Ford Manufacturing Executive Outlines Company 6-Sigma Quality Process

    WARRENDALE, Pa., Feb. 26 Anne Stevens, Executive
Director -- Vehicle Operations, Ford Motor Company, will recount Ford Motor
Company's launch of a tried and proven method to reduce variability, waste and
cost at the Engineering/Management Symposium Luncheon, Wednesday, March 7,
2001 at 11:30 a.m. during the SAE 2001 World Congress, Cobo Center, Detroit,
Michigan.

    Responsible for overseeing the operations of 18 automotive assembly plants
in Canada, Mexico and the U.S., Stevens had been director of the Manufacturing
Business Office for Ford in North America before her present assignment.

    The 6-Sigma process Stevens will describe is a statistical process
designed to reduce variability, waste and costs by eliminating defects and
making processes more efficient and consistent.  This process is being used by
a number of Fortune 500 companies, including Motorola, General Electric and
Whirlpool.

    Attendees can expect to learn how to streamline processes, making them
more efficient and consistent, eliminate waste and achieve customer
satisfaction all at the same time.  They can also learn how to focus their
processes in order to avoid defects in the first place.

    Stevens joined Ford in 1990 as a marketing specialist in the Plastic
Products Division, Vehicle Exterior Systems.  After several managerial
assignments in the U.S., Stevens was named plant manager for Ford Automotive
Components Division (ACD) at the Enfield, England facility in 1995, making her
Ford's first female plant manager in Europe.