Ford’s Most Advanced Assembly Plant (Rural Brazil)

[xiggi]

This would be not be the greatest for freight haulers but for the auto makers must be a bid money saver. The reporter adds in interesting thought about the union at the end.

Fords joint assembly plant in Brazil.

 

[scottm4211]

Having worked 4 yrs at Toyota up here, that plant seems pretty similar. The only real differences I see is the greater use of robotics (which the Japanese assembly plants don't embrace for some reason), and the slower pace.
And yes, 4 yrs. was plenty enough for me.

 

[Slo-Ride]

These joint ventures are going on here,,Just not under 1 roof and here we call em Sequencing plants usaully across the street or with-in a few miles of the plant..

 

[Turtle]

The Kia plant in Alabama, the Toyota plant in San Antonio, both have on-site suppliers that flow stuff directly into the assembly line.

 

[blizzard2014]

You suppose they'll be needin retired expediters to deliver parts from one plant to another for 50 bucks a pop? I will be the first local 3 mile radius driver to fall asleep and have an accident after a night of bouncing back and forth between suppliers. That factory in Brazil is also interchangeable, they can produce about five different automobiles in one plant by shifting around the line. It's brilliant! I wouldn't sweat the loss of automotive freight as most of my freight recently has been either ltl freight gone hot or GE railroad loads. The trains always need to be repaired and maintained, and according to one of the guys in the shop, the railroad does not trust their own railroad to deliver hot parts on time. So there will always be a lot of work in expediting as long as you know where to look for it! That was a good bit of information zig, but I saw that a few years back.

 

[Slo-Ride]

With the plants pretty much mastering the just on time system,I'm think only need for more drivers will be drivers running the switcher trucks (yrd trucks)as more and more of these sequencing plants come online.

 

[greg334]

God as much as things change, they seem to return to what was.

Ford's Rouge plant was where raw materials and parts came in on one side, cars came out the other.

Ford's Highland Park plant had a constant flow of parts coming in from either Ford plants or suppliers.

The just in time stuff isn't new, it has been around for a long long time and we will still need people to haul stuff here in this country not because any of these companies will go "high tech" but rather need to continue to employee union people.

 

[Slo-Ride]

God as much as things change, they seem to return to what was.

Ford's Rouge plant was where raw materials and parts came in on one side, cars came out the other.

Ford's Highland Park plant had a constant flow of parts coming in from either Ford plants or suppliers.

The just in time stuff isn't new, it has been around for a long long time and we will still need people to haul stuff here in this country not because any of these companies will go "high tech" but rather need to continue to employee union people.

Your correct in saying its nothing new. also about the in one door with parts and out the other end with final product. The way it use to be was Ford did it all,,Now all they do for most part is assembly components from vendors into a final product.
I wasn't a O/0 for the hay day as some here but I was in the plants when alot of this just in time started. Just in time was started to reduce waste due to shelf life,theft,damage,control inventory, etc etc.What I am getting at is they have mastered it in a way thats its no longer true expedite freight (or starting to) anymore. Either the 53 ft failed to make p-up,,or its a blow out load and and now with suppliers working next door it may reduce need for us even more. Not completly, there will allways be a demand for straights and vans,just not in the way most of the old heads here seen in the past.
I think they have figured out ya can stop scrap faster when components are being produced next door (or assembled) and still not have the cost of bad parts because a vendor is assembling the dashboard or seat or what ever component it is.
Most of the Sequencing plants I have seen are non-union to my knowledge..

 

[greg334]

Slo, you are almost right about JIT.

The one thing that it really was used for by the Japanese comes from their home based manufacturing, flexibility. You have to understand the history of Japanese manufacturing and how it has progressed. Ford did a lot with time studies, but the Japanese took that info and put it to work down to the level of the worker, where we only took it to the manager.

If some of the US management got their way, they would have introduced a real flexible manufacturing system a lot like what the Chinese and Japanese have in their home based plants. We can't do it with the union mentality of "not my job" which means there wouldn't be need for any union at all. The wage wouldn't really drop as some will say but rather the worker would become more of a value to the company other than a nut shuffler.

Ford talked about it, tried to get it off the ground but their version is rather ... not very effective.

 

[scottm4211]

Taking that even further, the Toyota plant here cross trains their skilled trades people ie: an electrician is sent to the local college to be trained as a millwright, stuff like that. I was impressed with the knowledge these guys had.


Posted with my iPhone EO Forum App

 

[sluggo]

The just in time stuff isn't new, it has been around for a long long time and we will still need people to haul stuff here in this country not because any of these companies will go "high tech" but rather need to continue to employee union people.

[/QUOTE]

Having grown up and lived in Flint all my life, I think your take is spot on.