According to The Harbour Report North America 2007, the annual study released by Harbour Consulting, the manufacturing productivity gap among North American automotive manufacturers continued to narrow as quality advances and more flexible labor agreements drove major improvements. This year, Toyota leads total manufacturing productivity but the Detroit-based automakers are narrowing the gap.

Overall, Toyota’s assembly performance declined 3.3 percent from 2005. Despite a 13 percent rise in North American sales, Toyota’s North American production volume actually dived four percent at the five assembly plants participating in the Harbour study, the auto industry’s authority on manufacturing efficiency.

The Harbour Report, first published in 1989, measures assembly, stamping and powertrain productivity performances plant by plant and company by company for North American automakers. The labor hours per vehicle measure calculates the total salary and hourly labor content required to produce one vehicle.

The bigger gap in financial performances of the Detroit-based and Japan-based auto manufacturers reflect domestic companies’ higher incentive costs, legacy costs and their slower response to shifts in market choices.

“Improving productivity in the face of lower production is a huge accomplishment, but none of the domestic manufacturers can afford to let up,” said Ron Harbour, the president of Harbour Consulting. “General Motors essentially caught Toyota in vehicle assembly productivity. Considering that they will be building vehicles in 2007 with dramatically fewer hourly employees in the U.S., GM, Ford and Chrysler likely will reduce their hours per vehicle significantly.”

GM also led in twelve of the twenty-three vehicle segment ratings: compact non-premium conventional car (Saturn ION/Spring Hill), large non-premium conventional car (Chevrolet Impala/Oshawa #1), large non-premium pickup (Chevrolet Silverado-GMC Sierra/Fort Wayne), large non-premium SUV (Chevrolet Tahoe, GMC Yukon/Arlington, Texas), large non-premium van (Chevrolet Express, GMC Savana/Wentzville), full-size luxury sedan (Cadillac DTS/Detroit-Hamtramck), large premium SUV (Cadillac Escalade/Arlington, Texas), mid-size non-premium sports car (Chevrolet Monte Carlo/Oshawa #1), mid-size premium conventional sedan (Cadillac STS/Lansing Grand River), mid-size premium crossover (Cadillac SRX/Lansing Grand River); premium sports car (Chevrolet Corvette, Cadillac XLR/Bowling Green, Ky.), mid-size premium SUV (Saab 9-7X/Moraine, Ohio). The Tahoe and the Silverado are also performing well in sales, thanks to cutting-edge auto parts like the Chevrolet Tahoe bumper insert, engines, radiators and other body parts.

Ford led in five segments: compact non-premium SUV (Ford Escape, Mercury Mariner/Kansas City #1), mid-size non-premium conventional car (Ford Taurus/Atlanta), large premium pickup (Lincoln Mark LT/Dearborn), mid-size non-premium crossover (Ford Freestyle/Chicago) and large premium sports car (Ford GT/Wixom).

In the previous year, the UAW and CAW were more proactive than ever before in creating a more competitive environment among the companies whose hourly workers they represent. Chrysler, GM, and, especially Ford, negotiated more flexible local labor agreements prior to this summer’s pivotal national talks with the UAW. Yet they must go further to overcome their persistent health care and pension cost disadvantage versus Honda, Nissan and Toyota. Restrictive labor agreements that produce cost disadvantages still exist and could put at risk the survival of some automakers.

Aside from gauging performance, The Harbour Report looks at several years of results to determine which companies are developing systems and processes related to quality, lean manufacturing, continuous improvement, worker involvement, technology, level of product complexity, process design and layout.

“Since our company started 27 years ago, we look at how companies are managing their resources,” Harbour said. “Lean manufacturing and continuous improvement efforts do not always produce immediate improvements, nor are they immediately recognizable. But as shown in The Harbour Report 2007 results, companies that are producing consistent, sustainable improvements to their manufacturing operations are providing automakers with a cost advantage over their rivals.”

About the Author:

Anthony Fontanelle is a 35-year-old automotive buff who grew up in the Windy City. He does freelance work for an automotive magazine when he is not busy customizing cars in his shop.

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – Toyota Leads Total Manufacturing Productivity

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The last five decades have produced a score of films, each better than the last. But come Oscar night, only one movie could walk away with the distinction of Best Picture of the Year. And here you will find a list of the Best Picture winners from 1950 to today.

2006: The Departed
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson

2005: Crash
Starring: Sandra Bullock, Matt Dillon
Director: Paul Haggis

2004: Million Dollar Baby
Starring: Clint Eastwood, Hilary Swank, Morgan Freeman
Director: Clint Eastwood

2003: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Starring: Elijah Wood, Sean Astin
Director: Peter Jackson

The Oscars2002: Chicago
Starring: Renee Zellweger, Catherine Zeta Jones, Richard Gere
Director: Rob Marshall

2001: A Beautiful Mind
Starring: Russell Crowe, Ed Harris
Director: Ron Howard

2000: Gladiator
Starring: Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix
Director: Ridley Scott

1999: American Beauty
Starring: Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening
Director: Sam Mendes

American Beauty1998: Shakespeare In Love
Starring: Joseph Fiennes, Gwyneth Paltrow
Director: John Madden

1997: Titanic
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet
Director: James Cameron

1996: The English Patient
Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Juliette Binoche
Director: Anthony Minghella

1995: Braveheart
Starring: Mel Gibson, Sophie Marceau
Director: Mel Gibson

Titanic1994: Forrest Gump
Starring: Tom Hanks, Robin Wright Penn, Gary Senise
Director: Robert Zemeckis

1993: Schindler’s List
Starring: Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley
Director: Steven Spielberg

1992: Unforgiven
Starring: Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman
Director: Clint Eastwood

1991: The Silence of the Lambs
Starring: Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins
Director: Jonathan Demme

Forrest Gump1990: Dances With Wolves
Starring: Kevin Costner, Mary McDonnell
Director: Kevin Costner

1989: Driving Miss Daisy
Starring: Jessica Tandy, Morgan Freeman
Director: Bruce Beresford

1988: Rain Man
Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Tom Cruise
Director: Barry Levinson

1987: The Last Emperor
Starring: John Lone, Joan Chen
Director: Bernardo Bertolucci

Rain Man1986: Platoon
Starring: Tom Berenger, Willem Dafoe
Director: Oliver Stone

1985: Out of Africa
Starring: Meryl Streep, Robert Redford
Director: Sydney Pollack

1984: Amadeus
Starring: F. Murray Abraham, Tom Hulce
Director: Milos Forman

1983: Terms of Endearment
Starring: Shirley Maclain, Debra Winger, Jack Nicholson
Director: James L. Brooks

The Deer Hunter1982: Gandhi
Starring: Ben Kingsley, Candice Bergen
Director: Sir Richard Attenborough

1981: Chariots of Fire
Starring: Ben Cross, Ian Charleson
Director: Hugh Hudson

1980: Ordinary People
Starring: Donald Sutherland, Mary Tyler Moore
Director: Robert Redford

1979: Kramer VS. Kramer
Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep
Director: Robert Benton

Rocky1978: The Deer Hunter
Starring: Robert De Niro, John Cazale
Director: Michael Cimino

1977: Annie Hall
Starring: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton
Director: Woody Allen

1976: Rocky
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire
Director: John G. Avildsen

1975: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Starring: Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher
Director: Milos Forman

The Godfather1974: The Godfather Part II
Starring: Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, Robert De Niro
Director: Francis Ford Coppola

1973: The Sting
Starring: Paul Newman, Robert Redford
Director: George Roy Hill

1972: The Godfather
Starring: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duval
Director: Francis Ford Coppola

1971: The French Connection
Starring: Gene Hackman, Fernando Rey
Director: William Friedkin

The Sound of Music1970: Patton
Starring: George C. Scott, Karl Malden
Director: Franklin J. Schaffner

1969: Midnight Cowboy
Starring: Jon Voight, Dustin Hoffman
Director: John Schlesinger

1968: Oliver!
Starring: Ron Moody, Shani Wallis, Oliver Reed
Director: Carol Reed

1967: In the Heat of the Night
Starring: Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger
Director: Norman Jewison

My Fair Lady1966: A Man for All Seasons
Starring: Paul Scofield, Wendy Hiller
Director: Fred Zinnemann

1965: The Sound of Music
Starring: Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer
Director: Robert Wise

1964: My Fair Lady
Starring: Audrey Hepburn, Rex Harrison
Director: George Cukor

1963: Tom Jones
Starring: Albert Finney, Susannah York,
Director: Tony Richardson

Ben-Hur1962: Lawrence of Arabia
Starring: Peter O’Toole, Alec Guinness
Director: David Lean

1961: West Side Story
Starring: Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer
Director: Jerome Robbins

1960: The Apartment
Starring: Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine
Director: Billy Wilder

1959: Ben-Hur
Starring: Charlton Heston
Director: William Wyler

On the Waterfront1958: Gigi
Starring: Leslie Caron, Maurice Chevalier
Director: Vincente Minnelli

1957: The Bridge on the River Kwai
Starring: Alec Guinness, William Holden
Director: David Lean

1956: Around the World in 80 Days
Starring: Shirley MacLaine, David Niven, and countless cameos
Director: Mike Todd

1955: Marty
Starring: Ernest Borgnine
Director: Delbert Mann

An American in Paris1954: On the Waterfront
Starring: Marlon Brando
Director: Elia Kazan

1953: From Here to Eternity
Starring: Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, and Frank Sinatra
Director: Fred Zinnemann

1952: The Greatest Show on Earth
Starring: Charlton Heston, Jimmy Stewart
Director: Cecil B. DeMille

1951: An American in Paris
Starring: Gene Kelly
Director: Vincente Minnelli

1950: All About Eve
Starring: Bette Davis, Anne Baxter
Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz

……….

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Your home is one of your most precious belongings. You want to keep it as clean as possible but there are times when you find it hard to clean the floor, especially if it’s hardwood. So how will you clean it? Consider these quick cleaning tips and you’ll be done in no time.

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5. When rearranging your furniture, don’t drag them and other heavy objects across your hardwood floor. Clean your floor and remove dirt or dust thoroughly. Use gliding pads for your furniture and slide them across your floor.

6. Make sure that you put floor mats on every doorway so that the shoes can’t carry dirt to your hardwood floor.

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Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – 6 Quick Cleaning Tips for Hardwood Floors

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