Business

Normal Plant Exports Vehicles Around The World

Mitsubishi plant in Normal produces four models, each capable of being customized for export.

Imported goods may be the norm for most United States consumers these days‚ but the Mitsubishi plant in Normal is bucking that trend by exporting its automobiles to more than 25 countries.

This unusually high rate of auto exporting demonstrates the ability of the 1‚800-employee facility to adapt its product line to fit the unique demands of the respective countries. For instance‚ a Galant – one of the four models produced in Normal – exported to Saudi Arabia requires different components than one going to Kuwait.

“Vehicles going to Russia require a full-sized tire‚ so those vehicles must have a larger trunk space‚” notes Dan Irvin‚ corporate communications and public relations director. “We have to be flexible to accommodate these changes‚ which we are able to do because we have stamping on site and a flexible system of body shop assembly.”

From the time a roll of steel enters the fully integrated facility until it rolls off the assembly line as a finished vehicle‚ employees and robots will have approximately 15 hours invested in each of the almost 100‚000 vehicles produced annually.

“We build four different models here‚ so each of those is totally unique‚ and then we have the Galant that is exported with different components‚” Irvin says. “Our people are trained to do all of these different jobs on all of these different vehicles. Obviously‚ we have refined computer information systems that keep track of these individual changes‚ but it is the masterful job our employees do to keep track of this that makes this plant operate so efficiently.”

Situated on 636 acres‚ the 2.4 million square-foot facility is a friend to the environment. Mitsubishi was the first to utilize fully recyclable polypropylene for injection-molded bumpers. The packaging used by Mitsubishi and its suppliers (15 of which are located in McLean County) is 98 percent returnable‚ reusable packaging.

“When a part is designed for a vehicle‚ we design a container for that part‚ and we send the container back to the supplier to be reused‚” Irvin says. “We work to be environmentally responsible. In 2006‚ we recycled in excess of 20 tons of material.”

Working with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources‚ the company has set aside 3.1 acres for restoration with prairie grass and indigenous wildflowers‚ increasing the Central Illinois prairie grass percentage by 400 percent.

“It is a global commitment of Mitsubishi Motors to manage our resources‚ not only to protect the environment in general‚ but to contribute to the health and safety of our neighbors and employees‚” Irvin says.

As the company’s only North American manufacturing facility‚ the plant acts as an economic catalyst by contributing about $270 million annually to the local economy in taxes‚ salaries and benefits.

Story by Betsy Williams

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