The announcement by Chrysler Group to invest $63 million in its Warren Stamping Plant (Mich.) came today following the Warren City Councils approval in May of the companys tax abatement request. The investment will be used to expand the current 65-year-old facility. Chrysler has invested over $5.3 billion to grow U.S. facilities since 2009.

“As production at our Chrysler Group assembly plants has nearly tripled in the past five years, we have been pushing our stamping facilities to keep up,” said Mauro Pino, Vice President and Head of Manufacturing, Chrysler Group. “This much-needed investment for a new press line will help us continue to meet demand and maintain the quality that our stamping plants have worked so hard to achieve.”

Construction for the new press line has already begun with production targeted to begin December 2015. The investment will be used to purchase and install the latest high-speed Servo Tandem Press technology. This new press line will increase capacity by up to 12,000 hits per day or approximately 3.6 million parts per year. The plant currently operates 12 major press lines and three large progressive press lines, producing 80 million parts annually, with nearly 2,000 employees.

The new Servo Tandem Press will increase the output rate, while also reducing energy usage. The press’s servo drive allows for 100 percent programmable control and movement of the ram speed at any position in the press stroke unlike a mechanical press that operates at a fixed speed.

The Warren Stamping Plant, which has been in operation since 1949, provides parts stamped from sheet metal, including hoods, roofs, liftgates, side apertures, fenders and floor pans, for a variety of vehicles built at several of the Company’s U.S. and Canadian facilities.

These parts are delivered to the assembly plants, then welded together in the body shops to form the frame of the vehicle.

Source: Chrysler Group LLC