“Incredible and incredibly advanced,” was my first thought while touring Stellantis’ Detroit Assembly Complex - Jefferson. The site is the subject of Episode 1, in Season 3 of the IMTS+ original series, “Road Trippin’ with Steve.”
Stellantis is the definition of American manufacturing muscle — and it is ready to flex. The company is moving metal, putting out an astounding number of American-made cars, including the Jeep® Grand Cherokee, Jeep® Grand Cherokee 4xe, and Dodge® Durango. It is also committed to the highest level of quality control and has a deep pride in its products.
What else do they have? Robots! Rows and rows of robots. Robots lifting, placing, welding, drilling, screwing, gluing, and moving metal. Seeing robots and automation at work was truly awe-inspiring.
What did I experience? Employees are planning, programming, and inspecting the production of their robots and systems. Perhaps, more than anything, they are immensely proud to be creating quality products.
Now, I have been known to occasionally be a smidge dramatic (insert snickers of cube mates), but I can say with all sincerity that this visit made me proud to be an American. Not, like, Lee Greenwood-muscle-shirt-with-an-eagle proud, but close. This was an incredible operation filled with exceptional people — people who are true car people, not just people who happen to have jobs building cars. It was outstanding. Go ‘Merica!
P.S. Yes, I saw the hellcat engine. It was big, and it was bad, and I will tell random strangers about it.
Learn more about industry giants by watching all three episodes in Season 3 of “Road Trippin’ with Steve,” an IMTS+ series, at IMTS.com/RTWS. In the second episode Steve tours LIFT and in the third episode Steve visits FANUC America.
