ice-capades Posted March 15 Share Posted March 15 (edited) Ford Management Bonuses Now Directly Tied to Quality https://fordauthority.com/2024/03/ford-management-bonuses-now-directly-tied-to-quality/ After facing numerous well-publicized quality issues in recent years – some of which stem from inefficiencies that went away and resurfaced – Ford has since begun the long process of rectifying that big problem, a solid portion of which originated during the pandemic. The automaker recently set varying best-in-class quality targets for its most popular models, though CEO Jim Farley also noted that while he expects this process to take years, initial quality has already improved as of late. When speaking during the automaker’s Q4 2023 earnings call with investors, Farley also revealed that Ford management bonuses are also now directly tied to quality, too. “Yeah, I mean I’ll give you example. Three years ago, to be very precise, three years ago, when we – it was the first year we had kind of record recalls in the U.S. I had just become a CEO and I looked at the performance management of the middle and entry managers – supply chain, manufacturing, and engineering. And 91 percent of them had 100 percent or more in their cash bonus. Okay?” Farley said. “So, now, that’s not the case. You have to set up a culture shift, performance reward system, where every engineering manager, purchasing component manager, every plant manager is fully accountable for the quality and cost of their work. I could give you 20 examples like that. Things that have changed now and we’re starting to see the results.” This change makes perfect sense, and is perhaps overdue after Farley recently admitted that he waited too long to address the company’s burgeoning quality woes. Regardless, FoMoCo has since begun using one of its rivals – Toyota – as a benchmark for quality, all while implementing new production process that are quite costly, yet are already resulting in fewer issues during new model launches. Edited March 15 by ice-capades Additional Content 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ice-capades Posted March 15 Author Share Posted March 15 The quality issues go back long before the pandemic impact, decades actually. Now Ford is finally implementing some form of accountability at last. Accountability, gee what a concept! 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmc523 Posted March 15 Share Posted March 15 13 minutes ago, ice-capades said: The quality issues go back long before the pandemic impact, decades actually. Now Ford is finally implementing some form of accountability at last. Accountability, gee what a concept! It's crazy, because Ford quality seemed pretty good under Mulally (after he got it under control) and then it went off the rails after he left. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Rosadini Posted March 15 Share Posted March 15 8 minutes ago, rmc523 said: It's crazy, because Ford quality seemed pretty good under Mulally (after he got it under control) and then it went off the rails after he left. Wonder what Al thinks of the current mess at Boeing🤔 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ice-capades Posted March 15 Author Share Posted March 15 (edited) 20 hours ago, Bob Rosadini said: Wonder what Al thinks of the current mess at Boeing🤔 I've wondered about the same thing often lately with issues continuing almost daily now along with more and more evidence about the poor manufacturing oversight within Boeing. As an engineer with 30 years' experience at Boeing, including as CEO, one can only imagine what Alan Mulally thinks of the current situation while the current CEO, focused on profits, remains in his position. Boeing is in serious trouble. Edited March 16 by ice-capades Typo 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Rosadini Posted March 15 Share Posted March 15 4 minutes ago, ice-capades said: I've wondered about the same thing often lately with issues continuing almost daily now along with more and more evidence about the poor manufacturing oversight within Boeing. As an engineer with 30 years' experience at Boeing, including as CEO, one can only imagine what Alam Mulally thinks of the current situation while the current CEO, focused on profits, remains in his position. Boeing is in serious trouble. Not to get off thread but if I read correctly the move to assemble air frames-not sure if the right term-how about fuselage?- to Spirit in SC was a cost saving move. Think of the cost of shipping these to Witchita??? And it was still cheaper? Ok so you can assume labor rates was a big difference? Also what other "economies" were associated with that move?? No such thing as a free lunch! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted March 15 Share Posted March 15 Exactly what I’ve been saying for years. If you want to change behavior you have to do it with money. If the managers are getting full bonuses why would they change? Hopefully part of the bonus is based on company wide results and part on their specific areas, so they have a vested interest in overall quality not just their part. And when you see people repeatedly not following processes or putting their own needs or their org before the needs of the business, you gotta get rid of them. Encouraging to see that Farley understands this. Let’s hope he can stick to his guns. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted March 15 Share Posted March 15 15 minutes ago, Bob Rosadini said: Not to get off thread but if I read correctly the move to assemble air frames-not sure if the right term-how about fuselage?- to Spirit in SC was a cost saving move. Think of the cost of shipping these to Witchita??? And it was still cheaper? Ok so you can assume labor rates was a big difference? Also what other "economies" were associated with that move?? No such thing as a free lunch! I was watching John Oliver on hbo last week. Things went bad when they merged with McDonnell Douglas and the MD executives essentially took over. They’ve been cutting costs and doing massive stock buy backs ever since. Seems like a big Ponzi scheme to pump up the stock price so they can dump and run. There is no other reasonable explanation for their behavior. Even the workers said they wouldn’t fly on the planes they were building. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Rosadini Posted March 15 Share Posted March 15 2 hours ago, akirby said: I was watching John Oliver on hbo last week. Things went bad when they merged with McDonnell Douglas and the MD executives essentially took over. They’ve been cutting costs and doing massive stock buy backs ever since. Seems like a big Ponzi scheme to pump up the stock price so they can dump and run. There is no other reasonable explanation for their behavior. Even the workers said they wouldn’t fly on the planes they were building. Interesting..I forgot about McDonnel Douglas. Think of that..three giants merged into one..the good and the bad I guess associated with the "synergism" associated with mergers. Just wonder how the elimination of competition somehow waters down the desire to be the best- or the NEED to be the best to survive?? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted March 15 Share Posted March 15 Seriously Ford, just do your jobs properly and increase quality monitoring and don’t be asleep at the switch for the next quality problem because you’re too cheap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted March 15 Share Posted March 15 1 hour ago, jpd80 said: Seriously Ford, just do your jobs properly and increase quality monitoring and don’t be asleep at the switch for the next quality problem because you’re too cheap. It takes more than that. Starts with engineering and not putting schedules and cost above quality. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzymoomoo Posted March 16 Share Posted March 16 5 hours ago, akirby said: Seems like a big Ponzi scheme to pump up the stock price so they can dump and run. That’s corporate America in a nutshell right now. The Railroads are doing the same damn thing, and probably more extreme Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzymoomoo Posted March 16 Share Posted March 16 3 hours ago, Bob Rosadini said: Interesting..I forgot about McDonnel Douglas. Think of that..three giants merged into one..the good and the bad I guess associated with the "synergism" associated with mergers. Just wonder how the elimination of competition somehow waters down the desire to be the best- or the NEED to be the best to survive?? I saw it too. I’m not typically a fan of John Oliver’s presentation style but this one was very good. It perfectly sums up corporate Culture Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeluxeStang Posted March 16 Share Posted March 16 7 hours ago, Bob Rosadini said: Wonder what Al thinks of the current mess at Boeing🤔 He's probably not happy. I know multiple past Boeing engineers, including my grandfather, who devoted their entire careers to Boeing in the 60s through the early 2000s, and they're just shaking their heads at the nonsense going on right now. Boeing is a textbook example of why engineers should be the ones making all the important decisions in a company. I'm gladly put my hands in the life of an engineer, an accountant, not so much. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeluxeStang Posted March 16 Share Posted March 16 Ford quality is a roller coaster, highs and lows. Let's hope these changes endure after Farley and the rest of Ford's current upper management are gone. I want to see lasting changes made to the culture of the company, not policies which only last until the end of the current CEO's run. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted March 16 Share Posted March 16 (edited) 3 hours ago, akirby said: It takes more than that. Starts with engineering and not putting schedules and cost above quality. Agree and Ford has basically failed on that from the moment Mulally left the building, the appeal of saving money at every turn was too great, that’s why Ford dropped the ball. Whether poor/inadequate design or poor oversight of supplier quality, it all adds up to the same thing. Edited March 16 by jpd80 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silvrsvt Posted March 16 Share Posted March 16 11 hours ago, DeluxeStang said: Ford quality is a roller coaster, highs and lows. Let's hope these changes endure after Farley and the rest of Ford's current upper management are gone. I want to see lasting changes made to the culture of the company, not policies which only last until the end of the current CEO's run. I wonder how Ford's demographics are, I know where I work (DOD), that nearly 50% of the current workforce can retire in about 15 years. We had a hiring freeze for a while, so that didn't help either, but that is another thing to consider is demographic changes that will be happening in the next decade or two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew L Posted March 16 Share Posted March 16 I am happy to see some accountability now. I have to say spending time in several Lincoln groups the most common problems I have seen are issues with the 3.5 EB, 3.5 and 3.7 V6 internal water pumps going as well as coolant intrusion in the 2.0 EcoBoost. Most members are furious at these issues causing them in some cases to need a new motor. Most are out of warranty at that point too. It's a really bad look to have to replace an engine with low miles over a stupid design. I have to say I have been lucky with the Ford products I have owned and never had a major issue with any of them or been left stranded. My 99 Mercury Sable and 04 Lincoln LS both had a 3.0 Duratec V6 which was solid. Biggest issue I had was the transmission shifted funny on the LS and it ended up being the computer itself, after replacing the computer it was fine and never had an issue again with it. Sable was flawless. After that I had a 2013 MKZ Hybrid which never had an issue at all only one thing with the transmission pan which was covered under warranty. My current cars knock on wood have been reliable too my 3.0T AWD Black Label MKZ and my 2004 Aviator AWD. Looking at my cars only 1 was really a high volume car and that was the Sable the rest had lower optioned engines. I am pretty sure most LSes were the 3.9 V8 which was known to be more problematic than the V6. Most MKZs were the 2.0T, and they didn't make many Aviators in the first gen but everyone knows the 4.6 is a good motor. I thankfully avoided the "problem" engines. I really hope Ford starts to turn it around and gets these issues under control. The current Aviator was truly an awesome job by Ford to differentiate it from its Ford counterpart and really set the brand apart but it was plagued with a lot of quality issues mostly from that stupid camera glitch issue and Sync 3 being glitchy for some reason. I have not had issues with Sync 3 in my MKZ but I have seen a LOT of posts of Aviator owners having a lot of issues with Sync 3. Could it just be a bad version they shipped with and they need to be updated? Possibly, but again stupid stuff that needs to be fixed. Anyway my 2 cent rant. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeluxeStang Posted March 16 Share Posted March 16 31 minutes ago, Andrew L said: I am happy to see some accountability now. I have to say spending time in several Lincoln groups the most common problems I have seen are issues with the 3.5 EB, 3.5 and 3.7 V6 internal water pumps going That's stunning to me. The 3.5 duratec seems to be about as reliable as it gets. The water pump thing seems to be more common on earlier versions of that motor. I've heard people say they changed the timing chain design in 2012 or something and that somehow reduced the failure rates on newer 3.5s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gurgeh Posted March 16 Share Posted March 16 3 hours ago, DeluxeStang said: That's stunning to me. The 3.5 duratec seems to be about as reliable as it gets. The water pump thing seems to be more common on earlier versions of that motor. I've heard people say they changed the timing chain design in 2012 or something and that somehow reduced the failure rates on newer 3.5s. That's the thing about online forums for specific vehicles. They tend to contain lots of negativity with posts by folks that have experienced a problem. People don't tend to post when something goes right. I don't mean to deny that vehicles can have problems -- all models can have issues, even the most reliable. The more useful question is one you can't generally find answered on those forums: how reliable is a particular vehicle overall? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeluxeStang Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 1 hour ago, Gurgeh said: That's the thing about online forums for specific vehicles. They tend to contain lots of negativity with posts by folks that have experienced a problem. People don't tend to post when something goes right. I don't mean to deny that vehicles can have problems -- all models can have issues, even the most reliable. The more useful question is one you can't generally find answered on those forums: how reliable is a particular vehicle overall? True. What makes it even worse is some of the most reliable vehicles are also the most popular. Your Ford trucks and Toyota Camry's, things like that. Yet because they're so popular, you tend to hear more stories of people having issues. Which ironically makes people think they're less reliable. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew L Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 6 hours ago, DeluxeStang said: That's stunning to me. The 3.5 duratec seems to be about as reliable as it gets. The water pump thing seems to be more common on earlier versions of that motor. I've heard people say they changed the timing chain design in 2012 or something and that somehow reduced the failure rates on newer 3.5s. It's every version of the 3.5, 3.5 EcoBoost, and 3.7 in FWD or FWD based AWD form. If the engine isn't mounted N/S as in RWD then the water pump is internal. The F-150 and Mustang for instance don't have this issue since the water pump is external. Some suggest switching coolant and doing regular coolant flushes helps but I have seen some go as early as 80k miles. If it's not caught soon enough they need a new engine. I have seen a lot of defenders of this engine swearing the 3.5 and 3.7 are "the most reliable engine ford ever built" and "who cares if you have to drop 2k in it every 10 years to replace the water pump". But to me it's an incredibly stupid design. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeluxeStang Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 31 minutes ago, Andrew L said: It's every version of the 3.5, 3.5 EcoBoost, and 3.7 in FWD or FWD based AWD form. If the engine isn't mounted N/S as in RWD then the water pump is internal. The F-150 and Mustang for instance don't have this issue since the water pump is external. Some suggest switching coolant and doing regular coolant flushes helps but I have seen some go as early as 80k miles. If it's not caught soon enough they need a new engine. I have seen a lot of defenders of this engine swearing the 3.5 and 3.7 are "the most reliable engine ford ever built" and "who cares if you have to drop 2k in it every 10 years to replace the water pump". But to me it's an incredibly stupid design. Our explorer is nearing that decade old mark. While the water pump could go out at 40k miles, weirder things have happened, I'm not overly worried about it. If it happens, it happens. There are literally millions of 3.5 and 3.7s in existence. I'm not saying it's a flawless engine, but it seems like the percentage of 3.5s with water pump failures is quite small relative to, again, the millions of motors in existence. Everyone I've met who's had a Ford with that motor loves it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7Mary3 Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 (edited) Does anyone really think Ford's quality issues have anything to do with entry and mid-level management employees? I really doubt any employees at those levels have the ability or authority to correct anything. The 'plan' gives me the urge to sarcastically say this a 'brilliant' move on Farley's part: Task fixing the quality issues to people with no authority to do so, so money isn't spent on costly re-designs and higher quality vendor supplied components. When there is no improvent in quality, pay said employees less. I hope that is not the case. Edited March 17 by 7Mary3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HotRunrGuy Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 42 minutes ago, Andrew L said: It's every version of the 3.5, 3.5 EcoBoost, and 3.7 in FWD or FWD based AWD form. The traverse applications of these engines has to be a minority compared to the RWD versions, yet you want to paint all of them with the same brush. HRG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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