Project management keeps quality job 1 at Ford. (Ford Motor Co.'s new Wayne stamping plant)

Project Management Keeps Quality Job 1 At Ford

Launching a new car line is not a simple job.

In this era of the "World Car", launches can cost over a billion dollars, and span the globe with designing, tooling and prototyping activities. Just ask the people at Ford's Wayne Integral Stamping and Assembly Plant in Wayne, Michigan. They are responsible for tieing together the many worldwide threads required for launching Ford's new Escort, the best selling car in America for three (model) years running.

The 1990 1/2 Escort will be introduced as an all new vehicle, with the majority of stamping produced in a new stamping and body shop facility currently being built behind the existing assembly plant.

The Escort facilities and tooling project represents not only a significant investment by Ford but also a real response to the increasingly competitive demands of an automotive market. The new Wayne stamping and body (facilities and tooling) portion of this investment is $165 million dollars. Locating the stamping facility adjacent to the assembly plant offers significant Just-In-Time and quality efficiencies. The operation will strive for world class productivity in all areas. The stamping operation will feature state of the art equipment including transfer press …