SNUFFY Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 I ordered a 2012 Escape on Jan 3rd and was informed by Cyberdman that it will be built tomorrow Friday Mar 9th. I have vision in my mind of how they actually put together by what I have seen on Tv. Basically that it`s starts down an assembly line and emerges a few hours later as a complete ready to go vehicle. I have been reading some things on here that make me think that vision may be wrong. Can someone kind of explain the process? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biker16 Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 congratulations on your purchase. the ifrst step in production actually happens weeks in advance. the auto industry uses a two main acronyms to keep costs down, JITDS and ILVS JITDS is just in time delivery system ILVS is inline Vehicle sequencing. both minimize the the time between production of the thousand of components are waiting at the plant to be placed on a vehicle. this minimizes waste and keeps the supplier network from making too many or too few parts, also helps them make the parts that are needed when they are needed. when your order was place the system, communicates with all suppliers involved and determines when all the parts needed to build you car can be ready. his helps determine your build date. once confirmed the supplier begins securing the need parts from their suppliers, and schedules the production of the parts for your car. when those parts reach the factory, in most cases the parts are already sorted in order of the sequences the vehicle is being produced. parts once they enter the factory door should be installed in most cases within 12 hours or less. at the assembly there are 4 sections of the plant. in order: Body Shop, which in the case of you CUV is completely automated, and manned by a staff of robots, that take the individual stampings, which are made on site and at other plants in the country or the world and turns them into the vehicle body. a lot of Escape stampings are coming from the focus plant in Wayne Michigan. looks omething like this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muLmD_7DANw Paint shop this is where the body and doors are painted. and struturall adhesives that have become very iportatant to modern cars are applied, it in the case of your CUv would be highly automated, after painting the cars are sent in to an oven to cure the paint and adhesives. because of the the trouble of changing paint nozzles, car are painted in batches, and held in an automated storage facility until they are ready to be built. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUfJKAqJVtM 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biker16 Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 chassis is where the engine trans axle, fueltank, front and rear subrframes, and AWD systems are installed, it is automated but humans place the components in place for the machine to install on the Vehicle. every thing is sequenced to the order of the vehicle being produced, this way there is no chance someone could put the wrong part on a vehicle. this is a video of the identical system used a MAP the focus plant in Michigan. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRQuEcOesZA&t=40s Final or trim line this is the most human intensive part of the Assembly process, where most specialization of trims, and options mean that humans are the best solution. basically the greater the need flexibility the less automated it will be. until this step, the number of build combination is relatively low #of colors x # of engine combinations x # of drive train combinations x suspension combinations. for the escape that equals 60 different combinations for the Focus at this point it would be 180 different combinations, but in the trim this is where everything else is installed, the doors are removed from the vehicle for better access to the interior and send down a separate door line to be fitted, it meet up with the cars later near the end of the line. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQYKmjPuxME 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SNUFFY Posted March 8, 2012 Author Share Posted March 8, 2012 Cool !! thanks for the info Biker16 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimcam48 Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 That Body Shop video is pretty cool. It looks like Star Wars... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 (edited) Years ago, the emphasis was on changing plants into Flex Plants capable of building different vehicles but then Ford discovered that standardizing the build sequence and processes for most vehicles achieved as much if not more than the costly reconfiguration of plants for Flex operations that were never going to happen. In any case, the complexity of the setting up variable supplier park logistics precluded Flex plant operations from ever fully taking hold. It also proved that more savings were achieved at supplier level on on the production floor. Edited March 9, 2012 by jpd80 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2b2 Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 Great thread, guys! & Years ago, the emphasis was on changing plants into Flex Plants capable of building different vehicles but then Ford discovered that standardizing the build sequence and processes for most vehicles achieved as much if not more than the costly reconfiguration of plants for Flex operations that were never going to happen. In any case, the complexity of the setting up variable supplier park logistics precluded Flex plant operations from ever fully taking hold. It also proved that more savings were achieved at supplier level on on the production floor. I've wondered about this & appreciate the explanation, Jpd! (tho think Fomoco oughta come up with a new name & stop saying "flex plants") Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 (edited) Great thread, guys! & I've wondered about this & appreciate the explanation, Jpd! (tho think Fomoco oughta come up with a new name & stop saying "flex plants") The term used was fractal element, setting up build process and sequence so that the work stations do basically the same jobs for each vehicle, the idea taken from Flex plants but used to standardize the building process across most vehicles - that's where the savings are, in the configuring of each separate plant to be similar to the others. I think GM calls it Layer building and steps away from their modular building concept from a few years back. In any case, manufacturers are able to standardize the layout of plants regardless of vehicles built so that if a change in process is developed, it can be implemented across all of them. It makes a lot of sense when you think about the off-line module assembly process and how that comes together before the final trim line, also making the supplier park and delivery routing and scheduling work as one with plants. Edited March 9, 2012 by jpd80 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
transitman Posted March 18, 2012 Share Posted March 18, 2012 Can someone from the paint shop or with the knowledge explain the primer coat process. Is it dipped or sprayed. If it's sprayed, what is the dipping process I've seen in videos and on shows like Ultimate Factories? Is the body panel sheet metal galvanized to help inhibit rust? A neighbor once told me that Ford grounds their car bodies to prevent rust, any truth to this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkisler Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 (edited) Can someone from the paint shop or with the knowledge explain the primer coat process. Is it dipped or sprayed. If it's sprayed, what is the dipping process I've seen in videos and on shows like Ultimate Factories? Is the body panel sheet metal galvanized to help inhibit rust? A neighbor once told me that Ford grounds their car bodies to prevent rust, any truth to this? It's a multistep process. 1. The whole car body is cleaned with detergents and then a phosphate coating is applied which prepares the body for subsequent coats 2. The body is fully submerged in a cathodic e-coat tank (this is the electrical charge you were talking about). The electrical charge is applied to ensure the corrosion material is evenly applied and reaches hidden areas. The body then goes through an oven to cure the e-coat. 3. Various sealers are applied to the body, and then cured in an oven. 4. A prime coat is applied and oven cured 5. A base coat is applied and oven cured 6. A clear coat is applied and oven cured 7. In some cases an additional coat is applied (tri-coat) for additional luster (this paint is optional). In some cases the clear coat is tinted. This process is pretty much industry standard, however efficiencies are being implemented. Paint is moving from solvent based to water based. Ford's Michigan Assembly Plant is the first in the U.S. to utilize a 3 wet coats process (primer, base, and clearcoat) where all three coats are applied and only baked once which saves a lot of energy. Edited March 19, 2012 by Austin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mettech Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 Very interesting.. I am surprised that the assembly workers don't wear uniforms and they are allowed to wear.. gym shorts? At least they should wear something with Ford on it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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