Project Scheduling

At Ford Motor Company the best example of a project would be the creation of something like a concept car. While the design and engineering of a vehicle headed for production could be considered a project, a production vehicle will be produced in hundreds of thousands of units. However a concept car is usually very unique and are usually only made in one to a few units. Ford designs concept cars that are primarily made to show or hint at a new futuristic design direction while also showing off the newest and latest technology as well. An extensive amount of time is put into making a concept car and there are some very specific details that have to be met during a concept car's development. There are various different tasks that need to be done to finish a concept car in development. The tasks include hiring the right team that would be needed to fulfill all of the specifications and getting a hold of all the raw materials needed. A lot of concept cars are made just for show and aren't meant to be driven out in the real world, therefore a lot of the engineering in a concept car is just "smoke and mirrors." However under the leadership of Ford's President & CEO Alan Mulally, concept cars now coming out of Ford will be vehicles that are scheduled to be produced. Mr. Mulally feels that it is better to build a concept car of a vehicle that they plan on producing rather than just being for show only.

The only recommendation we have would be for Ford to keep that pledge, of making concept cars that will most likely make it into showrooms sometime in the future.

Suppy Chain Management

In 1913, Henry Ford revolutionized product manufacturing by introducing the first assembly line to the automotive industry. Ford's hallmark of achievement proved to be a key competence for the motor company as the low cost of the Model T attracted a broader, new range of prospective car-owners. However, after many decades of success, customers have become harder to find. Due to relatively new threats to the industry, increasing numbers of cars and trucks are parked in dealer lots and showrooms creating an alarming trend of stagnation and profit erosion. Foreign-based automakers, such as Toyota and Honda, have expanded operations onto domestic shores and, in turn, have wrestled market share from American automakers. As a direct result, unit over-capacity has steadily risen, while heightened competition and diverse product lines have led to increasing customer demands.

To answer these threats, Ford has made recent attempts to transform its dated vertical integration production model into a maneuverable, efficient supply chain. Emphasizing methods such as Just-In-Time (JIT) inventory, Total Quality Management (TQM), and Synchronous Material Flow (SMF), Ford has derived a multi-tiered system of supply. The tier system consists of numerous generic suppliers, "tier two" and below, who are managed by "tier one" vehicle sub-system suppliers. The "tier one" suppliers, by nature, are completely dependent upon Ford's survival since the provided sub-system component is specific solely to Ford.

Quality Control

At Ford Motor Company, they're on a quality roll. Changes to the company’s product development, manufacturing and quality processes have further boosted vehicle quality, putting Ford on par with the best in the business.

Specifically, Ford is:
Designing quality into their future models using customer feedback.
Building quality into their current models by examining warranty claims daily and feeding the information back to the plants so quality teams can eliminate issues where they originate.

Launching with discipline. Ford has raised the bar on their launch quality standards and vehicles are not released until they meet these stringent standards. It’s working: A sampling of awards and acknowledgments for Ford’s improved quality this year:

Consumers Digest 2008 Automotive Best Buys (Nov. 2)
Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles account for 9 of the publication's Best Buys.
Ford dominates the Family Car category with 5 of the 8 vehicles recommended:
Ford Fusion, Ford Taurus, Lincoln MKZ, Mercury Milan and Mercury Sable.
Other Best Buys include Ford Escape Hybrid, Mercury Mariner Hybrid, Ford F-150 and Ford Mustang.
Selections were made by the magazine's staff of automotive editors.
Strategic Vision’s 2007 Total Value Index (Oct. 23)
Lincoln MKX outscores Lexus RX350 in total value with new car customers.
Ford, Lincoln, Mercury earn three “total value” leadership positions: Lincoln MKX, Ford Edge and Ford Expedition EL. The Volvo V50 also was a segment winner.
Global Quality Research System Q3 2007 (Oct. 17)
Ford Motor Company quality continues its dramatic improvement, reducing Things Gone Wrong (TGW) levels for the third straight year and further closing the gap with the best in class.
Ford quality jumps 11 percent, soaring above the industry’s 2 percent improvement.
Six vehicles ranked best in their segment: Ford Mustang Shelby GT500, Ford E-Series, Mercury Milan, Ford Crown Victoria, Lincoln Mark LT, Mazda MX-5 Miata.
A total of 16 vehicles rank in the top three for either TGW performance or customer satisfaction.
GQRS third quarter study measures customer feedback on their three-month-old vehicles. The survey is conducted by RDA Group of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., for Ford Motor Company.
U.S. News & World ReportBest Cars and Trucks (Oct. 10)Nine Ford Motor Company models are ranked among the top three in their respective segments in this list of 2007 Best Cars and Trucks. They include:
First place: Mazda MX-5 Miata (double winner: Sports Cars, Two-Seat Convertibles);
Second place: Ford Mustang Convertible (Four-Seat Convertibles); Mazda MAZDA5 (Compact Wagons)
Third place: Ford Fusion (Midsize Cars); Mazda MAZDA3 (Small Cars); Volvo V50 (Full Size Wagons); Land Rover LR2 (Luxury Compact SUVs); Land Rover Range Rover (Luxury Large SUVs); Ford Escape Hybrid (Hybrid SUVs)
AutoPacific Ideal Vehicle Awards (Sept. 5)
Ford, Lincoln and Mercury boast multiple winners – the Ford Edge, Ford Expedition, Ford Explorer, Ford Mustang, Mercury Grand Marquis, Mercury Montego, Lincoln MKZ and Lincoln MKX. Land Rover Range Rover is tops in the Luxury Sport Utility category.
Lincoln is named the top Ideal Premium Brand while Mercury earns the honor for Ideal Mainstream Brand.
University of Michigan American Customer Satisfaction Index (Aug. 15)
Ford, Lincoln and Mercury brands post striking gains in the annual survey.
Lincoln and Mercury satisfaction reach 86 percent, just one point behind Lexus.
Ford brand scores the largest improvement of any brand, climbing 3.9 points to 80 percent satisfaction.
The survey measured customers’ satisfaction with their three-year-old vehicles.
Global Quality Research System Q2 2007 (July 19)
Ford Motor Company improves vehicle quality by 10 percent, outpacing the industry’s 4 percent rate of improvement.
Six vehicles receive highest ranking in their segments for TGW performance, customer satisfaction or both: Ford Edge, Mustang, Explorer, E-Series, Lincoln Mark LT, Mazda MX-5 Miata.
GQRS second quarter study measures customer feedback on their three-month-old vehicles. The survey is conducted by RDA Group of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., for Ford Motor Company.
IntelliChoice.com and AutoPacific Motorist Choice Awards (July 27)
The Mazda Mazda3 (Compact Car) and the Land Rover Range Rover Sport (Luxury Sport Utility) earn number-one rankings based on cost of ownership and customer satisfaction.

J.D. Power and Associates Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout (June 28)
Ford Edge is ranked the industry’s top-performing all-new vehicle, and Ford Mustang wins its segment for the third straight year in the APEAL study, in which customers assess product design, content and performance of their three-month-old vehicles.
Global Quality Research System Durability Study (June 18)
Ford vehicle long-term durability improves by 5 percent and cuts by 50 percent the gap with best-in-class vehicles, industry-wide.
Mercury Sable and F-150 Lightning are segment winners for TGW performance at three years in service.
GQRS annual durability study measures customer feedback on three-year-old vehicles. The survey is conducted by RDA Group of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., for Ford Motor Company.
AutoPacific Vehicle Satisfaction Awards (June 12)
The Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX head a list of five Ford Motor Company vehicles to earn top ratings in their respective segments. Others include the Lincoln Navigator, Ford Explorer Sport Trac and Jaguar X-TYPE.
J. D. Power and Associates Initial Quality Study (June 6)
Ford has 14 total vehicles ranked in the top three in their respective segments, more than any other automaker.
Five vehicles received highest ranking in their segments, including Ford Mustang, Lincoln MKZ, Lincoln Mark LT, Mercury Milan and Mazda MX-5 Miata.
Strategic Vision’s 2007 Total Quality Index (June 4)
Consumers rate four Ford SUVs and pickup trucks tops in their segments:
Ford Expedition EL, Ford F-150, Ford F-250 and Ford F-350.
The annual survey asks customers to rate their entire ownership experience on their three-month-old vehicles.
Global Quality Research System Q1 2007 (April 18)
Ford closes the quality gap with Toyota. In TGW performance, the two companies are in a statistical dead heat. Ford, Lincoln, Mercury are at 1,456; Toyota is at 1,453.
Ford, Lincoln, Mercury improve by 8 percent, out-performing the industry’s 2 percent rate of improvement.
Ford Mustang Shelby GT500, Expedition EL, Lincoln Navigator and Mercury Milan rank best in their segment for TGW performance, customer satisfaction or both.
GQRS first quarter study measures customer feedback on their three-month-old vehicles. The survey is conducted by RDA Group of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., for Ford Motor Company.
Edmunds.com Consumers’ Most Wanted Vehicles for 2007:
Ford wins three “most wanted” segments: Mazda3 in sedans under $20,000 and wagons under $20,000 and Ford Mustang in coupes under $30,000.
Edmunds.com Editors’ Most Wanted Vehicles for 2007:
Ford wins five “most wanted” segments: Mazda6 in sedans under $25,000; Mazda3 in wagons under $20,000; Mazda MK-5 Miata in convertibles under $25,000; Ford Mustang in convertibles under $35,000; Mazda CX-9 in SUVs under $35,000.

Quality Operating System Coordinators ensure that Ford accelerates quality.
Several of Ford’s powertrain plant employees received Six Sigma Black Belt training under a new program that formalizes the Quality Operating System Coordinator (QOSC) position. The positions, which give UAW members control over quality, were first introduced in the early 2000s as a one-year experiment, but quickly became an integral part of quality management.
The QOSCs finished their Black Belt coursework and will take the mandatory tests to achieve the prestigious Six Sigma Black Belt certification, with the goal of having at least two Black Belts per plant. The number of QOSCs per plant varies depending upon size, product and volume, but on average there are six per plant.
The QOSCs devote 100 percent of their workday to monitoring quality process and procedure adherence and cannot be pulled from their job to replace an absent employee on the line. They ensure that every employee at every station understands precisely what they need to do and how to do it.
Since the introduction of QOSCs, Ford’s rating in initial and long-term quality surveys has seen an upward trend. Ford’s brand went up by eight points over last year, beating the industry seven-point rate of improvement, according to J.D. Powers and Associate’s Initial Quality Study. Shortly thereafter, the Global Quality Research System durability study noted that Ford brand improved at a rate of 3 percent verses the industry average of 1 percent.

Managing Quality

At Ford Motor Company Quality is now more than ever Job #1. The automotive industry has become such an extremely tough market to compete in today that you simply can not survive without offering outstanding and tremendous quality. By adding benefits like a quieter ride, improved handling and luxury craftsmanship, Ford Motor Company is focused on putting quality first by building vehicles that are more connected, help protect occupants or help prevent accidents before they occur. Year by year, Ford has made significant and consistent strides to improve quality through a renewed commitment that touches every aspect of the vehicle process – from design to manufacturing to product launch. The cumulative effect of these disciplined, global quality standards earned Ford a record-breaking year, with 102 accolades for quality in 2007.

Combining customer feedback with advanced technologies has allowed Ford to further boost initial quality and longer-term reliability, resulting in dramatically improved owner satisfaction. According to research by RDA Group (April 2008), Ford is in a statistical dead heat with Toyota and Honda in initial quality. The quarterly study measures customer feedback from drivers of Ford vehicles as well as competitive makes and models and is commissioned by Ford.

Ford's Domestic Brand Quality on the Rise

Ford Motor Company’s surging domestic quality is now equal to the best in the industry for the 2008 model year, according to the latest U.S. Global Quality Research System (GQRS) study. Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles collectively reduced “things gone wrong” (TGW) by 7.7 percent compared to last year and are now statistically equivalent with Honda (including Acura) and Toyota (including Lexus and Scion) atop the list of seven major automakers in the survey.

”This is One Ford at its best. It’s taken thousands of people continuously working together with laser-like focus every day to boost vehicle quality for our customers to the top of the pack,” said Bennie Fowler, Ford group vice president, Global Quality. “But this is a never-ending journey. The goal now is to distance ourselves from our top competitors. We want to be the sole quality leader.”Other highlights:

• The 2008-launched Ford F-Series Super Duty and the Lincoln Mark LT ranked first in their respective segments in both TGW and customer satisfaction.
  
• Ford Mustang GT 500 topped the sports car category in fewest TGW.
  Overall, 18 of 24 Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles recorded TGW improvements.
  
• Ford’s newly launched Focus improved significantly in TGW and customer satisfaction, now equaling the Toyota Corolla in both categories.
  
• The Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan are significantly better in TGW than the Toyota Camry, which they tied in customer satisfaction.
  
• Ford ranked best in class for TGW performance in the functional areas of Vehicle Engineering and Electrical among major manufacturers.

The 2008 model-year GQRS survey, conducted for Ford by RDA Group of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., solicits feedback on vehicle trouble and customer satisfaction from owners of all major makes and models after three months in service.

Managing Quality Part II

Better Quality = Much Happier Customers

At Ford Motor Company better quality is translating into fewer trips to the Able Ford Dealership for warranty repairs and that leads to happier customers. The latest J.D. Power and Associates’ 2008 Customer Service Index (CSI) study shows a historic low across the industry in the proportion of customers bringing their vehicles to the dealer for repair work versus maintenance, as well as an increase in overall satisfaction.

For example, 51% of Ford service customers were in for maintenance work back in 2005 and 49% were in for repair work. In 2008, the maintenance rate jumped to 66% and the repairs dropped to 34%. The company’s ongoing efforts to increase quality can be pinpointed as one reason for the trend.

“This is further proof that Ford’s quality processes are working,” says Bennie Fowler, group vice president, Quality. “We’re launching with quality – right out of the factory – and that leads to long-term durability for our customers.”
The CSI study – which explores satisfaction with dealer maintenance and repair services – ranked Lincoln and Mercury fifth and sixth, respectively, while Ford brand improved at a greater rate than the industry average.

Investing in Quality

Several of Ford’s powertrain plant employees received Six Sigma Black Belt training under a new program that formalizes the Quality Operating System Coordinator (QOSC) position. The positions, which give UAW members control over quality, were first introduced in the early 2000s as a one-year experiment, but quickly became an integral part of quality management. The QOSCs finished their Black Belt coursework and will take the mandatory tests to achieve the prestigious Six Sigma Black Belt certification, with the goal of having at least two Black Belts per plant. The number of QOSCs per plant varies depending upon size, product and volume, but on average there are six per plant.

The QOSCs devote 100 percent of their workday to monitoring quality process and procedure adherence and cannot be pulled from their job to replace an absent employee on the line. They ensure that every employee at every station understands precisely what they need to do and how to do it.

Since the introduction of QOSCs, Ford’s rating in initial and long-term quality surveys has seen an upward trend. Ford’s brand went up by eight points over last year, beating the industry seven-point rate of improvement, according to J.D. Powers and Associate’s Initial Quality Study. Shortly thereafter, the Global Quality Research System durability study noted that Ford brand improved at a rate of 3 percent verses the industry average of 1 percent.

Service Process Design

1. At Ford Motor Company and at the Able Ford Dealership the 3 elements of the Service-Product Bundle include the tangible service called explicit service, the psychological benefits of the service called implicit service and lastly the physical goods called facilitating goods. When a customer comes into the Able Ford Dealership to buy a car, they receive both an explicit service, in which the customer hopes to make and receive a good honest deal on the vehicle being purchased with total satisfaction, and the facilitating good in the new vehicle itself. The implicit service piece to this is how the customer feels about how they were treated and if all of their needs have been met and most importantly the overall satisfaction that they have with their buying experience.

2. Ford Motor Company's Able Ford Dealership falls under the customer routed cell on the Service Matrix. Since each customer is a unique individual, because of the high interaction with the customers when they sell cars so customers feels like they deserve their own unique experience at the dealership, by what the employees do for them.

Process Selection

A. Ford Motor Company and its Ford Dealerships use an Assembly Line type of product flow. Now the Assembly Line was essentially invented at Ford Motor Company by Henry Ford himself, so this method of manufacturing has become quite widespread over the last 100 years. Ford Motor Company's products are assembled and manufactured in a linear sequence of operations. The vehicles move from one step to the next in a sequential manner from beginning until total completion. While Ford Motor Company has over 90 plants worldwide, it used to have a lot more. Over time Ford has closed many assembly plants due to many reasons. But at one point in time Ford's assembly plants could only produce one or two types of a vehicle and that was it. But now Flexible Manufacturing has come in to reduce underutilized assembly plants which previously ran on one or two shifts, with mega flexible assembly plant complexes that run on three shifts. These flexible assembly plants are capable of building up to ten different vehicles off of two different vehicle platforms. This allows Ford to adjust its production accordingly to current market demands.

B. Make to Stock (MTS) and to a certain extent Make to Order (MTO)/Assemble to Order (ATO) is the consumer ordering process that Ford Motor Company and the Able Ford Dealership use. The inventory department takes into consideration the availability of each type of vehicle it orders and the sales history of that vehicle as well. This allows them to order the vehicle based on current market conditons. So if there is an extremely high demand for the Ford Focus then that means every Ford Dealership is clawing to get as many as possible, so not every Ford Dealership will be able to get as many as they want. While most Ford Dealerships, including Able Ford, would much rather use the Make to Stock process by just building vehicles according to the regular mix of what most people want, they are more than happy to use the Make to Order process as well. Despite thousands of hours of general sales data and history, there will always be a customer that comes into the dealership to purchase a speicifc vehicle with certain options that is currently not in the inventory. So the inventory department will sit down with the customer and build the vehicle with the options they want, and within six to eight weeks they can take delivery on the vehicle they ordered.

C. The particular cell that Ford Motor Company and its Ford Dealerships fall into is the Continuous and Assembly Line Flow cell, which is coupled with Make to Stock and Make to Order/Assemble to Order.

D. The factors influencing Able Ford's inventory department process selection include taking into consideration the availability of each type of vehicle they want to order and the sales history of that vehicle as well. Depending on what the current market situation is will pretty much dictate what they can order and then have built. If there is no demand for a vehicle, the inventory department will simply not carry that vehicle, but that doesn't mean a vehicle can't be ordered if a customer wanting it, wishes to buy it.

E. Ford Motor Company can adopt certain pieces to the mass customization methods. For example, years ago Ford only offered one type of mid-size utility vehicle, the very popular Ford Explorer. Throughout much of the 1990's and early 2000's Ford sold over 400,000 Explorers a year, but over time the Ford Explorer was no longer unqiue to the consumer, as everyone and their brother had one. Now Ford faced a dilema because consumers were beginning to migrate to other automakers that offered different types of mid-size utility vehicles which were different and unique. So Ford needed to continue to offer the Ford Explorer, as well as offer different types of utility vehicles, otherwise Ford would begin to lose its own customer base and market share. So through flexible manufacturing and advancing technology Ford is now able to offer (4) four different mid-size utility vehicles and they include the Ford Explorer, Edge, Flex, and Taurus X. These vehicles are beginning to share platforms, powertrains, transmissions, all-wheel drive systems, as well as many other components with each other. By sharing so many components that the consumer wouldn't even notice or care about, this allows Ford to utilize economies of scale. By having mutliple vehicles share a common platform and common components, you utilize the same starting point and hard engineering, but offer a different vehicle body or "top hat." While these vehicles aren't individually customizable, Ford is now able to offer four different types of mid-size utility vehicles because each one appeals and caters to a different type of consumer.

Inventory Management

At Ford Motor Company inventory management is definitely not a new idea, as inventory management has some of its developing origions of starting at Ford Motor Company itself.

Ongoing analyses of both inventory management and manufacturing processes have led to innovative management systems, such as just-in-time inventory or the economic-order quantity decision model. Just-in-time inventory is a process developed by the Japanese based on a process invented by Henry Ford.

Henry Ford managed to cut his inventory by forty million dollars by changing how he obtained materials to produce automobiles. Through a process called vertical integration, Ford purchased mines and smelting operations to better control the source and supply of material to produce cars. In this way, he was able to reduce his standing inventory and increase turnover. In the 1950's, Taiichi Ohno, a mechanical engineer working for Toyota Motor Co., refined this process into what we know today as just-in-time inventory.

Just-in-time inventory usually requires a dominant face (or a major partner that has the resources to start the process and keep it organized and controlled) that organizes the flow and communication so that all the parties in the supply process know exactly how many parts are needed to complete a production cycle and how much time is needed in between production cycles. By having and sharing this information, Ford Motor Company and its suppliers are able to deliver just the right amount of product or inventory at a given time. This requires a close working relationship between all the parties involved and greatly minimizes the amount of standing or idle inventory.

In the economic-order quantity decision model, an analysis is made to determine the optimum quantity of product needed to minimize total manufacturing or production costs. In other words, through a complex analysis, management attempts to determine the minimum amount of product needed to do the job and still keep the cost of inventory as low as they possibly can. This analysis considers the amount of time needed to generate an order, to process, manufacture, organize, and ship each product, then to receive, put into inventory at a Ford Dealership store, and then sell each product. Lastly is to process the paperwork upon receipt through the final payment process.

Ford Motor Company, like many companies today employ a mixture of both processes in order to maintain their independence but still have a close relationship with suppliers. Ford Dealerships, for example, work closely with Ford Motor Company to maintain the lowest possible inventories but still have enough cars to satisfy their customers demand. Ford Motor Company has access to information about each of its Ford Dealerships inventory levels, this allows management to further analyze inventories to ensure that each Ford store is carrying the correct amount of inventory in stock to satisfy that markets needs and maintain minimum levels.

The Inventory Management Process at the Able Ford (formerly Oasis Ford) Dealership.

At Able Ford, New Car Inventory is ordered by computer, using a UCS Tracking System, this allows the inventory department to order the cars and then track them through the production system and shipping process. This also allows for them to see what is currently in stock, what is incoming, or what is currently being built. This system utilizes a counter balance so that the department knows that a certain amount of the inventory will be gone by the time the incoming inventory is then in stock. So if a car has been in stock for over 500 days, the system tells them not to reorder it.

Also at Able Ford the inventory department has an inventory sales history, which allows them to properly forecast short-term needs and to also know which cars are not being sold. It provides sales for the past 6 years and will tell the inventory department what type of cars tend to sell the most during a given month. So if every April, Able Ford tends to sell 30 Ford Focuses, and there are only 15 in stock, then they know to order more to have for that given month. This system helps them with control by tying in with the Ford Motor Company sales and manufacturing departments. Whenever a sale is made of a car that has been sold, the car is deleted from inventory and made part of a history file that can be reviewed manually or automatically, and that depends on how the inventory department wishes to keep things organized.

About Ford Motor Company

Ford Motor Company is a global automotive industry leader based in Dearborn, Michigan, and manufactures or distributes automobiles across six continents. With about 229,000 employees and about 90 plants worldwide, the company's core and affiliated automotive brands include: Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Volvo and Mazda. The company provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company.

Ford Motor Company offers a variety of Cars, Crossovers, SUVs, and Trucks as well as many other products and services to the automotive consumer. In their second century of business, they're in a position to appeal to the widest range of potential customers. Each of their automotive brands has a unique personality and holds a distinct place in the Ford Motor Company Family of Brands. For more information regarding Ford's products, please visit http://www.ford.com/.