Faces of GM

Brian Reeve: Baltimore, Hybrid Transmission Assembly

August 26, 2010 at 1:17 pm

GM employee for 17 years
Married to Shelly going on 10 years
2 children – Olivia – 2, Alex – 1 month
Second Generation GM – father worked at GM for 35 years in Human Resources at the Baltimore Assembly plant

Education – BA from St. Mary’s College of Maryland – double major in Economics and Public Policy
Favorite TV show – World Series of Poker – has lived his dream by playing in the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas and made it half way through 750 participants
Obsessions – Totally obsessed with the Baltimore Ravens
Passions – “Spending time with my kids – they are all consuming”

It’s neat to be involved with new technologies like the hybrid transmission, used in the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra HD pickups, as well as the Cadillac Escalade.

I started my career with GM as a temporary hourly employee in 1993 at the Baltimore Assembly plant. I became permanent hourly in 1995 and then became a salaried employee as a supervisor in the paint shop in 1997. In 2000, I transferred to the Fairfax Assembly plant working in various areas throughout the plant. My wife missed Baltimore, so in 2004 we moved back and I started my current job at the Baltimore Transmission plant.

I’m currently a group leader in the Hybrid Transmission Assembly area. I enjoy facilitating two teams of five people each, motivating and encouraging them to come up with better ideas because we will never be done improving our products and processes. We’re always looking at ways to take our quality to the next level and eliminate any waste in the system. I enjoy what I do and it makes me happy when they succeed because then I feel like I’ve succeeded.

My most creative experience at GM was when I was at the Fairfax Assembly plant. I was part of a team that built and managed what we call a Simulated Work Environment (SWE). This is where we create an assembly line to build large wooden cars. It teaches employees part flow, how to layout a job the most efficient way, how to create job instructions, workload balance, team work, how to build a quality part and how to communicate with each other. We had employees from all over the Midwest come to the plant for this training. I loved being able to teach others how to make improvements at their plants.

I am totally obsessed with the Baltimore Ravens and have been since they came into town in 1996. I go to four or five games a year. I have a room in my basement dedicated to them – the jerseys, the Christmas tree – you name it – I have it! I took my one year old daughter to their training camp and will take her every year until she doesn’t want to go anymore.

I love kids and coached youth sports – football and lacrosse. When my kids get older I’ll pick it up again so I can coach them.

I don’t design or build the product – I’m a people person. The people at Baltimore Transmission make my job a perfect one for me.