General Motors SA yesterday confirmed a further R3- million in systems upgrade to improve production management at its plants in Port Elizabeth.

Operations director Michael Pearton said that the new Andon, a global production support system designed to improve quality, employee throughput and to reduce costs, had recently been upgraded at the Struandale and Kempston Road plants.

“Andon is an operational floor process support system that can be activated manually or automatically to communicate the need for assistance when abnormal activities occur.

“The main purpose of the system is to prevent the occurrence of defects, keep the line running and drive timely responses to support the production team members on the assembly line,” Pearton said.

“We will be able to better track the calls logged for each workstation and the reports generated by the system will allow management, co-ordinators, team leaders and team members to engage in effective problem solving.

“This will help us to continuously improve built-in quality, reduce downtime and enhance many areas of our business.”

At its two plants in Struandale and Kempston Road, GMSA builds a range of vehicles including the Isuzu range of bakkies and trucks, Opel vehicles, as well as the new Hummer.