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Ford Hires Transformation Officer to Improve Manufacturing Quality


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1 hour ago, Joe771476 said:

An automobile company that was founded in 1903 should have figured out quality control decades ago!  Unbelievable!


Because the market environment never changes and all those 1903 employees are still here, right?  

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On 3/23/2023 at 6:16 AM, akirby said:


I’ve been saying that for years.  The CEO not only has to believe it he has to demand it from everyone and hold everyone financially accountable.

At the same time, the CEO should not be crying about quality costs when most if that is symptomatic of the cost saving measured adopted in the past five years.

When so many parts are outsourced, it is expected that drifts in quality will occur, this is where Ford failed to monitor their suppliers and respond quickly. I also suspect that locked in prices for certain periods (years?) also played a big part in this mess.

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1 hour ago, jpd80 said:

At the same time, the CEO should not be crying about quality costs when most if that is symptomatic of the cost saving measured adopted in the past five years.

When so many parts are outsourced, it is expected that drifts in quality will occur, this is where Ford failed to monitor their suppliers and respond quickly. I also suspect that locked in prices for certain periods (years?) also played a big part in this mess.

I agree and there is only one way to reduce costs with out hurting quality.  Deming stated that over his 70+ years working in service and manufacturing that more than 45% of total costs could be traced back to waste and rework.  That all comes from processes that are not capable of meeting specs.  And you cannot know if your processes are capable without measuring and confirming with accurate and precise measurement systems in place to prove that they do.  You do not measure the product to see if it passes but to see if your process is capable.  Based on the results F processes are not capable.

Of course all of this takes time to setup but this is what you get if you do not take the time.

The story goes that in the early 80's when the VP of Quality of F was told to get Deming in Deming said he would not come or even return the call unless the CEO called.

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On 3/23/2023 at 10:06 AM, Joe771476 said:

An automobile company that was founded in 1903 should have figured out quality control decades ago!  Unbelievable!

It seems that quality was best when Bill Ford ran everything.The products weren't the most popular, and they wasted money on redundant platforms, but we were on this forum gushing how Ford quality met or exceeded Japanese standards. They would roll out cars like Five Hundred and 2005 Mustang with few or no recalls.

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56 minutes ago, atomcat68 said:

It seems that quality was best when Bill Ford ran everything.The products weren't the most popular, and they wasted money on redundant platforms, but we were on this forum gushing how Ford quality met or exceeded Japanese standards. They would roll out cars like Five Hundred and 2005 Mustang with few or no recalls.

 

Quality under Mulally was good too.

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47 minutes ago, rmc523 said:

 

Quality under Mulally was good too.

I've mentioned consulting in Quality Management several times and we had a saying 'God protect us from people trying to save us rich'.  Too many times leaders are trying to save $$ instead of trying to make $$ is the problem.

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56 minutes ago, rmc523 said:

 

Quality under Mulally was good too.


He also ushered in all the ecoboost engines, platform consolidations that eventually led to lots of issues as well as the DCT trans fiasco.  But he was still a good leader.

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34 minutes ago, tarheels23 said:

I've mentioned consulting in Quality Management several times and we had a saying 'God protect us from people trying to save us rich'.  Too many times leaders are trying to save $$ instead of trying to make $$ is the problem.


Short term goals which is often driven by annual compensation and/or stock prices.

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52 minutes ago, akirby said:


He also ushered in all the ecoboost engines, platform consolidations that eventually led to lots of issues as well as the DCT trans fiasco.  But he was still a good leader.

 

There are going to be issues when a manufacturer introduces new drivetrains. The key is how fast it moves to correct them. Even Honda has had issues with some of its new drivetrains. I can forgive teething pains. 

 

The DCT transmission fiasco was different...the company moved ahead knowing that it was a faulty transmission, and let the dealers and paying customers sort out the mess until the lawsuits were filed. 

Edited by grbeck
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1 hour ago, rmc523 said:

 

Quality under Mulally was good too.

I think it started to take a step back with him. When he reduced platforms, he always chose the European platforms which yielded less reliable products and had things like MyFord touch released before they were debugged and let's not forget the Powershift transmission. His alma mater, Boeing did these things as well (like the 787 problems).

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37 minutes ago, akirby said:


He also ushered in all the ecoboost engines, platform consolidations that eventually led to lots of issues as well as the DCT trans fiasco.  But he was still a good leader.

 

True.  I feel like initially it was good, though maybe that was a holdover from Bill Ford.

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31 minutes ago, atomcat68 said:

I think it started to take a step back with him. When he reduced platforms, he always chose the European platforms which yielded less reliable products and had things like MyFord touch released before they were debugged and let's not forget the Powershift transmission. His alma mater, Boeing did these things as well (like the 787 problems).


Fusion to Mondeo was a perfect example.  CD3 fusion was bulletproof.  CD4 was a step backwards in many ways ( not styling though).

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47 minutes ago, akirby said:


Short term goals which is often driven by annual compensation and/or stock prices.

I agree but also when I say save $$ vs make money I meant specifically processes, raw materials, supplier relations, and capital expenses.  Too many look for easy $$ in purchasing in my practical experience and sacrifice long-term supplier relationships.

Edited by tarheels23
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35 minutes ago, akirby said:


Fusion to Mondeo was a perfect example.  CD3 fusion was bulletproof.  CD4 was a step backwards in many ways ( not styling though).

Agreed. That car was one of the specific exampled I was thinking about. I liked Mullaly for his ability to identify places to save money and reduce platforms, but as far as product development itself, he was pretty much a cancer as he chose the wrong platforms. Quality even went downhill for existing products that weren't switched to Euro sourced platforms. 

 

My 2005 Mustang was so much better than my 2012 Mustang at the 10 year mark, and that was after the 2005 was fixed from a catastrophic collision from being rear ended by a truck. Quality moved downhill during Mullaly. My 2012 feels like a barn find car that sat for 30 years with its embarrassing noises, pops creaks and snaps that even pedestrians notice as I drive by and I do maintain the car regularly. 

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1 hour ago, atomcat68 said:

Agreed. That car was one of the specific exampled I was thinking about. I liked Mullaly for his ability to identify places to save money and reduce platforms, but as far as product development itself, he was pretty much a cancer as he chose the wrong platforms. Quality even went downhill for existing products that weren't switched to Euro sourced platforms. 

 

My 2005 Mustang was so much better than my 2012 Mustang at the 10 year mark, and that was after the 2005 was fixed from a catastrophic collision from being rear ended by a truck. Quality moved downhill during Mullaly. My 2012 feels like a barn find car that sat for 30 years with its embarrassing noises, pops creaks and snaps that even pedestrians notice as I drive by and I do maintain the car regularly. 


A simple case but illustrates some of the issues.  The cabin filter on cd3 vehicles is as simple as can be.  2 minutes no tools required.  On cd4 it not only took tools but I had to look up Instructions just to see where it was exactly.  

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1 hour ago, tarheels23 said:

I agree but also when I say save $$ vs make money I meant specifically processes, raw materials, supplier relations, and capital expenses.  Too many look for easy $$ in purchasing in my practical experience and sacrifice long-term supplier relationships.


True but regardless of how and where it’s done every dollar saved helps the P&L this year which in turn is tied to compensation and stock prices.  And stock price is also tied to executive compensation.  
 

They tried to launch Explorer too fast because they didn’t want to lose sales.  It all goes back to money.  It takes discipline to spend now and save down the road.

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45 minutes ago, akirby said:


True but regardless of how and where it’s done every dollar saved helps the P&L this year which in turn is tied to compensation and stock prices.  And stock price is also tied to executive compensation.  
 

They tried to launch Explorer too fast because they didn’t want to lose sales.  It all goes back to money.  It takes discipline to spend now and save down the road.

making a decision because of money and not QUALITY is always a mistake

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On 3/24/2023 at 7:58 AM, tarheels23 said:

I agree and there is only one way to reduce costs with out hurting quality.  Deming stated that over his 70+ years working in service and manufacturing that more than 45% of total costs could be traced back to waste and rework.  That all comes from processes that are not capable of meeting specs.  And you cannot know if your processes are capable without measuring and confirming with accurate and precise measurement systems in place to prove that they do.  You do not measure the product to see if it passes but to see if your process is capable.  Based on the results F processes are not capable.

Of course all of this takes time to setup but this is what you get if you do not take the time.

The story goes that in the early 80's when the VP of Quality of F was told to get Deming in Deming said he would not come or even return the call unless the CEO called.

And you know what, under the hood, Ford’s cost saving/quality imbalance hasn’t changed much over the years, it did under Mulally but as soon as he was gone, fields went right back to Ford policy and Hackett just made things worse.

Edited by jpd80
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41 minutes ago, jpd80 said:

And you know what, under the hood, Ford’s cost saving/quality imbalance hasn’t changed much over the years, it did under Mulally but as soon as he was gone, fields went right back to Ford policy and Hackett just made things worse.

Concerning Fields in my experience finding the right people can be very difficult because they all say the right things but when their A$$ is on the line most will look for expediency and easy when taking the long road can take time and losses to get moving in the right direction.  The person that can lead when the pressure is on is not known till tested by fire and usually requires looking outside unless the internal leadership is made of stone and completely determined that they will LOSE before they give in.

 

Bill chose Mulally and maybe he needs to step back in but I THINK Farley just maybe the right guy.

Edited by tarheels23
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38 minutes ago, tarheels23 said:

Concerning Fields in my experience finding the right people can be very difficult because they all say the right things but when their A$$ is on the line most will look for expediency and easy when taking the long road can take time and losses to get moving in the right direction.  The person that can lead when the pressure is on is not known till tested by fire and usually requires looking outside unless the internal leadership is made of stone and completely determined that they will LOSE before they give in.

 

Bill chose Mulally and maybe he needs to step back in but I THINK Farley just maybe the right guy.

In fairness to Fields, the affordable BEV that Bill Ford was pushing for in twenty teens simply wasn’t possible, that’s why Fields dragged his heels, even Hackett and Farley knew that in 2018 which is why they signed up to VW MEB but also made Lightning an extension of ICE F150. Now Farley gets it with own design and battery plants but profit from Model E is decades away…..

 

There are good reasons why the Focus EV didn’t evolve into affordable BEV and why Ford chose to save that program by doubling down on better Mach E but it kinda lost the rabbit

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46 minutes ago, jpd80 said:

In fairness to Fields, the affordable BEV that Bill Ford was pushing for in twenty teens simply wasn’t possible, that’s why Fields dragged his heels, even Hackett and Farley knew that in 2018 which is why they signed up to VW MEB but also made Lightning an extension of ICE F150. Now Farley gets it with own design and battery plants but profit from Model E is decades away…..

 

There are good reasons why the Focus EV didn’t evolve into affordable BEV and why Ford chose to save that program by doubling down on better Mach E but it kinda lost the rabbit

In all honesty, I am not concerned about vehicles in this convo.  I am talking about a mindset of quality management that evidently has been lost at  F.  Regardless of what Bill was pushing for you never go forward with a product that is not capable no matter who pushes and if Bill can not accept that then you move on, period.  Either you are honest with the boss or you lie and we all know what lying gets us all, nothing good.

And yes, I have left what some might consider good jobs because they required me to lie or at least not tell the truth.

While going on interviews for our consulting business several places wanted me for my technical expertise in manufacturing to solve a few problems they were having and I knew the solutions and could have corrected really easily but what I offered was the opportunity to train their employees in techniques their employees could use to solve their own problems then and in the future.  I refused those opportunities because I knew management was not capable of leading in the change that could lead to continuous improvement/

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3 hours ago, tarheels23 said:

In all honesty, I am not concerned about vehicles in this convo.  I am talking about a mindset of quality management that evidently has been lost at  F.  Regardless of what Bill was pushing for you never go forward with a product that is not capable no matter who pushes and if Bill can not accept that then you move on, period.  Either you are honest with the boss or you lie and we all know what lying gets us all, nothing good.

And yes, I have left what some might consider good jobs because they required me to lie or at least not tell the truth.

While going on interviews for our consulting business several places wanted me for my technical expertise in manufacturing to solve a few problems they were having and I knew the solutions and could have corrected really easily but what I offered was the opportunity to train their employees in techniques their employees could use to solve their own problems then and in the future.  I refused those opportunities because I knew management was not capable of leading in the change that could lead to continuous improvement/

You misunderstand, Ford’s quality problem was never about lying to the boss, it’s about the boss being delusional, thinking he can keep squeezing more savings out of suppliers and process without consequences. So this is less about individuals making decisions and more about a failure of corporate management with unreal expectations. Remember how Ford stopped talking about quality once Mulally left and Hackett taking $11 billion out of ICE programs to go fund BEVs. All of that now rearing it’s head.

 

and if anything, Mulally’s period as CEO was the exception as to how Ford operates, it’s now back to selling expensive products full of shoddy cut down priced parts where a ton of problems are just bubbling below the surface. So yeah, I’d be concerned with emergent quality costs that rear their heads inside and outside of warranty.

Edited by jpd80
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it’s now back to selling expensive products full of shoddy cut down priced parts where a ton of problems" from your post

 

My point is that nothing can get in the way of Quality processes for everything, everywhere, all the time to steal a quote.    see: https://deming.org/

 

When Deming was asked 'How can you work with F with the unions' he said that was part of the system and they would be included'.

 

The 1st Taurus was the 1st F designed by Deming-style teams and was widely acknowledged as a quality design and performance leader.

 

When I talked about lying you said Bill required a BEV, the CEO should have said I will get right on it but it will not be sold till we prove we can build it, and that statement has to be applied to every product, part, and process.

 

From Deming 14 points for Management:

3. Cease dependence on inspection to achieve quality. Eliminate the need for inspection on a mass basis by building quality into the product in the first place.

 

 

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16 hours ago, tarheels23 said:

it’s now back to selling expensive products full of shoddy cut down priced parts where a ton of problems" from your post

 

My point is that nothing can get in the way of Quality processes for everything, everywhere, all the time to steal a quote.    see: https://deming.org/

 

When Deming was asked 'How can you work with F with the unions' he said that was part of the system and they would be included'.

 

The 1st Taurus was the 1st F designed by Deming-style teams and was widely acknowledged as a quality design and performance leader.

 

When I talked about lying you said Bill required a BEV, the CEO should have said I will get right on it but it will not be sold till we prove we can build it, and that statement has to be applied to every product, part, and process.

 

From Deming 14 points for Management:

3. Cease dependence on inspection to achieve quality. Eliminate the need for inspection on a mass basis by building quality into the product in the first place.

 

and my point was that Ford’s whole bureaucracy fights itself in an eternal battle between increasing profits and give backs to quality, they are hopelessly compromised by bowing to cost savings demanded by Ford’s “economic experts”  and thus fall back into the same old ways.

 

Ford knows all about the Demming quality process but ignores it because they seek maximum profits at the expense of quality. They take max savings for a couple of years and then act all surprised when warranty and recall costs blow up in their faces. This is Ford to a tee and how they have been for the last 50 years or more.

 

Ford’s biggest issue is not their own production line processes but their outsourcing of more and more critical path parts, forcing down prices in long term contracts that can’t be changed without penalties and then discovering quality problems after the fact. They are doing all of this to themselves and then blaming others for their own lack of oversight.

Edited by jpd80
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29 minutes ago, jpd80 said:

and my point was that Ford’s whole bureaucracy fights itself in an eternal battle between increasing profits and give backs to quality, they are hopelessly compromised by bowing to cost savings demanded by Ford’s “economic experts”  and thus fall back into the same old ways.

I do not disagree, in fact, I agree completely.  It is up to Farley to embrace the Deming method and maybe the new hire will be required to do this but without Farley implicitly and Bill's complete support, none of our thoughts matter one whit.  

 

And just to reiterate I mean Deming and not any of the 6 sigmas BS which was only a perversion of Deming and a cash grab.

 

Thanks for your thoughtful discussion and for allowing me to relive some of my past memories.

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