Intelligent Manufacturing € April € 1996 € Vol. 2 € No. 4

Ford Implements Real-Time Shop Floor System

Automobile manufacturer Ford Motor Co. (Dearborn, Mich.) has launched a multi-million dollar project to implement a global shop floor system for the planning, scheduling and execution of manufacturing stamping dies for automotive parts. The project is underway at three Ford plants in Dearborn; Dagenham, England; and Cologne, Germany.

As part of the project, Ford has awarded a $2 million contract to SynQuest Inc. (Norcross, Ga.) to use the SynQuest manufacturing management software as a central component of the tool and die project. With the SynQuest software, Ford expects to reduce the time and expense for building the tooling for automotive parts, such as roofs, side panels, bumpers and hoods, which will contribute to improvements in quality, time-to-market and cost.

The SynQuest system will provide Ford with real-time scheduling and monitoring capabilities, enabling the plant to synchronize die construction operations across the plant floor. The software's real-time reporting provides continuous feedback to calculate capacity requirements and dynamically reschedule operations to adjust for actual shop floor performance. On the shop floor, the software graphically displays the status of each job to Ford personnel. It also displays problem areas as they occur and notifies the responsible department.

Previously, to support its tool and die operations, Ford relied on macro planning techniques to set die construction milestone dates, after which individual work center supervisors would apply their own methods and procedures to accomplish the tasks and support downstream customers. Typically the manufacturing process required shop floor supervisors to spend a large portion of their days coordinating resources to meet their respective plans.

Die construction for vehicle parts is a complex activity with a large bill of material. Many operations that consume hundreds of hours are needed to produce each die. Each finished stamped part for an automobile requires several dies, and each die has several castings and many supporting components. Adding to the complexity, there can be die processing improvements and product engineering changes, some of which can significantly alter the die, during the manufacturing process. These changes can slow down the process and add costs.

By better managing the manufacturing process, the manufacturing management software will help Ford to start its die manufacturing closer to customer due dates. This will allow the automobile manufacturer to accommodate more engineering changes without disrupting die manufacturing. Also, by reducing product lead times, Ford will be able to cut its work-in-process inventory, resulting in significant cost savings.

Grant-Thornton (Chicago, Ill.) is providing worldwide implementation and support services for the Ford tool and die plant floor scheduling project. The SynQuest systems in Dearborn and Dagenham are in early stages of operations, with the Cologne plant expected to be in operation later this year.
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