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Ford F-150 output pinched by frame shortage, workers say


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Autonews

 

Production of the redesigned, aluminum-bodied Ford F-150 has been slowed by a shortage of frames from a supplier’s plant in Kentucky, according to workers and a UAW official.

They said Ford has canceled some planned overtime at the two plants that build the pickup and sent workers there home early multiple times in the past few months.

“Demand for our F-150 is sky high. Frames continue to hold both truck plants back from running overtime days on the weekend,” Todd Hillyard, the bargaining chairman of Ford’s Kansas City Assembly Plant with UAW Local 249, wrote on Facebook today.

The F-150 frames come from a plant in Elizabethtown, Ky., owned by Metalsa S.A. de C.V., a Mexican company that bought Dana Corp.’s structural products business in 2010.

A worker at Ford’s Dearborn Truck Plant, who didn’t want to be identified discussing internal business, said the problem has prevented the plant from running any “Super Sunday” shifts, when workers earn double their usual pay rate. The worker said a team of Ford employees is at the Metalsa plant to help resolve the issue.

Two other workers at the Dearborn plant said the frame shortages and reduced shifts have been ongoing for several months.

 

 

 

Lots more at the above link.

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This is nothing new, it's been going on since DTP ramped up to full production. It's just gotten worse since KCAP went online with the 15 model. I live right by the rail line that supplies DTP with parts. I'm starting to get stopped on my way home from work in the morning and every train is at least 50% frames out of a 100 car train. They're running more frequently too since I never used to get stopped by them.

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True. Went from two suppliers to one. Things are so bad they are trucking them up 10 at a time on I-75 as soon as they are completed.

 

There are high level discussions about how to remedy this. I've heard the number of units lost is in excess of 20k.

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Do they place a priority on factory orders over normal production?

 

Not sure what that means - they're all factory orders. If you mean do customer orders take priority over dealer stock the answer is yes provided the dealer sets the priority according to the rules.

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