On the cusp of Henry Ford’s 150th birthday celebration and Ford’s 100 years of manufacturing in Louisville, GLI brought in James Tetreault, the VP of Manufacturing for Ford North America, as the keynote speaker during last week’s Manufacturing and Logistics Network Event. Mayor Fischer opened the event with the announcement that Louisville was recently ranked #2 Manufacturing Boom Town by Forbes Magazine. With manufacturing growth, workforce development issues naturally follow and both GLI and Mayor Fischer seem eager to tackle this vital problem.
Mr. Tetreault, formerly the Director of Manufacturing in Louisville, outlined Ford’s five primary goals for immediate and future transformation.
1. Plant Utilization. Ford recently changed their plants from 2 shifts to 3 shifts with a 24/7 operation, allowing for better work conditions and operating capacity.
2. Flexibility. Mr. Tetreault stated that Ford previously did not have the ability to build new products with existing tooling. The new Ford plan will allow for multiple products and multiple platforms at the same plant location. Louisville is currently the most flexible plant for Ford, allowing them to meet market demand with high plant utilization and stable employment.
3. Well Trained and Flexible Workforce. Ford began in Louisville in 1913 with 17 employees making 12 cars per day. Today the two Louisville plants alone employ more than 8,500 people. The demand has grown tremendously over the years. Currently one Ford Escape (made in Louisville) is produced every 55 seconds and they still can’t make enough to supply the demand. Escape was recently awarded the Most Fuel Efficient Car of the Year in small utilities. Five years ago Ford didn’t ship any cars outside of the U.S. Today the international market is Ford’s fastest growing segment, currently shipping to 50 countries around the world. To assist with the fast growing employment needs, Ford has implemented a world class training facility in Louisville to provide automated training and ensure work readiness.
4. Environmental Stewardship. Louisville is Ford’s greenest facility to date. Ford has recently invested in new paint technology to decrease emissions and is working with suppliers across the world to locate greener products. Ford was recently successful cutting C02 emissions by 37% and dramatically reducing waste water load on the sewer systems in Louisville. Ford is currently working on a very fuel efficient and high horsepower system that is going into the CMAX and Fusion hybrids as well as a 2.0 liter Ecoboost engine being made in Cleveland. Ford currently holds 16% of the market share in hybrid production.
5. Community Programs. In 2012 Ford employees donated over 1.6 million dollars to charity and built 26 handicap ramps for local shut-ins. Other charities that Ford sponsor include Ronald McDonald house and the Red Cross.
In the future Mr. Tetrault believes that the hybrid market will continue to grow but the electric cars will remain stunted in sales due to limited driving range and battery size issues. He also predicts that the alternative fuel development will not be significant in the next 5-10 years. Surprisingly, he believes that Russia will be the largest market in Europe for car sales in the next 5 years.
Susan F. Woods
Director of Recruitment, Talis Group, Inc.