Light Duty Technology Cost Analysis, Power - US Environmental ...

analysis, mean hourly wage rates were chosen for each occupation, representing an
average wage across the United States.
The Labor Database is broken into two (2) primary industry sections, Motor Vehicle Parts
Manufacturing (supplier base) and Motor Vehicle Manufacturing (OEMs). These two (2)
industry sections correspond to the BLS, North American Industry Classification System
(NAICS) 336300 and 336100 respectively. Within each industry section of the database,
there is a list of standard production occupations taken from the BLS Standard
Occupation Classification (SOC) system. For reference, the base SOC code for
production occupations within the Motor Vehicle Parts Manufacturing and Motor Vehicle
Manufacturing is 51-0000. Every production occupation listed in the Labor Database
has a calculated labor rate, as discussed in more detail below. For the midsize power-split
HEV case study (#0502), 2009 rates were used.
C.4.3.2 Direct Versus Total Labor, Wage Versus Rate
Each standard production occupation found in the Labor Database has an SOC
identification number, title, labor description, and mean hourly wage taken directly from
the BLS.
Only “direct” production occupations are listed in the labor database. Team assemblers
and forging, cutting, punching, and press machine operators are all considered direct
production occupations. There are several tiers of manufacturing personnel supporting
the direct laborers that need to be accounted for in the total labor costs, such as quality
technicians, process engineers, lift truck drivers, millwrights, and electricians. A method
typically used by the automotive industry to account for all of these additional “indirect
labor” costs – and the one chosen for this cost analysis – is to calculate the contribution
of indirect labor as an average percent of direct labor, for a given production occupation,
in a given industry sector.
The BLS Database provides labor wage data, rather than labor rate data. In addition to
what a direct laborer is paid, there are several additional expenses the employer must
cover in addition to the employee base wage. This analysis refers to these added
employer expenditures as “fringe”. Fringe is applicable to all employees and will be
discussed in greater detail following.
It should be noted that the BLS motor vehicle and motor vehicle parts manufacturing
(NAICS 336100 & 336300) labor rates include union and non-union labor rates,
reflecting the relative mix of each in the workforce at the time the data was gathered
(2009).
32