Ford CeIebrates 100

th
Anniversary of the Moving AssembIy
Line with New GoaIs for Advanced, FIexibIe Manufacturing
By 2017, Ford will increase its global flexible manufacturing to produce on average four
different models at each plant around the world
Largest manufacturing expansion in 50 years with eight new assembly plants and six new
powertrain plants globally to support growth and retain approximately 130,000 manufacturing
jobs around the world
Ford ramping up new advanced manufacturing techniques such as 3D printing, advanced
prototyping, robotics and virtual simulation to lead the next generation of manufacturing
NEW DELHI, India, 8 October, 2013 As today marks the 100th anniversary of the moving
assembly line invented by Ford Motor Company under the leadership of Henry Ford, the
company is building on its legacy of innovation by expanding advanced manufacturing
capabilities and introducing groundbreaking technologies that could revolutionize mass
production for decades to come.
Ford is rapidly expanding its advanced manufacturing capabilities and boosting global production
to meet surging consumer demand. By 2017, Ford will increase its global flexible manufacturing
to produce on average four different models at each plant around the world to allow for greater
adaptability based on varying customer demand. Ford also projects 90 percent of its plants
around the world will be running on a three-shift or crew model by 2017, which will help increase
production time more than 30 percent.
"One hundred years ago, my great-grandfather had a vision to build safe and efficient
transportation for everyone, said Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford. " am proud he was able to
bring the freedom of mobility to millions by making cars affordable to families and that his vision
of serving people still drives everything we do today.
Also in 2017, virtually all Ford vehicles will be built off nine core platforms, boosting
manufacturing efficiency, while giving customers the features, fuel efficiency and technology they
want anywhere in the world. Today, Ford builds vehicles on 15 platforms and has the freshest
lineup in the industry.
"Henry Ford's core principles of quality parts, workflow, division of labor and efficiency still
resonate today, said John Fleming, Ford executive vice president of global manufacturing.
"Building on that tradition, we're accelerating our efforts to standardize production, make
factories more flexible and introduce advanced technologies to efficiently build the best vehicles
possible at the best value for our customers no matter where they live.
Ford's recent expansions in global manufacturing and production have helped to retain 130,000
hourly and salaried jobs around the world.
They also put the company on pace to produce 6 million vehicles in 2013 approximately 16
vehicles every 60 seconds around the world. By 2015, Ford will have opened the facilities below:
2011: Ford Sollers Elabuga Assembly Plant Russia
2012: Ford Sollers Naberezhnye Chelny Assembly Plant Russia
2012: Chongqing #2 Assembly Plant China
2012: Craiova Engine Plant Romania
2012: Ford Thailand Motors Thailand
2013: Chongqing Engine Plant China
2013: Nanchang Assembly China
2014: Camaari Engine Plant Brazil
2014: Chongqing #3 Assembly Plant China
2014: Chongqing Transmission China
2014: Sanand Assembly Plant ndia
2014: Sanand Engine Plant ndia
2015: Hangzhou Assembly China
2015: Ford Sollers Elabuga Engine Plant Russia
An innovation that changed the worId
One hundred years ago today, Henry Ford and his team at Highland Park assembly plant
launched the world's greatest contribution to manufacturing the first moving assembly line. t
simplified assembly of the Ford Model T's 3,000 parts by breaking it into 84 distinct steps
performed by groups of workers as a rope pulled the vehicle chassis down the line.
The new process revolutionized production and dropped the assembly time for a single vehicle
from 12 hours to about 90 minutes.
By reducing the money, time and manpower needed to build cars as he refined the assembly
line over the years, Ford was able to drop the price of the Model T from $850 to less than $300.
For the first time in history, quality vehicles were affordable to the masses. Eventually, Ford built
a Model T every 24 seconds and sold more than 15 million worldwide by 1927, accounting for
half of all automobiles then sold.
"Ford's new approach spread rapidly, not only to other automakers but also to manufacturers of
phonographs, vacuum cleaners, refrigerators and other consumer goods, said Bob Casey,
former curator of transportation at The Henry Ford, and author of The Model T: A Centennial
History. "The assembly line became the characteristic American mode of production.
n 1914, Ford instituted the "$5 workday, a significant wage at the time, to enable his employees
to buy the vehicles they built. The move created loyalty among Ford workers and is credited with
giving rise to a new middle class of consumers unencumbered by geography, free to travel the
open roads, to live where they please and chase the American dream.
Ford fans today are honoring Henry Ford and his ingenious moving assembly line. National
Geographic will mark the occasion with an in-depth new documentary as part of its "Ultimate
Factories program airing Friday, Oct. 18. nformation about the documentary and local air times
can be found here.
New technoIogies shape the future
Ford already is realizing the benefits of advanced manufacturing technologies that will shape the
future. For example, Ford engineers are developing a highly flexible, first-of-its-kind, patented
technology to rapidly form sheet-metal parts for low-volume production use. The technology,
known as Ford Freeform Fabrication Technology, or F3T, will lower costs and speed delivery
times for prototype stamping molds within three business days versus two to six months for
prototypes made using conventional methods.
Additionally, Ford is expanding its capabilities in 3D printing, which creates
production-representative 3D parts layer by layer for testable prototypes. With 3D printing, Ford
can create multiple versions of one part at a time and deliver prototype parts to engineers for
testing in days rather than months.
Ford also is investing in robotic innovations to improve vehicle quality and production efficiencies.
For example, the company's new dirt detection system uses robotic vision to create a digital
model of each vehicle in final assembly to analyze paint and surface imperfections in
comparison with a perfect model. The result has been significantly improved surface quality on
Ford vehicles and more time for operators on the assembly line to address complex issues.
Robotics, in this case, allow Ford to work smarter in improving products for customers and
allowing workers to focus on more critical thinking tasks.
Finally, through Ford's "virtual factory, the company can improve quality and cut costs in
real-world manufacturing facilities by creating and analyzing computer simulations of the
complete vehicle production process. This includes simulations of how assembly line workers
have to reach and stretch when building a vehicle to ensure the work conditions meet Ford
ergonomic standards. Since the implementation of this virtual process in 2001, the number of
ergonomic issues during physical builds has been reduced by nearly 20 percent.
"Technologies such as 3D printing, robotics and virtual manufacturing may live in research but
have real-world applications for tomorrow and beyond, said Paul Mascarenas, chief technical
officer and vice president, Ford Research and nnovation. "We use Henry Ford's spirit of
innovation as a benchmark for bringing new technologies into the manufacturing process.