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.November
26, 2003
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This Week:
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X-TRAIL FCV is Latest in Nissan's Alternative Fuel Cell Technology
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Volkswagen has made new top management appointments at German and international locations
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Ford Invests $325 Million In Michigan And Ohio Plants To Build An All-New 6-Speed Transmission
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Ford Invests $325 Million In Michigan And Ohio Plants To Build An All-New
6-Speed Transmission
LIVONIA, Mich. - Pushing to improve fuel efficiency and maximize performance and smooth operation, Ford Motor Company is investing up to $325 million in two transmission plants to build an all-new, rear-wheel-drive 6-speed automatic transmission. This includes an investment of $170 million in Ford's Livonia (Mich.) Transmission Plant and $155 million for its Sharonville (Ohio) Transmission Plant, near Cincinnati. Since November 2002, the company has invested more than $1.3 billion in tooling and equipment at its North American powertrain plants. |
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Livonia will assemble the new transmission, and Sharonville will machine and assemble the transmission's gears, the heart of an automatic. Sharonville will produce up to 7 million gears annually for the new transmission, and ship the assembled gears to Livonia for final assembly.
Production of the new transmission will begin at the Livonia plant by the middle of 2005, with gear production also beginning at Sharonville in 2005. This is the first all-new transmission awarded to the Livonia plant since 1984. Sharonville started building a new transmission a year ago, the new TorqShiftÒ 5-speed automatic - for Ford F-Series Super Duty trucks - and also builds a variety of 4-speed and 5-speed automatics.
To build the new 6R, the Livonia plant is receiving:
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A new final assembly and advanced testing area
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New case and valve-body machining lines
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New main control assembly line (routes hydraulic fluids)
The all-new, more efficient 6-speed will transmit power to a variety of future Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles, including sport-utility vehicles (SUVs) and rear-drive passenger cars.
Ford's New Flexible Manufacturing System
The investment at the Livonia and Sharonville plants also continues Ford's move to a new cost-effective and quality-enhancing global flexible manufacturing system to build powertrains. As part of the case and valve-body machining areas at Livonia and the gear machining line at Sharonville, Ford will install a series of "flexible" computer-numerically controlled (CNC) machines.
The new flexible CNC machines help Ford to react quickly to changing production needs and cost less than Ford's outgoing transfer-line system. The new machines can be retooled and reprogrammed internally, with little or no interruption in production. In many cases, this reprogramming can be accomplished over a weekend.
This is important when it comes time to redesign a component or build a completely different transmission design on the line.
Ford's new flexible manufacturing system replaces the complicated process of removing old-style dedicated milling or boring machines and installing new ones, which can interrupt production for months.
Three main elements are at the core of Ford's flexible manufacturing strategy for powertrains:
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Common engine and transmission architectures
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Commonized manufacturing facilities
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Modern, flexible, numerically controlled machine tools (CNC machines) that can be easily retooled and reprogrammed to perform new tasks with minimal disruption to production.
In addition to Livonia and Sharonville, new, flexible CNC machines also are being installed at Ford's engine plants around the world, including: Cleveland Engine Plant No. 1; Lima (Ohio); Romeo (Mich.); Windsor (Ontario); and Ford's Bridgend and Dagenham plants in England.
New Database Improves Transmission Quality
During production, each transmission built at Livonia will develop a sophisticated "birth history" that allows plant engineers to track every stage of production - starting even before major components arrive at the transmission plant. The system uses sophisticated Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology to track components as they move through production - similar to the type of radio frequencies used in a speed pass to pay at gasoline pumps.
Ford's birth history technology is currently used at Ford engine plants building its new global I-4 engine - Dearborn, Mich., Chihuahua, Mexico, Valencia, Spain and Mazda's plant in Hiroshima, Japan - as well as at Ford's Windsor and Essex (Canada) engine plants for manufacture of the all-new 5.4-liter, 3-valve TritonÔ V-8.
Each engine or transmission's birth history is recorded and maintained in a database related to a bar code. Such data include hundreds of metrics, including torque levels for specific bolts, various testing information and major components identified for traceability.
The birth history allows engineers to trace the precise path taken by any part, so any quality control issue can be traced back to its source, and affected parts taken out of production. "This has potential to save thousands of unnecessary replacements, and spare customers considerable inconvenience," said Frazier Anderson, plant manager, Livonia Transmission Plant.
Standardization Leads to Efficiencies
Livonia's new machining lines will feature a series of CNC machines arranged in cells of up to 12 identical machines. Cell operators will be able to monitor production at a computer workstation. Each operator can step into other team members' roles, and trade information, concerns and best practices with coworkers.
Since the machines are identical, Ford is able to dramatically reduce the number of spare parts kept on hand. The new plants typically have one set of shared common spares for each system, rather than each machine, which results in a huge inventory cost savings.
Plant Background
The Livonia Transmission Plant, which was originally built in 1952 to manufacture U.S. Army tanks, today measures 3.3 million square feet and employs more than 2,500 people.
Today, the plant builds 4-speed automatics for the Ford Crown Victoria, Econoline, Expedition, F-150, Mustang, Lincoln Town Car and Mercury Grand Marquis.
The Sharonville plant, which was originally built in 1958, today measures 2.4 million square feet and employs more than 2,200 people.
Today, the plant builds 4-speed automatics for the Ford Crown Victoria, E-Series, Expedition, Excursion, Mercury Grand Marquis, Lincoln Navigator and Lincoln Town Car and 5-speed automatics for Ford's F-Series Super Duty line of trucks, the Lincoln LS, Jaguar S-Type and Ford Thunderbird. It also makes components for the Ford Focus and Ford Escape.
(Nov. 20, 2003)
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