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| Ford World Headquarters(Photo: Mathieu St-Pierre) |
Dearborn, Michigan. 5 months into Ford's Way Forward and the changes are becoming more and more apparent. Although the ride through this program has not been without its ups and downs, the progress is quite measurable. Ford sent out invitations to the automotive media for a visit of their completely revamped Dearborn Development Center (DDC). 43 million dollars went into the 365 acres proving grounds to simulate American and European roads. This investment is designed to streamline the development of new products in order to reduce the average age of the products from 4.4 to 3.2 years by 2008 for one, and to effectively evaluate every new vehicle for better quality and safety. This Center features a wind tunnel, a steering and handling course, a high and low speed test track as well as wet and dry vehicle dynamic testing areas.
Mark Fields, Ford President of the Americas, is very satisfied with the way
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| Mark Fields(Photo: Mathieu St-Pierre) |
the program is moving forward. He stated that Ford's market share decline has been dramatically slowed down. He is confident that with the arrival of all-important new products in new segments, their hold on their share will be fortified. One of the most important is to continue to lead in the full-size trucks category. In fact, he mentioned that although general truck sales recently fell, the F-Series gained two market share points. One of the primary goals of the Way Forward Plan is to improve the core products and the cost structure.
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| (Photo: Mathieu St-Pierre) |
Derrick Kuzak and Peter Horbury continued on by explaining that huge changes have been brought to the Cycle or development plan. Instead of creating a product and presenting it to the public, Ford will now proceed in the opposite direction. The customer will be asked to describe what they are looking for in a vehicle and they will work their way from there. They iterated that it would no longer be business as usual at Ford. For example, last April, an assembly line was randomly brought to a screeching halt for quality control. The stipulated Way Forward Plan is flexible and will be adjusted if necessary. This open-mindness is apparent, as Ford has adopted many of Mazda's and Volvo's development practices. The new Global Product Development System will help Ford reduce development delays by 10 to 14 months and therefore cut costs. In the process of saving money, Ford will not cut any corners. They are committed to improving the quality, inside and out, design and reliability of their products.
