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PRESS RELEASE

Ford Announces ISO 9001 Certification

20 February 1997

ISO 9001 at Ford: More Than a Plaque On the Wall

    DEARBORN, Mich., Feb. 20 -- While Ford is proud to
display its ISO 9001 badge of achievement, the real measure of the Company's
success will be the positive impact its quality discipline will have on
customer satisfaction.
    In December 1996, Ford became the largest automotive organization in the
world to receive ISO 9001 quality certification, the result of an immense
exercise in teamwork and cooperation among 109 facilities making up the
Company's North American Operations.  Ford's European Operations were
certified in 1993.
    "Although ISO 9001 certification is certainly an accomplishment for Ford,
the real payoff is in its contribution to the delivery of satisfying high
quality products for our customers," said Ken Dabrowski, vice president,
Quality and Process Leadership, Ford Motor Company, "The ISO 9001 process has
forced us to be disciplined and focused on continuous improvement in our
quality systems.  We are using it as a positive internal force to keep moving
the quality needle on all our vehicle lines, which will ultimately lead to
increased customer satisfaction."
    Ford engineers now have a framework for a more organized and disciplined
approach to making decisions about quality.  Engineering systems are based on
written process statements supported by formal "how to" procedures, which
provide engineers with a straightforward roadmap for executing their
responsibilities.
    "ISO disciplines are helping us keep track of important issues.  A lot of
effort and time is saved because people are more certain of their tasks.  You
can find the deliverables and due dates for tasks in your job and justify
priorities for what needs to be done first and in what order," said Jim Eyre,
ISO Core Team Manager, "This discipline also has made it easier to find
quality documents like design criteria by putting them in a central location.
In fact, many functions are posting and updating departmental records, problem
logs, verification plans, test reports and other quality system procedures on
the Company's Internal WEB sites.  This has helped to eliminate cumbersome and
out-of-date manuals."
    The next step on Ford's ISO journey involves ongoing surveillance to
maintain certification.  Generally, each activity audited in 1996 will undergo
two surveillance visits per year.  Ford also has established an ISO
Integration Committee to communize its quality systems and merge the
certifications between Europe and North America.  Facilities in Ford's
Automotive Products Operations (Automotive Components Division, Glass
Division, and Electrical and Fuel Handling Division) are upgrading their
certification to the QS-9000 Standard.  QS-9000 is a fundamental
automotive-specific quality standard, which incorporates ISO 9001, adopted by
Chrysler, Ford and General Motors for internal and external suppliers.
    "ISO establishes our credentials in the marketplace," said Dabrowski.  "It
is now up to us not only to maintain our certification, but to keep striving
for even higher levels of quality.  This is about much more than hanging a
certificate on the wall.  It signals a drive for continuous improvement that
will be clear to our customers, who are the ultimate judges of our products."
    ISO 9001 is an international quality standard developed by the
International Standard Organization that defines generic quality system
requirements for companies.  Registration involves documenting the quality
system and following quality procedures.  Companies achieve certification by
passing on-site audits performed by an independent third party.  The
certification covers design, engineering, manufacturing, purchasing, and
marketing and sales.

SOURCE  Ford Motor Company




CONTACT: Carla Waddles of Ford, 313-594-4100