Ford Shares its Quality Roadmap With Michigan and Pennsylvania Transportation Departments

23 July 1997
Ford Shares its Quality Roadmap With Michigan and Pennsylvania Transportation Departments

    DEARBORN, Mich., July 23 -- Ford is hosting visitors today
from the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) and the Pennsylvania
Department of Transportation (PennDOT), who are seeking to learn more about
the Company's Quality achievements and initiatives.
    Representatives from both State Transportation Departments are meeting
this week in Lansing, Mich. to share best Quality practices.  PennDOT
specifically requested a visit to Ford's Quality Office as part of its
learning experience.
    Ford has been the domestic auto industry Quality leader for several years,
according to the J.D. Power Initial Quality Study (IQS).  In this year's IQS
the Company's Atlanta, Ga. Taurus/Sable Assembly Plant received J.D. Power's
Platinum Award recognizing it as the highest Quality plant worldwide.
    "We welcome this exchange of information and ideas," said Robert Kiessel,
Director, Core Quality Office, Ford Automotive Operations.  "This is a unique
opportunity for us to gain a non-industry perspective on Quality."
    Officials from MDOT and PennDOT will spend a half-day with employees from
Ford's Quality Office.  During the visit, the group will hear more about
Ford's experiences in integrating a Quality philosophy throughout its
organization.
    Some specific programs that will be discussed are Ford's Quality Operating
System, which verifies the design and production progress of vehicle programs
against world-class engineering milestones.  The visitors also will be exposed
to Ford's RAPID methodology, which has helped save the Company close to $1
billion over the last few years.  RAPID, an acronym for Rapid Actions for
Process Improvement Deployment, helps Ford by providing a method for
identifying more efficient practices and solutions to recurring problems.
    "MDOT has become a customer-oriented, Quality conscious organization that
is consistently seeking ways to improve its delivery system.  Ford Motor
Company has set the standard for Quality programs nationally," said Janet
D'Ignazio, Administrator, Office of Quality Reengineering, MDOT.  "Meeting in
conjunction with PennDOT and Ford is a unique opportunity for us to explore
the latest in industry advances."

SOURCE  Ford Motor Company