Barton Malow began working with GM in 1953, performing maintenance and miscellaneous work on plants in the Detroit area. Since then, we’ve performed projects both big and small, with the M5 Productivity Improvement Program among the largest.
Barton Malow was selected as the design-builder to improve GM facilities across eight of its North American locations in order to increase productivity. The principal approach to the project hinged on safety, schedule, cost, and required a deeply ingrained sense of collaboration. The project consisted of building four new body shops in four different locations (Arlington, Texas; Flint, Michigan; Fort Wayne, Indiana; and Silao, Mexico) within two years. Aside from new construction, improvements included new construction and building expansions to facilitate streamlined automotive production, relocation of existing utilities and infrastructure to support building expansion, and a significant amount of self-perform including civil, concrete, interiors, equipment setting, and rigging at all locations. In addition to Arlington, Flint, Fort Wayne and Silao, work was also performed at GM facilities in Toledo, Ohio; Spring Hill, Tennessee; and San Luis Potosi, Mexico.
Each team member on the project sites went through Quarterly Team Collaboration Sessions, which established a standard culture, goals, and norms for the project teams.
Listen to the “Concrete Heros: The Inside Story of the MegaSlab” episode of Said Differently, a Barton Malow Podcast, for more insight from team members who played a major role in the planning and execution of the 256,100 SF MegaSlab that was a part of this project.
