Parts makers rev up an economic engine.

• Position: Interview with North Carolina State University's College of Management professor Cecil Bozarth - Interview

Cecil Bozarth is an assistant professor of business management at N.C. State's College of Management. He has a master's in decision sciences from Georgia State University and a doctorate in operations management from UNC Chapel Hill. He has consulted for the automobile industry and this year completed a study of automotive-related manufacturing.

BNC: Why don't we hear much about automotive manufacturing here?

It is a rather hidden industry. Everyone tends to concentrate on final-assembly plants. in a lot of cases, these companies are moving from less-hospitable areas and are not going to raise a flag and a fuss that they are here. In some cases, they are test sites, the first North America sites, for Japanese or German manufacturers. They're seeing how that plays out.

BNC: The N.C. Department of Commerce's count of Tar Heel plants and employees in auto manufacturing is larger than the Employment Security Commission's [see charts]. Which is more accurate?

The 24 plants I looked at had about 12,300 employees, and those were plants only doing automotive work - 92% of it was auto-related. So when the Department of Commerce says 253 automotive companies employ more than 63,000, that may even be a conservative figure if you include plants that are doing 10% to 15% automotive or trucking-related work.

BNC: What kinds of things do they make?

Gosh, you name it, they make it. Plastic body components, plastic engine components, automotive motors, electric motors, anti-lock brake systems, rubber trim, rubber hoses. You could virtually make an entire car, maybe except for the engine blocks, in North Carolina.

BNC: How many companies are original-equipment manufacturers?

For the 24 plants we looked at, 65% of their business was OEM and 33% was aftermarket. There were very few companies that did both equally. Most were either one or the other. We have some very good, high-tech original-equipment manufacturers. ITT makes anti-lock brakes. There's Cambridge Industries and ASMO. Standard Products makes the rubber trim that goes on cars, the window molding. I wouldn't call it high-tach, but it's a very, very good, consistent manufacturer.

BNC: What effect is consolidation having?

It used to be that someone like GM would say, "I want it to look like this. Here's the specs." Now cars are so complex, manufacturers ask them to design an entire working system. You don't provide just the dash pad. You provide the entire instrument panel and pad. That makes...