Nearly every automobile and pickup truck made in North America during 2000 contained at least one part made by Carlisle Engineered Products (CEP). Some vehicles - typically trucks and sports utility vehicles - contained up to 20 of these Carlisle custom-manufactured rubber or plastic components. Each one was fashioned by the latest technologies but in accordance with the same high standards that date back more than a half century in CEP's distinguished past. Our parts and people. In 2000, CEP manufactured more than 300 million automotive components. These ranged from bumper beams to wire channels, from air dams to cowl screens, from door gaskets to radiator end tanks. A variety of technological processes shaped them, including rubber molding, rubber extrusion, blow molding, plastic injection molding and plastic extrusion. A wide range of multi-cultural employees that work at manufacturing facilities from Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Alabama and South Carolina, to Mexico and England operate these processes. In Pennsylvania, a new joint venture with Hispanic partners glued and assembled components; and a second minority joint venture will begin operations in Indiana in 2001.
Our business entails a constant search for cost efficiencies in the substitution of materials. Plastics and rubber replace metal and wood.
Advances in technology such as Carlisle's new two-shot injection molding enables us to create a rigid cowl screen with a soft seal in one process, eliminating the need for manual assembly while improving quality.
Ways to stay lean. Overall operating margins benefited from the previous year's restructuring, which eliminated a non-core business and centralized sales, estimating and program management. The emphasis on lean manufacturing techniques saved millions of dollars in costs. Employees and supervisors met with facilitators in 50 different week-long sessions and found better ways to make better products.| Carlisle Engineered Products |
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Making better parts from advances in technology
Manufacturing plants from Michigan to Mexico to Birmingham, England Applying lean techniques for cost efficiency Improved operating margins |
(b) CAGR is compounded annual growth rate
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