[CMI-CM] Fwd: bikes in plants

[Jason Kwiatkowski]

>Powertrain Workers Use 1,500 Bicycles
>
>Associated Press
>
>June 7, 2001
>
>YPSILANTI, Mich. (AP) General Motors Corp. makes a lot of auto engines. So 
>many,
>  it can be a challenge ferrying notes
>between offices in the company's Powertrain plant, which spans 4.8 million
>square-feet.
>
>So to battle what could be daunting hikes around the plant, auto workers 
>shuttle
>  around on 1,500 highly fuel-efficient
>vehicles: bikes.
>
>There are two-wheelers and three-wheelers, with different types of baskets, 
>bins
>  and boxes attached. Some heavy-duty
>bicycles are specially made for industrial use.
>
>Workers in the sheet metal department make custom accessories for the 
>bikes,
>including cup holders and personalized
>plaques. Mechanics at the plant's bike repair shop keep the bicycles and
>tricycles rolling.
>
>Curtis Schoen has ridden a bike at the plant for 20 years. A production 
>tool
>"chaser,'' Schoen is responsible for getting
>heavy tools where they need to be to keep the production line running.
>
>His bike is a large tricycle with a tray attached in front to carry tools.
>Balancing the drills and broach sticks on the tray
>while pedaling can be a challenge, Schoen said. And riding a bike loaded 
>with
>about 80-150 pounds is definitely not
>for pleasure, he said.
>
>"It ain't easy,'' he told The Ann Arbor News for a Thursday story. "It was 
>a lot
>  easier 20 years ago.''
>
>The bikes have been used in the plant for years. About seven years ago, the
>plant began to gradually switch from
>scooters to bikes.
>
>"They're cheaper and they helped everyone's job,'' said Debbie Leicht, a
>maintenance supervisor who recently began
>riding a bike.
>
>General Motors isn't alone. Demand for industrial bicycles and tricycles 
>has
>increased in the past five to ten years, mainly
>because of increased environmental concerns, said Hamid Hamadanian, 
>president of
>  Houston-based Husky Bicycles.
>Lower cost and health benefits are also factors, he said.
>
>"Almost every Fortune 500 company that has large campuses, plants or 
>hangers use
>  bikes,'' Hamadanian said. The U.S.
>Navy and NASA also use them.
>
>Industrial bikes weigh about 50 pounds about double the weight of a 
>recreational
>  bike and can carry up to 400 pounds,
>  Hamadanian said.
>
>Leicht explained the various benefits of bikes at work. Fuel costs don't 
>exist
>and maintenance costs are less than for
>motorized vehicles, she said.
>
>Another plus is that the bikes are easier to maneuver and park.
>
>But there are maintenance costs. The Powertrain plant bike shop goes 
>through 25
>tires a week, and making sure there
>are tubes and tires on hand to get bikes back on the job is a chore, said 
>bike
>shop mechanics Tom Lusk and Bill Simmons.
>
>Flat tires are commonplace because the floor is often littered with sharp 
>metal
>from the production process, the mechanics
>say.
>
>Another drawback: There's little chance to build up speed on your bike 
>because
>there's so many stop signs, laughed
>Savonda Stewart, who delivers air filters to various production areas on 
>her
>bike.
>
>Even so, employees say bikes give them a certain sense of freedom.
>
>"It's nice to be mobile,'' Stewart said.
>
>

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