Chrysler Invests in Quality Control at Belvidere Plant

Chrysler Group LLC has spent $20 million to upgrade quality at its assembly plant in Belvidere, Ill. The factory, which is ramping up production of the new Dodge Dart compact car, also makes the Jeep Compass and Patriot crossover vehicles.

Belvidere has added validation and metrology centers and is now equipped with a materials laboratory and dimensional analysis technology to troubleshoot problems quickly on site.

Chrysler says 10 workers at the validation center examine about 20 vehicles per day at random for 437 different potential problems in such areas as fit and finish, heating, air conditioning and emissions.

Chrysler can't afford quality problems with the Dart, its re-entry to the increasingly important American small-car segment. The Dart is the company's first vehicle to ride on a platform developed by parent Fiat SpA: the chassis that also carries the Alfa Romeo Giulietta.

The quality facility began studying Dart components before the first prototype was built, thus providing early feedback to suppliers, according to Chrysler. The company says it will duplicate the center at its other North American assembly plants.

Plant-level control facilities are common in the auto industry. But Chrysler quality chief Doug Betts tells The Wall Street Journal that under Fiat ownership Chrysler now has the funds to pay for such projects something it lacked under the ownership of Daimler AG (1998-2007) and Cerberus Capital Management (2007-2009).