Green Manufacturing
It is also one of Ford’s greenest. Environmentally friendly initiatives include:
Model for One Ford
Fleming also calls the plant “a shining example of ‘One Ford’ in action.” One Ford is the brain child of Ford chief, Alan Mulally, who believed the only way to save Ford was to turn over its portfolio, to eventually only include a new breed of vehicle, one which would be mostly engineered in one part of the world, but then sold everywhere. There would also be fewer platforms. Net result: better vehicles, significantly less overall R&D expenses.
One Ford also means these vehicles are produced the same way, in their respective factories around the world.
“The manufacturing processes we’re using here will also be used by our team in Saarlouis (Germany) to build Focus Electric vehicles for our European customers,” said Fleming. “So Michigan Assembly is really the One Ford model for how we will build electric vehicles anywhere in the world.”
Part of a Larger Plan
Michigan Assembly is one of 11 Ford facilities in the US which received loans from the U.S. Department of Energy, as a part of that agency’s plan to strengthen the country’s ability to develop and produce advanced technology vehicles. Nissan, Tesla, Fisker and Vehicle Production Group (VPG) are also on board.
Fleming said Ford is committed to making Michigan a “center of excellence for electrification.”
It is also one of Ford’s greenest. Environmentally friendly initiatives include:
- One of the largest solar-powered generation systems in the US, to augment use of conventional electricity. Excess solar energy can be stored, for use when no direct sunlight is available;
- Ten electric charging stations for the fleet of electric trucks, which transport parts between the assembly facilities;
- First US plant to commercially use a three-stage “wet paint” application process, which purportedly saves up to 8,000 metric tons of CO2 from entering the atmosphere, because it requires so much less natural gas and electricity;
- Recycling everything that comes into the plant, including cardboard, bubble wrap, Styrofoam and plastic water bottles.
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| Photo: Mike Goetz/Auto123.com |
Model for One Ford
Fleming also calls the plant “a shining example of ‘One Ford’ in action.” One Ford is the brain child of Ford chief, Alan Mulally, who believed the only way to save Ford was to turn over its portfolio, to eventually only include a new breed of vehicle, one which would be mostly engineered in one part of the world, but then sold everywhere. There would also be fewer platforms. Net result: better vehicles, significantly less overall R&D expenses.
One Ford also means these vehicles are produced the same way, in their respective factories around the world.
“The manufacturing processes we’re using here will also be used by our team in Saarlouis (Germany) to build Focus Electric vehicles for our European customers,” said Fleming. “So Michigan Assembly is really the One Ford model for how we will build electric vehicles anywhere in the world.”
Part of a Larger Plan
Michigan Assembly is one of 11 Ford facilities in the US which received loans from the U.S. Department of Energy, as a part of that agency’s plan to strengthen the country’s ability to develop and produce advanced technology vehicles. Nissan, Tesla, Fisker and Vehicle Production Group (VPG) are also on board.
Fleming said Ford is committed to making Michigan a “center of excellence for electrification.”