Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • Sustainable Plastics
  • Rubber News
Subscribe
  • Sign Up Free
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Processor News
    • Suppliers
    • More News
    • Digital Edition
    • End Markets
    • Special Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Resin pricing news
    • Videos
    • Injection Molding
    • Blow Molding
    • Film & Sheet
    • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
    • Rotomolding
    • Thermoforming
    • Recycling
    • Machinery
    • Materials
    • Molds/Tooling
    • Product news
    • Design
    • K Show
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Sustainability
    • Public Policy
    • Material Insights Videos
    • Numbers that Matter
    • Automotive
    • Packaging
    • Medical
    • Consumer Products
    • Construction
    • Processor of the Year
    • Best Places to Work
    • Women Breaking the Mold
    • Rising Stars
    • Diversity
    • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
  • Opinion
    • The Plastics Blog
    • Kickstart
    • One Good Resin
    • Pellets and Politics
    • All Things Data
    • Viewpoint
    • From Pillar to Post
    • Perspective
    • Mailbag
    • Fake Plastic Trees
  • Shop Floor
    • Blending
    • Compounding
    • Drying
    • Injection Molding
    • Purging
    • Robotics
    • Size Reduction
    • Structural Foam
    • Tooling
    • Training
  • Events
    • K Show Livestream
    • Plastics News Events
    • Industry Events
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Livestreams/Webinars
    • Editorial Livestreams
    • Ask the Expert
    • Plastics News Events Library
    • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Plastics News Executive Forum
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Plastics News Caps & Closures
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
    • Plastics in Automotive
    • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Polymer Points Live
    • Numbers that Matter Live
    • Plastics in Politics Live
    • Sustainable Plastics Live
    • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
    • Plastics in Healthcare Library
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
  • Rankings & Data
    • Injection Molders
    • Blow Molders
    • Film Sheet
    • Thermoformers
    • Pipe Profile Tubing
    • Rotomolders
    • Mold/Toolmakers
    • LSR Processors
    • Recyclers
    • Compounders - List
    • Association - List
    • Plastic Lumber - List
    • All
  • Directory
  • Resin Prices
    • Commodity TPs
    • High Temp TPs
    • ETPs
    • Thermosets
    • Recycled Plastics
    • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
    • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
    • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
    • Historic Thermosets
    • Historic Recycled Plastics
  • Custom
    • Sponsored Content
    • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
    • Conair Sponsored Content
    • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
    • ENGEL Sponsored Content
    • White Papers
    • Classifieds
    • Place an Ad
    • Sign up for Early Classified
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. News
News
August 27, 2019 09:59 AM

Ford Explorer launch required major redo of aging plant

Michael Martinez
Automotive News
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print
    Ford Motor Co.

    A Ford employee installs doors on the all-new 2020 Ford Explorer at Chicago Assembly Plant. Ford invested $1 billion in Chicago Assembly and Stamping plants and added 500 jobs to expand capacity for the production of all-new Ford Explorer, Explorer Hybrid, Police Interceptor Utility and Lincoln Aviator. Ford is increasing its use of advanced manufacturing technologies as part of a plan to deliver high-quality vehicles to customers even more efficiently. 

    The high-profile changeover of the Ford F-150 plants in Michigan and Missouri in late 2014 to build aluminum-bodied pickups may have been the most important manufacturing endeavor in Ford Motor Co.'s recent history, given the trucks' outsize influence on the automaker's bottom line.

    But the scope of that work paled in comparison to the retooling of Ford's Chicago Assembly Plant over the course of 30 days this year in preparation for the redesigned Explorer and the new Lincoln Aviator.

    Beginning in March, Ford orchestrated a complex dance of human and machine that transformed most of the 95-year-old plant and its 113-acre site along the Calumet River on the city's South Side. Some 11,000 workers gutted and rebuilt the body shop, modernized the paint shop and upgraded every workstation in the final assembly area.

    Every 90 seconds, a synchronized lineup of trucks dropped off loads of scrap metal next to the river. Barges took the metal, weighing more than the Eiffel Tower, to a recycling center a mile away.

    By the time the changeover was finished, Ford had installed 600 robots, 500 error-proofing tools, several 3D printers and other 3D-printed tools.

    Inside the plant, supervisors used stopwatches to clock thousands of GPS-tracked tractor-trailers that hauled in new tooling in a specific order. Officials rented nearby lots to hold the trailers so the tooling would be close by when the time came to install it, rather than storing it farther away and risking getting off schedule because of Chicago's notoriously heavy traffic.

    They did it all at a blindingly fast pace. In one area of the body shop, crews tore out old equipment, installed new machines and began building parts within seven days.

    "It's the most difficult thing I've been involved in," Gary Johnson, a 30-year-plus Ford veteran appointed head of manufacturing and labor affairs last fall, told Automotive News. "Just the scope, age of the complex and the location of it. This was the ultimate team sport."

    Ford CEO Jim Hackett told investors on the company's July earnings call that the Chicago changeover was "in some ways a bigger endeavor" than what happened five years ago at its F-150 plants, even though the company publicized those projects more.

    The transformations in Dearborn, Mich., and Kansas City, Mo., focused only on the body shop. At Chicago Assembly, Ford's oldest continuously operating plant, the project included the paint shop and final assembly areas, too.

    Installing equipment in 2014 to handle aluminum body panels instead of steel ones was challenging, executives said, but shifting from front- to rear-wheel-drive vehicles in Chicago was more complex.

    "The whole process is different," Johnson said. "We changed about 20 to 25 percent of the stations in Dearborn Truck. In Chicago, it was basically about 90 to 95 percent."

    The Explorer is Ford's third-best-selling U.S. nameplate, behind the F series and Escape. It's also believed to be one of the most profitable vehicles in the company's lineup. The 2020 Explorer Platinum has a sticker price of more than $60,000 including shipping.

    Ford Motor Co.

    A Ford employee works on one of the two 3D printers at Chicago Assembly to print individual parts for tools necessary to keep the plant running. 

    A river runs through it

    One of the biggest differences between the F-150 and Explorer changeovers was location.

    Although the Dearborn and Chicago sites are near major interstate highways, daily gridlock in the Chicago area made it more difficult to move trucks on a tight deadline.

    So Ford decided to take advantage of the location along the river, renting a barge that ultimately carried more than 10,000 tons of scrap metal. Multiple construction cranes worked long hours during the first week to move the metal aboard.

    Johnson said the project's leadership team meticulously planned the changeover years ahead of time, employing a process he used while working in Ford's Asia Pacific manufacturing operations.

    "We knew we were going to have to do this," he said. "We knew the complexity of it. We could plan to the day, to the hour, to the minute."

    Once the plant was stripped of old equipment, Ford could lean on its recent experiences at Dearborn Truck, Kansas City Assembly and other plants to quickly install more than 500 truckloads of new machinery.

    Ron Ketelhut, who oversaw the Dearborn changeover and is now global director of manufacturing strategy and advanced planning, said Ford learned to build new tooling at off-site supplier shops, then pull it out, load it onto trucks, ship it in order and store it nearby until needed. In Kansas City, for example, the company temporarily parked the trailers at an old amusement park.

    "Not only did it have to be there on time, it had to be in order," Ketelhut said of the Chicago project. "It was like putting Legos together."

    To keep the trucks moving, workers prepared extensively by watching videos explaining how to load and unload the trucks most efficiently. Ketelhut likened the sessions to a sports team reviewing film before game day to correct or prevent mistakes.

    It also spent $40 million on employee-centered improvements including cafeteria updates and new break rooms.

    While employees were waiting for new equipment, Ford trained them using augmented and virtual reality so that, when everything was finished, they could become comfortable more quickly.

    ‘Toughest' changeover

    Hackett, on the second-quarter earnings call, said Ford has its "toughest" changeover out of the way as it prepares to introduce a wave of new and redesigned vehicles over the next year.

    The Chicago project ran smoothly for the most part, aside from rainstorms that set it back about four hours. Workers made up the lost time in less than a day, Johnson said.

    There were no major injuries or incidents during the construction. The biggest setback, Johnson joked, involved his pride: "I've got a little more gray hair."

    RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
    Myplas could move beyond Minnesota to recycle film
    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Do you have an opinion about this story? Do you have some thoughts you'd like to share with our readers? Plastics News would love to hear from you. Email your letter to Editor at [email protected]

    Most Popular
    1
    Industry sees Biden bioplastics goal as serious signal
    2
    Biden sets US goal to replace 90% of plastics with biomaterials
    3
    Material Insights: Challenges for Biden bioplastics goal
    4
    Official says Norfolk Southern fire likely started in rail car containing resin
    5
    Trinseo: Equipment failure blamed for latex emulsion leak
    SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE NEWSLETTERS
    EMAIL ADDRESS

    Please enter a valid email address.

    Please enter your email address.

    Please verify captcha.

    Please select at least one newsletter to subscribe.

    Get our newsletters

    Staying current is easy with Plastics News delivered straight to your inbox, free of charge.

    Subscribe today

    Subscribe to Plastics News

    Subscribe now
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram

    Plastics News covers the business of the global plastics industry. We report news, gather data and deliver timely information that provides our readers with a competitive advantage.

    Contact Us

    1155 Gratiot Avenue
    Detroit MI 48207-2997

    Customer Service:
    877-320-1723

    Resources
    • About
    • Staff
    • Editorial Calendar
    • Media Kit
    • Data Store
    • Digital Edition
    • Custom Content
    • People
    • Contact
    • Careers
    • Sitemap
    Related Crain Publications
    • Sustainable Plastics
    • Rubber News
    • Tire Business
    • Urethanes Technology
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Copyright © 1996-2023. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Processor News
        • Injection Molding
        • Blow Molding
        • Film & Sheet
        • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
        • Rotomolding
        • Thermoforming
        • Recycling
      • Suppliers
        • Machinery
        • Materials
        • Molds/Tooling
        • Product news
        • Design
      • More News
        • K Show
        • Mergers & Acquisitions
        • Sustainability
        • Public Policy
        • Material Insights Videos
        • Numbers that Matter
      • Digital Edition
      • End Markets
        • Automotive
        • Packaging
        • Medical
        • Consumer Products
        • Construction
      • Special Reports
        • Processor of the Year
        • Best Places to Work
        • Women Breaking the Mold
        • Rising Stars
        • Diversity
        • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
      • Newsletters
      • Resin pricing news
      • Videos
    • Opinion
      • The Plastics Blog
      • Kickstart
      • One Good Resin
      • Pellets and Politics
      • All Things Data
      • Viewpoint
      • From Pillar to Post
      • Perspective
      • Mailbag
      • Fake Plastic Trees
    • Shop Floor
      • Blending
      • Compounding
      • Drying
      • Injection Molding
      • Purging
      • Robotics
      • Size Reduction
      • Structural Foam
      • Tooling
      • Training
    • Events
      • K Show Livestream
      • Plastics News Events
        • Plastics News Executive Forum
        • Injection Molding & Design Expo
        • Plastics News Caps & Closures
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
        • Plastics in Automotive
      • Industry Events
      • Injection Molding & Design Expo
      • Livestreams/Webinars
        • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
      • Editorial Livestreams
        • Polymer Points Live
        • Numbers that Matter Live
        • Plastics in Politics Live
        • Sustainable Plastics Live
      • Ask the Expert
      • Plastics News Events Library
        • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
        • Plastics in Healthcare Library
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
      • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Rankings & Data
      • Injection Molders
      • Blow Molders
      • Film Sheet
      • Thermoformers
      • Pipe Profile Tubing
      • Rotomolders
      • Mold/Toolmakers
      • LSR Processors
      • Recyclers
      • Compounders - List
      • Association - List
      • Plastic Lumber - List
      • All
    • Directory
    • Resin Prices
      • Commodity TPs
        • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
      • High Temp TPs
        • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
      • ETPs
        • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
      • Thermosets
        • Historic Thermosets
      • Recycled Plastics
        • Historic Recycled Plastics
    • Custom
      • Sponsored Content
      • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
      • Conair Sponsored Content
      • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
      • ENGEL Sponsored Content
      • White Papers
      • Classifieds
        • Place an Ad
        • Sign up for Early Classified