 12:01 am ET

Robert Parcell spent the past 25 years in various manufacturing roles with General Motors before becoming president of CAMI Automotive Inc. in January. Parcell, 44, last month discussed CAMI's challenges with Special Correspondent Dan Westell at the plant.

What major challenges do you face?

We've got to figure out how to set the plant up for the long-term future. We have to earn our new business, just like any privately owned company would have to earn its business. We don't have rights to the next (Chevrolet) Equinox, the next (Pontiac) Torrent, the next (Suzuki) XL-7. So we need to position ourselves today to be able to go after that next generation of models in the future. Something we've got to continue to work on is to get 2,600 (employees) involved, actively involved, in running this business. We've still got people sitting on the sidelines in both salary and hourly. We need everybody pulling on the rope, making those small improvements.

Is CAMI different from other GM plants?

The team member involvement, the whole CAMI production system, the business-plan deployment process is totally ingrained; this process where we track each and every major metric and will have action plans around everything. That's totally ingrained in the processes here, on the floor. The kaizen, advances in continuous improvement, is done at a team level. That is more of the Suzuki kind of culture.

Plant managers have to make what the head office assigns. What can you do?

What you can influence as the plant manager is the quality level and the cost of the vehicle. Our cost structure is very favorable. And our quality level in the J.D. Power scores … they'll be good numbers.

[johnpesar]

Just re-read Graham's interview in Vette back in 2007 when he took over from Wil Cooksey. GMI grad, never owned a Corvette, moved around to a few plants and spent most of his career in trucks. Where Wil Cooksey was a part of the Corvette mistique, Graham seemed in the interview to try to anaylze Corvette ownership, but probably never actually got it. I'm not sure he understands why the Corvette is important to owners and fans so maybe this is a good thing. I hope the next guy works out better.

[lt1george]

I just want to know why ???? Why such a short term at BG. Did Graham ask for the out ?? I smell something bad.

[ZRFun]

I see that Parcell's career has been primarily in the "financial" sector. The business must succeed, but I've seen a "few" businesses spiral to destruction at the hands of a "bean counter" at the helm. Let's hope for the best.

P.

[93Rubie]

My 2009 was made in August 2008 and seems as good as our 2006, except for a couple of rattles. But more recently I talked to someone who had just been on the plant tour, he said worker morale was pretty low and an unusual number of cars were tagged for rework at the end of the line. If true, it would be interesting to know if the Plant Manager was a factor.[/QUOTE]

HOW could morale be low??? Your building Corvettes!!! Hello, GM I'll go work for $20 an hour and build Corvettes!!! On the bonus side for YOU I own and LOVE Corvettes, and I have a technical background. I'm a auto tech my training and trade. I WILL HAVE HIGH MORALE!!! Replace the low lifes!!!

[mbwalker]

I'll tell you one thing that I wasn't happy about at the plant, not sure if it was Paul's doing or not (I kind of think not)...

I did the buyer's tour in April. We couldn't sign the car in a hidden place, didn't get to start it, didn't get ride in it in the dyno room (yes, I know it's not really a dyno). Paraphrasing what I was told "You don't own it yet, it's GM's property" The tour guide was on my side, very frustrated to see things so sanitized. Employee moral was very very low. Did the tour a year prior too, and was able to do all the things I mentioned. Big difference from the previous year.

I did see Paul on the floor quite a bit, seemed "hands on". But at the same time, I just think Paul would have had an influence on what we could do on the tour, or maybe stick up for the people taking the buyers tour. Don't know...

[muddbros]

HOW could morale be low??? Your building Corvettes!!! Hello, GM I'll go work for $20 an hour and build Corvettes!!! On the bonus side for YOU I own and LOVE Corvettes, and I have a technical background. I'm a auto tech my training and trade. I WILL HAVE HIGH MORALE!!! Replace the low lifes!!!

Too true... hard to believe that morale could be low on that line unless they are wondering day to day if they have a job. Of course, sometimes it doesn't matter how much your paid or even if you normally love what you are doing if politics or flat out incompetence (from above) is getting in the way.

I'm liking what Parcell's had to say in the Automotive News piece referenced earlier in this thread "Something we've got to continue to work on is to get 2,600 (employees) involved, actively involved, in running this business. We've still got people sitting on the sidelines in both salary and hourly. We need everybody pulling on the rope, making those small improvements." This sort of tact (if he actually means it) could greatly increase the plants morale and the overall quality of their product... hopefully he can truly utilize the skills and passion of their current workforce. This is something I believe we've lost sight of in most American work places, we've got a ton of people who are performing miserably at their jobs and simply don't care anymore... usually not because they're just a buch of bums but because their bosses have their heads up their own bums. For some odd reason, incompetence has become one of the most important prerequisites for promotion.

[unclevito]

Whoever runs this assembly plant needs to build a car that doesn't fall apart and that has an interior that doesn't look like a rental car. I hope this guy does the job.

Folks have said that the Corvette is the best car that GM makes. If so, GM is really in trouble.

Vito