Comprehensive Logistics Wins GM Contract

General Motors selected Comprehensive Logistics to manage global inbound logistics and value-added subassembly processes for its newest compact car, the 2011 Chevrolet Cruze.

Under the agreement, CLI will receive parts and components from hundreds of global suppliers and build complex vehicle configurations for just-in-time delivery to the automaker’s assembly lines in Lordstown, Ohio.

By The Numbers: U.S. Motor Vehicle Trade.

Materials for the Cruze will flow through CLI’s 500,000-square foot Logistics Optimization Center in Austintown, Ohio. GM will issue electronic “pull signals” containing specifications for front horizontal, vertical and rear suspension systems as well as headliner modules with visors, dome lamps, OnStar safety devices and overhead consoles.

The Austintown LOC will manage inbound logistics, scheduling, storage and retrieval, metering, sequencing, kitting, returnable containers and outbound transportation for the Cruze line. The three-shift operation adds more than 500 jobs to the region.

“There’s been intense pressure for years to be cost competitive yet to deploy technology in terms of lot- and part-level traceability to better meet safety and quality standards,” said Brad Constantini, executive vice president at CLI.

CLI is an ISO 9001 and ISO/TS-16949 certified logistics provider and a six-time recipient of GM’s Global Supplier of the Year award.

-- Contact Thomas L. Gallagher at tgallagher@joc.com.