new fiesta now on sale in south america and mexico.
Ford media
highlights.
The New brazillian plant, capasity of 250,000 per year.
uses on site suppliers, modular assembly, built like a european assembly plant.
highly automated flexible and efficent.
when the fusion comes here the Quality should be up to par.
<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Quality
More technology? more quality
The Camaçari Industrial Complex ensures world-class quality products
The advanced technology employed in the development and production of the new Ford Fiesta shows Ford?s commitment to the creation of innovative solutions that are accessible to the consumer. The car?s design was based on extensive surveys and many clinics to determine the qualities most appreciated and desired in a vehicle of this class.
Ford made use of Computer Aided Engineering (CAE), for instance, in the structural analysis of the car?s body, of the cooling fluid?s dynamics and of the engine?s airflow. Consequently, Ford?s engineers were able to optimize the structural rigidity of both the body and the suspension, among other items.
Already at its launching, the Brazilian-made new Fiesta presented one of the highest global quality rates worldwide, according to an internal Ford audit, and it is a world leader in regard to paint quality, according to indicators measuring color, brightness and texture.
Modular assembly
Such high quality is directly connected with the innovative production concept applied at the Ford Northeastern Industrial Complex in Camaçari, State of Bahia, with a production capacity of 250,000 vehicles a year. The result of a $1.9-billion investment, this industrial unit is the world?s first to operate with the sequenced modular assembly system, which allies Ford (responsible for assembling the body, painting and the final assembly) and 33 partners that provide modules and services.
Of these, 27 are installed and operate within the Complex, under the same roof:
* ABB (maintenance services, cleaning, security, guard services and meals);
* Arvin (exhaust system);
* Autometal (injection and painting of small plastic parts);
* Benteler (front and rear suspension modules with brakes);
* BSB (stamping of large parts, door panels and subassemblies for mounting on the body);
* Colauto (painting of small metallic parts, service parts and caulking compound);
* DDOC (painting);
* Dow (injection and painting of large plastic parts, bumpers, panels and door side panels);
* Faurecia (door linings);
* Ferrolene (unreeling and cutting of steel sheets);
* Intertrim (roof lining and sun visors);
* Kautex-Textron (fuel tanks);
* Lean Logistics (logistics services);
* Lear (seats);
* Mapri-Textron (attachers);
* MSX (product engineering services);
* Pelzer (carpets and storage bins);
* Pilkington (glass);
* Pirelli (assembling of wheels and tires);
* Premier (maintenance at the paint shop);
* Renner Du Pont (paints, solvents and materials management);
* SaarGummi (door and window seals);
* SAS (door modules);
* Siebe (plastic and metallic tubes);
* Sodecia (stamping of small parts);
* Valeo (front-end module with radiator); and
* Visteon (instrument panel).
Another six suppliers operate in separate installations.
* Arteb (headlamps, lights);
* Borlem (wheels);
* Krupp (stamping of the auxiliary frame of the suspension structure);
* Metagal (rearview mirrors);
* Siemens (electrical wiring harnesses); and
* TWE (foam rubber for the seats).
Latest-generation equipment
The Complex is endowed with the most advanced production resources available (most of the machines are Brazilian-made). Such as, for instance:
* a high automation level, with 512 robots and automated processes;
* entirely automated stamping shop, operating in five stages, with automatic transfer tables;
* six latest-generation measurement control rooms, including one destined exclusively for the flooring;
* transport in the form of a pendulum for the application of phosphate and e-coat, which improves the penetration of liquid in the body?s cavities;
* robotized painting cabin, also of the latest generation, which ensures a uniform coating, and drying in an indirect burning oven;
* assembly entirely carried out with electrical bolt fasteners, with permanent torque control;
* ergonomic work stations, with benches that adjust themselves to the size and comfort of each operator; and
* highly advance telecommunications network, connected by means of optical fibers, including mobile extensions (internal cell phones) and computerized local and central control of the production processes.
Competitive advantages
Among the advantages of this revolutionary production system, the following are particularly significant:
* high productivity, with one car readied at the end of the line every 80 seconds (850 units a day);
* possibility of assembling up to six different cars on the same line, with automatic changing of the precision welding devices destined to assemble the bodies;
* lean manufacturing process, with sufficient speed and flexibility to meet the consumers? requirements (reduction of the lead-time);
* short value chain, without any finished product inventory; it takes a mere 24 hours to assemble a complete vehicle. The parts arrive on the line at the right time, at the point of assembly ("one-piece flow"), with the precision of a clock;
* full integration between Ford and its partners, ranging from the definition of the plant?s layout, making equipment and areas common, and the purchase of equipment, to the manufacturing processes and sharing of logistics and maintenance services; and
* speed of response to any sort of problem, owing to the integration and communication facility between the partners.
The human touch
In the center of this entire process is the operator?s talent, the talent of man, the true competitive differential in the modern world. All the Complex?s employees have completed at least high school and have been given 900 hours of training before beginning their activities in the production area.
Diversity is yet another important characteristic of this labor force, which allies the experience of professionals of the local community, from which 90% of the employees originate, reflecting the diversity of ethnic groups in the Complex?s surrounding region. 40% of the work force is made up of women.
Contrary to the traditional plants, the Ford Complex operates under a unique wage structure applicable to all the employees, without any separation between hourly workers and salaried personnel. The treatment of employees is also the same at all the plant?s premises, including bathrooms and restaurants.
The Complex operates, furthermore, at a world record level of safety.
Respect for the environment
The Ford Northeastern Industrial Complex has a total roofed-in area of 1.6 million m2, in a lot totaling 4.7 million m2. Of this total, 2.4 million m2, added to an external area of 4.6 million m2, are part of a Ford-developed reforesting project that envisages the planting of native tree species.
The Complex is self-sustainable in terms both of water, obtained from artesian wells, and sewage treatment, carried out by means of the so-called wetlands technology. It makes use of filtering through the soil and purification by means of a rice plantation, in which water is reused to irrigate the Complex?s gardens.
Throughout the plant, selective collection of residues is applied in order to recycle such materials as paper, metals, plastics and glass. And the level of emissions is extremely low, ensured by advanced resources that include the use of a thermo-oxidizing reactor for the treatment of gases, besides the use of water-based paints in the painting of the cars.
May 2002
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