Ford Ohio Assembly Plant Wins Shingo Prize for Lean Manufacturing

    AVON LAKE, Ohio, April 25 Ford Motor Company has
reached a milestone in lean manufacturing with the awarding of the 2001 Shingo
Prize to its Ohio Assembly Plant.

    The plant is the first North American automotive assembly facility to win
the coveted manufacturing award.

    In addition to Ohio Assembly, two of Ford's engine plants have been
honored for their lean manufacturing excellence by the Shingo organization.
This year, Ford's Essex Engine Plant in Windsor, Canada, received a Shingo
Prize.  Last year, Ford's Windsor Engine Plant also received a Prize.

    "We are delighted to receive this kind of industry recognition," said Jim
Padilla, Ford group vice president of Global Manufacturing.  "Ford is
aggressively implementing lean manufacturing principles through the Ford
Production System at all of its manufacturing operations.  This is key to our
success in an increasing competitive vehicle market."

    Ohio Assembly is located 28 miles west of Cleveland, Ohio.  The facility
produces Mercury Villager and Nissan Quest minivans, as well as Econoline
full-sized vans.  The 3.7 million-square-foot plant houses one of the largest
body and paint shops in the Ford system.

    Ohio Assembly United Auto Workers Union Local 2000 has embraced Ford
Production System (FPS) through both traditional and modern operating
agreements at the plant.  FPS is a lean, flexible production system that
employs empowered work teams, just-in-time production and stable processes to
achieve manufacturing excellence.

    "This award is testimony to the manufacturing partnership employees have
forged at Ohio Assembly," said Charles Shortridge, plant manager at Ohio
Assembly.  "This plant is dedicated to manufacturing excellence and to full
implementation of the Ford Production System as a means of achieving that
excellence.  There is no other way to be a customer-focused facility."

    Use of FPS techniques has resulted in marked improvements in a number of
manufacturing areas.  For example, lean manufacturing techniques have helped
Ohio Assembly achieve a 22 percent improvement in Econoline warranty while
Villager has improved 11 percent over the past two years.  Additionally,
Econoline realized a 35 percent improvement in customer quality surveys while
the Villager improved 39 percent.

    Established in 1988 by Utah State University (USU), the Shingo Prize is
named in honor of Shigeo Shingo, creator of the original lean production
system.  Award criteria focus on customer satisfaction, quality,
profitability, cost and delivery, lean core operations, leadership and
empowerment enablers.

    Ford received a Shingo in the large business category.  Plant officials
from Ohio Assembly and Essex Engine will join four other winners at a
presentation on June 7.