Ford Gaining Leadership by Mastering Change
10 August 1998
Ford Gaining Leadership by Mastering Change
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich., Aug. 7 -- Ford Motor Company
is striving to maintain momentum and gain leadership through a "continual
fresh eyes" look at every process in its enterprise -- from concept to
customer, according to Bob Transou, group vice president, Manufacturing.
Speaking at the University of Michigan Management Briefing Seminar,
Transou described how Ford is revising its culture to become "masters of
change" and the leading automotive company of the next century.
"The masters of change must understand and anticipate customers' wants,
and then create the processes and technology to respond more rapidly than
anyone else," said Transou.
By focusing on these efforts, Ford has achieved record first- and second-
quarter profits this year ($1.7 billion and $2.4 billion, respectively),
increased its stock price and enjoyed a number of successes in manufacturing.
This year, J.D. Power and Associates awarded Ford and UAW/Ford the first-
ever J.D. Power Chairman's Award for Cooperation in Vehicle Quality
improvement and recognized the company's quality improvements in its Initial
Quality Survey. Ford plants swept the top three spots in the study, with 11
of the company's facilities scoring above the industry average.
Meanwhile, Ford's assembly plants demonstrated the largest improvement in
productivity among all domestic manufacturers, according to the recently
released Harbour Report. On an hours-per-vehicle basis, Ford was recognized
as the clear leader with four of the top 10 car assembly plants, eight of the
top 10 truck plants and four of the top 10 engine plants.
Transou stressed that successful companies must have "leaders who are
strategists that maintain close involvement with their customers -- and then
deliver their wants with lightning speed."
Ford plans to stay one step ahead in the rapidly changing global business
environment by focusing on the basics of quality, cost and speed in its
manufacturing, design, delivery and sales processes.
"The benefits of all these four initiatives are enormous," said Transou,
"not only to our Company and employees, but to our supplier partners. And
most importantly to our customers, who ultimately dictate our success."
The company's lean manufacturing process -- the Ford Production System
(FPS) -- is the way Ford will manufacture cars and trucks everywhere it builds
them. The process centers around building a customer-driven product sequence
in a predictable and stable manner at the lowest total cost and speed, with
the highest quality. Plant employees play an integral part in the success of
FPS.
While FPS is still in the early deployment stages, it already has achieved
impressive results in its initial application areas. Dock-to-dock time has
been improved by as much as 50 percent in some cases.
The company aims to get products to customers more quickly through its
Order to Delivery process. The goal is a 15-day delivery process from the
customer order to the dealer showroom -- a process that currently can take
about two months.
"We want to be able to give all of our customers what they want, when they
want it and move to a customer 'pull' system," said Transou, noting that a key
part of this process involves limiting the number of buildable combinations
per vehicle line.
"In our estimation, the success of companies will be recognized by their
ability to react quickly and strategically to changes around the world," said
Transou. "Those who identify changes in customer needs and wants and react
most quickly will be the winners -- those who don't will be left to float down
the stream."