AD&P; > June 2013 > FEATURE > Advancing Manufacturing Technology at Ford > Gary S. Vasilash > gsv@autofeldguide.com
AdvAncing
MAnufActuring
technology At
ford
Flexibility and
standardization
go hand-in-hand
as Ford advances
its manufacturing
capabilities
around the world.
Bruce Hettle is Ford director of
manufacturing engineering, whose
area of responsibility is with vehicle
assembly systems. He's been with
the company for some 25 years.
And he says, in efect, that Ford
manufacturing operations are on a
roll, as the company invests in huge
changes around the world, working
toward achieving a capability to make
vehicles in a cost-efective manner that
have the highest levels of qualities,
to make them in a way that refects
environmental responsibility. "It's an
exciting time when you're building
eight plants in three years," he says.
A prime example of how Ford is
advancing the manufacturing process
is the "3-Wet" paint process.
by Gary S. Vasilash
> Editor-In-Chief
40
This process provides Ford with the
means to reduce not only its costs, but
the emissions—both volatile organic
compounds and CO2—associated with
painting. What's more, it is done in a
paint shop with a smaller footprint than
conventional painting operations. It
requires signifcantly less energy, and it
is done faster, as well, as much as 25%
faster than traditional vehicle painting.
Hettle says 3-Wet exemplifes
Ford's approach to advancing new
manufacturing technology into its
global facilities. The high-solids,
solvent-borne paint process was frst
tried at the Ohio Assembly Plant
in 2007, where it was used to paint
200 Econoline vehicles. These trucks
were used by U-Haul, and logged an
accumulated 400,000 miles in their frst
month in service. The paint held up
well under those grueling conditions (if
you've ever moved and rented a U-Haul,
you know that your treatment of the
vehicle tends to be a bit, umm . . . ).
Based on the success of the pilot,
by 2009, when it was expanding its
assembly plant near Chennai, India, it
installed 3-Wet.