CONSTRUCTION of industrial units for a £20 million, 21-acre supplier park at Vauxhall Motors' Ellesmere Port plant has started. This project supports the current £300 million modernisation of the plant in preparation for the new Astra due next Spring, and will make a significant contribution to the plant's overall efficiency.

The three suppliers setting up facilities in the park are Delphi Automotive Systems, Plastic Omnium Automotive Ltd and Mackie Automotive Systems (UK) Ltd, from Birkenhead.

Notably, for the first time in Delphi's global business, this project will see all six of their divisions working together under the same roof to create components and sub-assemblies for a vehicle manufacturer.

The supplier park is being developed by English Partnerships on land purchased from Vauxh all. AMEC Developments Ltd is procuring approximately 250,000 sq ft of space for Delphi, Plastic Omnium and Mackie, who are already major suppliers to the plant. These suppliers - which between them will employ around 200 people on the site - are setting up high quality component marshalling and sub-assembling facilities. They will occupy about one-third of the total 65-acre Hooton Park development site.

The new supplier park - due for completion by early in 1998, introduces a process known as Supply In-Line Sequence (SILS), which will represent a major step forward for the car plant, by minimising delivery movements, simplifying production processes and helping to bring further gains in productivity and product quality.

The SILS process offers the advantages of locating the source of key components 'on the doorstep' of the assembly plant, while greatly reducing the amount of detailed assembly work required on the conveyor.

In response to schedule requirements issued by Vauxhall, these assemblies or systems will be delivered to the production line via 'tow-motor trains,' operating entirely on internal plant roads. Vauxhall will also benefit from a significant reduction in inventories in terms both of component stocks and of materials in transit.

Delphi Automotive Systems will bring together for the first time the products of all six of their divisions and Delco Electronics - to create component systems and sub-assemblies for Vauxhall.

Plastic Omnium will be supplying bumpers (complete with fixings and attachments such as built-in fog and spot lights); and the fuel tanks and filler system.

Mackie's role will be that of assembler and sequencer of items sourced from a range of Vauxhall suppliers, a role that they have been fulfilling for the past two years from premises in Birkenhead. They will sequence a range of interior trim items and components such as the 'cooling module' which comprises radiator, fan, oil cooler and other items, as required according to the specification of the vehicle.

Mike Chapman, Director of Manufacturing at the Ellesmere Port Plant, where the Astra car and light van range is built, said: "The SILS operation is a significant breakthrough for the Ellesmere Port Plant and for the local community. It is an integral element of the current £300 million modernisation of the assembly plant, which will put Ellesmere Port at the forefront of automotive manufacturing technology. Additionally, not only will we achieve significant efficiency gains from the SILS operation, but also further streamline vehicle production. By extending the local industrial base on our site we will also help to increase and underpin job opportunities into the future.

"I would like to express my great appreciation of the support we have received from English Partnerships, the DTI, Ellesmere Port and Neston Borough Council, CEWTEC and AMEC in helping to make this project a viable proposition," Mr Chapman concluded.

Jim Gill, Regional Director for English Partnerships, said: "The arrival of the first three suppliers on the park will be the starting point for the attraction of other large inward investors on the remaining 44-acre site. The partnership between Vauxhall, AMEC and ourselves has been instrumental in securing this very welcome development."

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