Biker16 Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 Lurching at launch is nothing new at Ford Bradford Wernle Automotive News -- March 25, 2013 - 12:01 am ET The quality glitches that have plagued the 2013 Lincoln MKZ launch are not isolated. Ford Motor Co. has had a recurring problem with recent vehicle launches. Ford has issued five recalls on the 2013 Escape and two on the 2013 Fusion, the most serious involving vehicles with 1.6-liter EcoBoost engines. Ford asked some customers to park their vehicles after cooling problems caused at least nine vehicles to overheat and catch fire. Ford blamed a software glitch. Ford had one of its most aggressive vehicle launch programs in its history last year, as it rolled out the 2013 Escape, Fusion and C-Max Hybrid. The MKZ and Fusion are built in Hermosillo, Mexico. With the MKZ, Ford kicked off a new Lincoln quality inspection process. But the volume quickly overwhelmed inspectors. On Feb. 1, Ford said it was sending the overflow to its Flat Rock, Mich., plant for inspections. Joe Hinrichs, a manufacturing specialist who took over as Ford president of the Americas after Mark Fields became COO on Dec. 1, said last week that parts shortages caused more delays. Hinrichs said he wouldn't blame suppliers because Ford also had internal issues. He noted the MKZ launch had come on the heels of the major Fusion launch. Read more: http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130325/OEM01/303259963/lurching-at-launch-is-nothing-new-at-ford#ixzz2OqQXDm9O Follow us: @Automotive_News on Twitter | AutoNews on Facebook Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twintornados Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 All the more reason to schedule Lincoln launches that do not coincide with Ford launches.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 All the more reason to schedule Lincoln launches that do not coincide with Ford launches.... They didn't. They scheduled the MkZ launch 2 months later than the Fusion launch. But the Fusion launch was unusually delayed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 (edited) And what happend was that Ford had other internal supplier issues that were holding the car up as incomplete, well over 10,000 MKZs have been produced since January. The final inspection delay is cover story... Fusion launch was delayed by a micx of supplier issues and problems with new stampings. I know someone who is associated with stamping plants, panels like hoods are hard to get right and can take weeks of pre production attempts before quality is right, rear panels can cause continuing problems with clean out and quality Edited March 28, 2013 by jpd80 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deanh Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 And what happend was that Ford had other internal supplier issues that were holding the car up as incomplete,well over 10,000 MKZs have been produced since January. The final inspection delay is cover story... Fusion launch was delayed by a micx of supplier issues and problems with new stampings. I know someone who is associated with stamping plants, panels like hoods are hard to get right and can take weeks of pre production attempts before quality is right, rear panels can cause continuing problems with clean out and quality dont forget the front headlights with flaky paint due to the fact the supplier didnt allow the paint to cure long enough. As for stampings, there was an initial issue with the front bumpers to the point they were flying them in from Europe.........Im talking Fusion of course...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 (edited) dont forget the front headlights with flaky paint due to the fact the supplier didnt allow the paint to cure long enough. As for stampings, there was an initial issue with the front bumpers to the point they were flying them in from Europe.........Im talking Fusion of course...... Yes and I have a few questions for our posters here: Why do you think supplier problems are becoming so much of an issue for Ford in particular? could it be that Ford is screwing the price down too far or are suppliers just not able to produce the quality required? Edited March 28, 2013 by jpd80 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deanh Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 Yes and I have a few questions for our posters here: Why do you think supplier problems are becoming so much of an issue for Ford in particular? could it be that Ford is screwing the price down too far or are suppliers just not able to produce the quality required? possibly, personally I hope not, beancounter mentality can be counter productive....Ive witnessed it here at my work, crawl over broken glass naked to pick up the penny as the dollar bill flies past in the breeze........... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 possibly, personally I hope not, beancounter mentality can be counter productive....Ive witnessed it here at my work, crawl over broken glass naked to pick up the penny as the dollar bill flies past in the breeze........... European based cars and utilities are adopted by Ford NA along with their European parts supplier base, or are parts sourced locally? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deanh Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 European based cars and utilities are adopted by Ford NA along with their European parts supplier base, or are parts sourced locally? cant answer that, I would say Global, but I cant state thats factual... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Consult1 Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 Yes and I have a few questions for our posters here: Why do you think supplier problems are becoming so much of an issue for Ford in particular? could it be that Ford is screwing the price down too far or are suppliers just not able to produce the quality required? Before we look to deeply into the supply chain side of the equation, we might ask ourselves ~ are we hitting the program dates for 'design freeze'. If not, and we are still doing product engineering past that key milestone, I wouldn't automatically expect procurment/suppliers to bridge 100% of the gap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 (edited) Before we look to deeply into the supply chain side of the equation, we might ask ourselves ~ are we hitting the program dates for 'design freeze'. If not, and we are still doing product engineering past that key milestone, I wouldn't automatically expect procurment/suppliers to bridge 100% of the gap. I think I see what you're getting at here, US versions of Focus, Escape and Fusion still have significant local differences to their European equivalents and the time to get those changes right may mean design lock in occurs later than the planned dates, that delay and the changes to parts then revirberate down the supplier chain and implementing the changes on the production line compared to Europe means more delay... No doubt, some in Ford regret throwing away the opportunity to continue evolving previous platforms and keeping suppliers closer to hand... Ah the pain of one Ford, I guess the greater good of scales of economy far outweigh the short term pain of implementation. Edited March 29, 2013 by jpd80 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Extreme4x4 Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 I would think that getting everyone on board takes time. As a way of doing business, One Ford is a very young concept. What sounds easy to us, is probably far from it for everyone from engineers to suppliers. It is a completely different way of doing business, and as such, it is having growing pains. I imagine GM will see similar issues as they have their product onslaught, and work to consolidate platforms and processes. Ford is far ahead of them in this, so they are seeing the issues sooner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 I would think that getting everyone on board takes time. As a way of doing business, One Ford is a very young concept. What sounds easy to us, is probably far from it for everyone from engineers to suppliers. It is a completely different way of doing business, and as such, it is having growing pains. I imagine GM will see similar issues as they have their product onslaught, and work to consolidate platforms and processes. Ford is far ahead of them in this, so they are seeing the issues sooner. To be fair to GM, the strategies required are different to what can be done with a single brand like Ford. Having said that, the failure to treat Chevrolet with the respect due to it is the main impediment of GM being a truly great company, the dysfunction at the heart of prioritizing Cadillac ahead of key Chevrolet products and using Buick's chinese success to fund that is most perplexing in the extreme. I'm sure that GM run properly is a license to print money, they just need to get eh numb sculls away from the press.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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