FORD INVESTS $325 MILLION IN MICHIGAN AND OHIO PLANTS TO BUILD AN ALL-NEW 6-SPEED TRANSMISSION
* - All-new, rear-drive 6-speed automatic transmission to be introduced beginning in mid-2005
* - Ford invests up to $325 million in Livonia (Mich.) and Sharonville (Ohio) plants
* - Investment is major step forward in Ford’s rollout of its new global flexible manufacturing system
LIVONIA, Mich., Nov. 20, 2003 – Pushing to improve fuel efficiency and maximize performance and smooth operation, Ford Motor Company is investing up to $325 million in two transmission plants to build an all-new, rear-wheel-drive 6-speed automatic transmission.
This includes an investment of $170 million in Ford’s Livonia (Mich.) Transmission Plant and $155 million for its Sharonville (Ohio) Transmission Plant, near Cincinnati. Since November 2002, the company has invested more than $1.3 billion in tooling and equipment at its North American powertrain plants.
“What we are trying to do with the new vehicles we introduce is to maximize our impact in improving fuel efficiency thereby reducing CO2 emissions as well,” said Jim Padilla, Ford Motor Company executive vice president and president of the Americas. “These new transmissions provide an average of 4 to 8 percent improvement in fuel efficiency over a traditional 4-speed automatic, so this is a trend with environmental impact worth noting.
“By 2008 more than 60 percent of Ford’s transmissions will be new, including new 6-speeds and continuously variable transmissions,” Padilla added. “Wherever we go…whatever we do…we will deliver for our customers. And we are going green.”
“Today less than one percent of all vehicles sold in North America have 6-speed automatics, so this is a unique transmission,” said Dave Szczupak, vice president, Powertrain Operations, Ford Motor Company. “By 2010, 15 to 20 percent of vehicles sold in North America will have 6-speeds, and by 2015 it will be about 50 percent. Twenty-five years ago, the average American was driving a car with a 3-speed automatic.”
“There is a revolution going on under the hood at Ford,” added Szczupak. “We are introducing an unprecedented number of new engines and transmissions between now and the end of the decade.”
Livonia will assemble the new transmission, and Sharonville will machine and assemble the transmission’s gears, the heart of an automatic. Sharonville will produce up to 7 million gears annually for the new transmission, and ship the assembled gears to Livonia for final assembly.
Production of the new transmission will begin at the Livonia plant by the middle of 2005, with gear production also beginning at Sharonville in 2005. This is the first all-new transmission awarded to the Livonia plant since 1984. Sharonville started building a new transmission a year ago, the new TorqShiftÒ 5-speed automatic – for Ford F-Series Super Duty trucks – and also builds a variety of 4-speed and 5-speed automatics.
To build the new 6R, the Livonia plant is receiving:
* A new final assembly and advanced testing area
* New case and valve-body machining lines
* New main control assembly line (routes hydraulic fluids)
The all-new, more efficient 6-speed will transmit power to a variety of future Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles, including sport-utility vehicles (SUVs) and rear-drive passenger cars.
“The powertrain is the heart of any great vehicle, so transmission performance is critical to the overall perception of quality in a vehicle,” said Louise Goeser, vice president, Quality. “And at Ford Motor Company, transmission quality and customer satisfaction are higher than they have ever been.”
Ford’s New Flexible Manufacturing System
The investment at the Livonia and Sharonville plants also continues Ford’s move to a new cost-effective and quality-enhancing global flexible manufacturing system to build powertrains. As part of the case and valve-body machining areas at Livonia and the gear machining line at Sharonville, Ford will install a series of “flexible” computer-numerically controlled (CNC) machines.
The new flexible CNC machines help Ford to react quickly to changing production needs and cost less than Ford’s outgoing transfer-line system. The new machines can be retooled and reprogrammed internally, with little or no interruption in production. In many cases, this reprogramming can be accomplished over a weekend.
This is important when it comes time to redesign a component or build a completely different transmission design on the line.
Ford’s new flexible manufacturing system replaces the complicated process of removing old-style dedicated milling or boring machines and installing new ones, which can interrupt production for months.
Three main elements are at the core of Ford’s flexible manufacturing strategy for powertrains:
* Common engine and transmission architectures
* Commonized manufacturing facilities
* Modern, flexible, numerically controlled machine tools (CNC machines) that can be easily retooled and reprogrammed to perform new tasks with minimal disruption to production.
“What we are doing is building a network of lean and flexible powertrain plants around the world that can respond quickly to changing market needs, while improving quality and manufacturing efficiency,” Padilla said. “The launch of this new 6-speed automatic will further our push into flexible manufacturing and helps us reduce manufacturing costs. It also ensures a bright future for the Livonia Transmission Plant.”
In addition to Livonia and Sharonville, new, flexible CNC machines also are being installed at Ford’s engine plants around the world, including: Cleveland Engine Plant No. 1; Lima (Ohio); Romeo (Mich.); Windsor (Ontario); and Ford’s Bridgend and Dagenham plants in England.
“Our new flexible system is the most dramatic change in manufacturing since the introduction of the assembly line by Henry Ford,” Szczupak said. “When you think about any great vehicle, it always has a great powertrain. It’s the heart of the vehicle. What we’re doing now with our engine and transmission manufacturing strategy is to deliver more great new powertrains to our customers more quickly, at the highest quality levels, and at the lowest cost.”
New Database Improves Transmission Quality
During production, each transmission built at Livonia will develop a sophisticated “birth history” that allows plant engineers to track every stage of production – starting even before major components arrive at the transmission plant. The system uses sophisticated Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology to track components as they move through production – similar to the type of radio frequencies used in a speed pass to pay at gasoline pumps.
Ford’s birth history technology is currently used at Ford engine plants building its new global I-4 engine – Dearborn, Mich., Chihuahua, Mexico, Valencia, Spain and Mazda’s plant in Hiroshima, Japan – as well as at Ford’s Windsor and Essex (Canada) engine plants for manufacture of the all-new 5.4-liter, 3-valve TritonÔ V-8.
Each engine or transmission’s birth history is recorded and maintained in a database related to a bar code. Such data include hundreds of metrics, including torque levels for specific bolts, various testing information and major components identified for traceability.
The birth history allows engineers to trace the precise path taken by any part, so any quality control issue can be traced back to its source, and affected parts taken out of production. “This has potential to save thousands of unnecessary replacements, and spare customers considerable inconvenience,” said Frazier Anderson, plant manager, Livonia Transmission Plant.
Standardization Leads to Efficiencies
Livonia’s new machining lines will feature a series of CNC machines arranged in cells of up to 12 identical machines. Cell operators will be able to monitor production at a computer workstation. Each operator can step into other team members’ roles, and trade information, concerns and best practices with coworkers.
Since the machines are identical, Ford is able to dramatically reduce the number of spare parts kept on hand. The new plants typically have one set of shared common spares for each system, rather than each machine, which results in a huge inventory cost savings.
“The degree of quality control that we’re getting with this new system at our engine plants is second-to-none,” Szczupak said. “We are verifying the quality of build throughout the process. Faults can’t pass down the line. With this degree of integrity, we can target 100-percent right, first time.”
Plant Background
The Livonia Transmission Plant, which was originally built in 1952 to manufacture U.S. Army tanks, today measures 3.3 million square feet and employs more than 2,500 people.
Today, the plant builds 4-speed automatics for the Ford Crown Victoria, Econoline, Expedition, F-150, Mustang, Lincoln Town Car and Mercury Grand Marquis.
The Sharonville plant, which was originally built in 1958, today measures 2.4 million square feet and employs more than 2,200 people.
Today, the plant builds 4-speed automatics for the Ford Crown Victoria, E-Series, Expedition, Excursion, Mercury Grand Marquis, Lincoln Navigator and Lincoln Town Car and 5-speed automatics for Ford’s F-Series Super Duty line of trucks, the Lincoln LS, Jaguar S-Type and Ford Thunderbird. It also makes components for the Ford Focus and Ford Escape.
Other Investments in Future Product
Ford Motor Company is investing heavily in a product-led transformation throughout the world.
Reply With Quote
