Ford’s ‘radical’ new assembly process could make crash repairs faster and cheaper

[Sherminator98]

Ford Motor Co. is betting that what CEO Jim Farley calls "the most radical change" to how it builds vehicles since the Model T will lead to not only lower sticker prices but also smaller repair bills.

 

Starting with a $30,000 midsize electric pickup next year, Ford says it will replace hundreds of smaller components with two large, aluminum “unicastings” — one in the front and one in the rear. The approach is similar to a process Tesla uses on its Model Y crossover that it calls gigacasting and that is also known as megacasting.

 

The technique is meant to reduce manufacturing cost and complexity, but it raises questions about repairability: Will customers’ bills skyrocket if collision centers have to replace one large component instead of smaller pieces? Would such parts be readily and widely available?

 

Such concerns are heightened at Ford, where the entry-level pickup is among the automaker’s answers to the industry’s growing affordability crisis.

 

Read more: 

 

https://www.autonews.com/ford/an-ford-unicasting-repair-costs-0319/

[rmc523]

It's behind a paywall.

 

Can you summarize it?

[Sherminator98]

40 minutes ago, rmc523 said:

It's behind a paywall.

 

Can you summarize it?

 

The paragraphs i shared where from the Facebook post that the link was from. 

[rmc523]

18 minutes ago, Sherminator98 said:

 

The paragraphs i shared where from the Facebook post that the link was from. 

 

Gotcha.  So we don't know what it says lol.

[Biker16]

From last year.

https://www.wardsauto.com/news/exclusive-mega-cast-construction-saves-on-vehicle-repairs-study-finds/778512/

 

Quote

Exclusive: Mega Cast Construction Saves on Vehicle Repairs, Study Finds
A two-year study by Thatcham Research suggests benefits for automakers, consumers and their insurers.

Mega casting technology not only cuts vehicle production costs for automakers but also will save consumers, and their insurers, money on vehicle repairs.

That’s the finding of a two-year study on crash testing and damage assessment by U.K. automotive technology testing specialist Thatcham Research.

The company’s team of specialists found the technology, currently employed by U.S. battery-electric-vehicle maker Tesla and being investigated by the likes of Toyota, Volkswagen, Volvo and Hyundai, can significantly reduce the cost of repairs and possibly even cut the number of vehicle write-offs for insurance companies.

 

[jpd80]

So how have gigacastings worked out for Tesla owners in terms of crash repair costs.

If the vehicle is more likely to be written off, insurance then buys a replacement off the manufacturer.

[akirby]

I guess a gigacasting is 1000 times better than a megacasting and a billion times better than a unicasting......

[morgan20]

2 hours ago, jpd80 said:

So how have gigacastings worked out for Tesla owners in terms of crash repair costs.

 

The Thatcham Research analysis Biker16 mentioned said this about megacastings impact on crash repair costs:

 

Comparative analysis revealed that the Model Y's mega cast construction delivered consistent cost advantages across multiple scenarios. Partial replacements cost £2,167 less than the Model 3's traditional multi-part steel rear sub-assembly construction, while full replacements saved £519. Similar patterns emerged when comparing against other manufacturers' vehicles, with the Model Y demonstrating lower repair costs than other models, including the Mercedes EQE, Hyundai IONIQ 5, and several internal combustion engine vehicles.

 

Since gigacastings are 1000 times better than megacastings as akirby said, you can then do the math. 😄

[rmc523]

I thought I had heard it was more expensive to repair.

 

So basically this sounds like they'd replace the entire front or rear gigacasting when damage is found?  The article mentioned at 15.5 mph they're basically replacing the whole thing?  If I read it correctly, anyway....

 

An in-depth look at the testing shows that in low-severity testing at 15 km/h (9.3 mph), the mega cast exceeded expectations by sustaining no structural damage, allowing complete vehicle repair without any work required on the mega cast component itself.

Medium-severity testing at 25 km/h (15.5 mph) necessitated full mega cast replacement owing to crack propagation and structural misalignment.

However, at £716 ($969) for the replacement of the whole component, the total repair cost remained competitive with, and often below, traditional repair methods for equivalent damage.

[fordmantpw]

Labor cost is the real savings as it is outrageously expensive.  I would imagine swapping out a giga (or mega) casting is pretty quick compared to R&R of 100 or so parts, torquing down each one appropriately, making sure alignment is within spec, etc.

[Sherminator98]

8 minutes ago, fordmantpw said:

Labor cost is the real savings as it is outrageously expensive.  I would imagine swapping out a giga (or mega) casting is pretty quick compared to R&R of 100 or so parts, torquing down each one appropriately, making sure alignment is within spec, etc.

 

I was just about to say that

[rmc523]

5 minutes ago, fordmantpw said:

Labor cost is the real savings as it is outrageously expensive.  I would imagine swapping out a giga (or mega) casting is pretty quick compared to R&R of 100 or so parts, torquing down each one appropriately, making sure alignment is within spec, etc.

 

That's a fair point.

 

So I guess you'd have to remove all connected bodywork and interior components to have access to the giga/mega cast part, but depending on the accident severity you may have to do that already with the regular repairs.

 

 

----

 

Indirectly related, I remember years ago in my Flex, the windshield reservoir squirter motor died and rather than take it to the dealer to replace it, where I'm sure they'd have charged a fortune to do it, I decided to do it myself since the part was like $15 or something like that.

 

Well, anyway, it was on the passenger side in front of the front wheel.  But to get to it, I had to either somehow take the wheel well covering off (which still wouldn't guarantee enough room to maneuver), or pull the whole front bumper off.  I decided to do the latter, and broke a mounting clip in the process (old brittle plastic), so I had to get a replacement for that on top of the motor, and it went smoothly after that.

 

The point of that story is that it's crazy how many things you have to disassemble for even just a simple repair like that.  I can't even imagine having to deal with repairing a damaged vehicle.

[fordmantpw]

They had to replace a rear shock on our Flex from inside.  Crazy!

[akirby]

Had to remove the bumper and wheel well liner to replace the headlight bulb on daughter's old escape.  More presents from the european engineers.

[jpd80]

I stand corrected, so these mega castings are going to save owners money in the unfortunate event of a car crash?

Sounds like the savings of a simpler construction method will make repairs both easier and cheaper for insurance.

 

I guess the better question was how did manufacturers like Ford allow their vehicle manufacturing process

become so complicated and parts intensive….almost like engineering solutions were add ons year over year,

compounding on a design’s complexity instead of eliminating that…

Edited March 20 by jpd80

[morgan20]

1 hour ago, jpd80 said:

how did manufacturers like Ford allow their vehicle manufacturing process become so complicated and parts intensive….

almost like engineering solutions were add ons year over year,compounding on a design’s complexity instead of eliminating that…

 

You have the correct answer to your question jpd80. 🙂 When I worked at Ford in the 1990s and 2000s, engineering was characterized by a culture of not invented here and groupthink, which resulted in unnecessary complexity.

[jpd80]

18 minutes ago, morgan20 said:

 

You have the correct answer to your question jpd80. 🙂 When I worked at Ford in the 1990s and 2000s, engineering was characterized by a culture of not invented here and groupthink, which resulted in unnecessary complexity.

Yes an much of that I suspect was encouraged by the way vehicle platforms were financed,

much easier to get funding by using an existing platform develop a new vehicle.

 

Recently Farley shared that a certain high selling vehicle had something like 150 modules

that are controlled by supplier software…….Ford’s quest to reduce costs by outsourcing 

much of what it used to engineer would seem to be locking them into deals that it now

has no choice but continue without completely redesigning vehicles…

 

So yeah, I see why CE1 skunkworks was a breath of fresh air that ignored Ford’s rules

and concentrated on a much simpler way of doing everything…..

Edited March 20 by jpd80

[fuzzymoomoo]

2 hours ago, fordmantpw said:

They had to replace a rear shock on our Flex from inside.  Crazy!

yeah but even then it’s stupid simple. You just need to remove 2 screws and pull the trim panel back. I’ve done it once, it’s a lot easier than it was in my Focus. More room to work. 

[akirby]

3 hours ago, jpd80 said:

Yes an much of that I suspect was encouraged by the way vehicle platforms were financed,

much easier to get funding by using an existing platform develop a new vehicle.

 

Recently Farley shared that a certain high selling vehicle had something like 150 modules

that are controlled by supplier software…….Ford’s quest to reduce costs by outsourcing 

much of what it used to engineer would seem to be locking them into deals that it now

has no choice but continue without completely redesigning vehicles…

 

So yeah, I see why CE1 skunkworks was a breath of fresh air that ignored Ford’s rules

and concentrated on a much simpler way of doing everything…..

Also - most of these new casting techniques weren't feasible until the last few years.

[morgan20]

14 hours ago, jpd80 said:

Ford’s quest to reduce costs by outsourcing much of what it used to engineer would seem to be locking them into deals that it now

has no choice but continue without completely redesigning vehicles…

 

So yeah, I see why CE1 skunkworks was a breath of fresh air that ignored Ford’s rules

and concentrated on a much simpler way of doing everything…..

 

Yea, outsourcing didn't solve the problem of unnecessary complexity in Ford's engineering and manufacturing processes and in certain respects made it worse.

 

Radical change is what Ford needs. Sounds like that's finally comin' to fruition thanks to the efforts at the skunkworks and CE1 products.

[7Mary3]

I am not buying this just yet.  Based on what I see, Tesla's are difficult and expensive to repair after an accident tend to total out more easily than other cars, EV's included.  Giga-castings are certainly a manufacturing advantage, but replacing these large structures after an accident presents a whole set of new problems.  From what I understand it these aluminum castings often cannot be repaired.

 

Google search 'Totaled Tesla Model Y' and see what comes up.

 

Seems to me that any advantages Giga-castings represent are on the manufacturing side.  The owner gets a throw-away car that's more expensive to insure.   

[Texasota]

14 hours ago, akirby said:

Also - most of these new casting techniques weren't feasible until the last few years.

Exactly. While Tesla did not invent the process it did mainstream it:

 

https://www.automotivemanufacturingsolutions.com/editors-pick/production-minimalism-how-megacasting-is-reshaping-automotive-manufacturing/660564

[twintornados]

51 minutes ago, 7Mary3 said:

I am not buying this just yet.  Based on what I see, Tesla's are difficult and expensive to repair after an accident tend to total out more easily than other cars, EV's included.  Giga-castings are certainly a manufacturing advantage, but replacing these large structures after an accident presents a whole set of new problems.  From what I understand it these aluminum castings often cannot be repaired.

 

Google search 'Totaled Tesla Model Y' and see what comes up.

 

Seems to me that any advantages Giga-castings represent are on the manufacturing side.  The owner gets a throw-away car that's more expensive to insure.   

 

Usually, in those totaled Tesla cases, it was the battery case the was damaged and that is an expensive component to repair. In the case of Mega / Giga / Uni -casting of major structural components of a vehicle, in the case of a totaled car, the dismantling yard will see a large increase in the amount of aluminum that is recyclable. Should be an interesting time down at the scrap yard in the next few years. 

[Sherminator98]

20 hours ago, 7Mary3 said:

Seems to me that any advantages Giga-castings represent are on the manufacturing side.  The owner gets a throw-away car that's more expensive to insure.   

it doesn’t really matter-the cost to fix a complex assembly vs a simplified one will always be more. You have to look at it as a holistic cost-insurance pretty much automatically total outs a car where multiple airbags have gone off because the labor costs to replace them doesn’t make sense for the insurance company, even though the car is fixable. It boils down to profitability of the insurance company vs it actually being worth doing. 

[akirby]

21 hours ago, 7Mary3 said:

Seems to me that any advantages Giga-castings represent are on the manufacturing side. 

But cost savings in manufacturing get passed to consumers.  That's how Ford is meeting the $30k target price.  So even if it costs more to repair the buyer may still be ahead.