Our presentation covers several new products and ideas from Ford, all of which are under embargo until later in December or January, so you will have to check back later for an update on those.
After the new vehicle brief, a short lunch and a Q&A period with some key executives, we have a chance to tour this bright and modern 1.2 million square-foot building.
“We’ve modernized just about every square foot of this facility to establish a new standard for a high-tech, green, flexible and efficient auto factory,” said Jim Tetreault, Ford Vice-President of North American Manufacturing, “The transformation of Michigan Assembly Plant stands as a symbol for the transformation of Ford.”
New cars making the trip down the three-mile assembly line must pass dozens of rigorous quality inspections. Dynamic testing is done to check tire pressure, brake systems and shifting verification. Static testing to check the radio, air conditioning, keyfobs, wiper programs and emissions verification are also performed.
The CAL (Customer Acceptance Line) inspects the vehicles for potential customer quality concerns due to manufacturing or design. They use the customers’ standards and expectations of the vehicle.
A twenty-minute water test that shoots 42 multi-directional jets of water ensures that the vehicles do not have one single drop of inside. The Air Leakage Test measures the interior air flow and finished vehicles are pressurized to measure the rate of air escapement. Air leakage is a key contributing factor to wind noise and water leaks.
This plant is Ford’s most flexible, high-volume and modern manufacturing facility in its global operations. A new three-wet paint booth uses 66 robots to precisely apply paint to the cars; in the past, this job was done mostly by hand. The robotic paint sprays more consistently and provides a more environmentally-friendly application.
In the body shop, 500 robots are capable of 4,000 welds per vehicle.
Now, the company can run multiple models down the same production line without downtime for changeover of tooling.
Consumers want change, and they want it quickly. This new plant gives Ford a level of flexibility that they don’t have in any other of their assembly plants around the world. Tetreault says “this plant embodies everything we as a company strive to become – modern, efficient, flexible, global and sustainable.”
This new assembly plant appears to be all of that. And with some great new vehicles coming out, this is going to be an exciting time for Ford.
 |
| Photo: Lacey Elliott/Auto123.com |
After the new vehicle brief, a short lunch and a Q&A period with some key executives, we have a chance to tour this bright and modern 1.2 million square-foot building.
“We’ve modernized just about every square foot of this facility to establish a new standard for a high-tech, green, flexible and efficient auto factory,” said Jim Tetreault, Ford Vice-President of North American Manufacturing, “The transformation of Michigan Assembly Plant stands as a symbol for the transformation of Ford.”
New cars making the trip down the three-mile assembly line must pass dozens of rigorous quality inspections. Dynamic testing is done to check tire pressure, brake systems and shifting verification. Static testing to check the radio, air conditioning, keyfobs, wiper programs and emissions verification are also performed.
The CAL (Customer Acceptance Line) inspects the vehicles for potential customer quality concerns due to manufacturing or design. They use the customers’ standards and expectations of the vehicle.
A twenty-minute water test that shoots 42 multi-directional jets of water ensures that the vehicles do not have one single drop of inside. The Air Leakage Test measures the interior air flow and finished vehicles are pressurized to measure the rate of air escapement. Air leakage is a key contributing factor to wind noise and water leaks.
This plant is Ford’s most flexible, high-volume and modern manufacturing facility in its global operations. A new three-wet paint booth uses 66 robots to precisely apply paint to the cars; in the past, this job was done mostly by hand. The robotic paint sprays more consistently and provides a more environmentally-friendly application.
In the body shop, 500 robots are capable of 4,000 welds per vehicle.
Now, the company can run multiple models down the same production line without downtime for changeover of tooling.
Consumers want change, and they want it quickly. This new plant gives Ford a level of flexibility that they don’t have in any other of their assembly plants around the world. Tetreault says “this plant embodies everything we as a company strive to become – modern, efficient, flexible, global and sustainable.”
This new assembly plant appears to be all of that. And with some great new vehicles coming out, this is going to be an exciting time for Ford.
 |
| Photo: Lacey Elliott/Auto123.com |