ARLINGTON — The General Motors Arlington Assembly plant set a record for the most vehicles produced at the location in March.
The 34,000 SUVs were the most manufactured at the 4-million-square-foot facility since it opened in 1954.
John Urbanic was the plant executive director overseeing the speedy production with other members of management and the United Auto Workers Local 276. The Arlington plant makes Chevrolet Tahoes, Chevrolet Suburbans, GMC Yukons, and Cadillac Escalades.
“Milestones are proof our workforce does it better than any other manufacturer,” Urbanic told The Dallas Express.
Their work paid off this week when GM announced it planned to invest $500 million in the Arlington plant for upgrades.
Urbanic, 56, came to Arlington three years ago during the COVID-19 pandemic. He started with GM on the assembly line in 1988 and worked his way into management with plant assignments in Pontiac, Michigan; Fort Wayne, Indiana; Parma, Ohio; Detroit, Michigan; Flint, Michigan; Lake Orion, Michigan; and Scarborough, Ontario. He held the titles of shop director general assembly and director of performance improvement in Warren, Ohio.
“I started my career as a summer-vacation replacement,” Urbanic said. “The journey for me has been through multiple locations. The perspective I have, as a former hourly employee, is to find things to support our team efforts and team leaders.”
Urbanic said he and his management team in Arlington define success by what happens on the assembly line, which has been operating 24 hours a day with three eight-hour shifts since 2013.
“We want to safely produce vehicles with exceptional quality levels on every shift, every day,” said Urbanic, who has a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Windsor in Ontario. “We work very hard with our UAW counterparts to make sure we achieve it consistently.”
The production record came despite the pandemic and supply-chain constraints.
“We started getting a better, steady supply of parts coming into the plant this year,” he added. “We also leveraged our manufacturing systems for maximum efficiency. We’re very focused on executing our manufacturing strategies. It has put us in a position where we’re running better than ever.”
The pandemic was one of the most challenging experiences of Urbanic’s career. It came at a time when GM was launching new vehicles and models in the plant and making a commitment worldwide to eventually switch to making all-electric cars, trucks, and SUVs.
“Launches are a challenge for us, especially with high-volume vehicles,” Urbanic said. “We responded very well. I can tell you I am very proud of our team.”
Since coming to Arlington, Urbanic and his wife, Renee, have spent time in the community.
“We like concerts, we like good restaurants, and we like ball games. We’re actually hockey fans and like to play golf,” Urbanic said. “We both love it here. We’re enjoying everything Texas has to offer. We’re thrilled to be here.”
In his first three years, though, Urbanic has been learning a lot about Texas through his colleagues inside the Arlington plant.
“Every now and then, there’s a crisis situation that requires you to be here a lot,” Urbanic said. “We make sure our schedule supports all three shifts.”
As GM Executive Vice President of Global Manufacturing and Sustainability Gerald Johnson announced the $500 million infusion of capital to build the next generation of big SUVs with internal-combustion engines on Thursday, hundreds of UAW auto workers cheered. Some told The Dallas Express they felt a sense of job security even as GM pushed toward an all-electric future by 2035.
“I am proud to be celebrating an investment from GM into our facility,” Urbanic added. “It’s a huge boost of confidence for all of us. I am thrilled and humbled to be part of it.”
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