The Fiat Chrysler Automobiles plant in Verrone (Biella) has obtained the prestigious international recognition "Lean & Green Management Award" which is assigned by two German consulting firms, Growtth© Consulting Europe GmbH and Quadriga Consult, which annually evaluate a panel of companies on so-called "lean production", lean production that guarantees efficient management of energy and environmental resources, plants and logistics.
The competition this year saw the participation of 31 European companies from 10 countries, with different players from the Automotive sector. In particular, the finalist plants are located in Germany, France, Austria, Switzerland, with FCA representing Italy.
The Lean & Green Management Award, which is aimed at individual production sites of industries with at least 100 employees and is made up of three categories ("Enterprises / OEMs", "SMEs" and "Special"), has, among the main objectives, that of generating benefits for the exchange of best practices and networking between different companies, practical suggestions and innovative solutions and applications related to resource efficiency in terms of Industry 4.0.
In the past FCA had already participated in the competition, winning special prizes: in 2013 the Tychy plant had obtained the special Green prize and in 2014 the Pomigliano d'Arco plant had won the special Lean prize.
The Verrone plant is the first from FCA to win the main prize. In particular, it was appreciated for the clear and coherent development strategy of the Lean & Green aspects, for the excellent integration of Environment and Energy issues within the production system, as well as for the innovative solutions with a view to Industry 4.0 and Digital Manufacturing, led by World Class Manufacturing (WCM).
A theme evaluated particularly positively in Verrone was the team spirit, the high level of motivation and competence, and the strong involvement of people. Overall, the assessment was carried out on the basis of a consolidated model which contains around one hundred criteria relating to the various company processes.
Verrone, which has Gold certification under the WCM, currently produces the gearboxes of the C635 family, manual and DDCT (dual clutch automatic) versions, which equip a vast range of FCA brand models, including the Jeep Renegade and Cherokee , the Fiat 500X, Tipo and 500L and the Alfa Romeo Giulietta, MiTo and 4C. About 700 people are employed there.
The awards ceremony will be held on 28 and 29 November at Rhode & Schwarz in Munich as part of the Smart Factory Day initiative.
