Ford Inside News banner

Daily Focus Drives Quality interiors

2K views 2 replies 2 participants last post by  2b2 
#1 ·
DEARBORN, Sept. 21, 2007 (FCN) -- Ford North America's Body Interior organization is playing a significant role driving the company's quality to world-class levels.

In three years, the group has reduced Things-Gone-Wrong (TGW) by 22 percent. Today, the quality of Ford's interiors -- like the company's overall vehicle quality -- virtually equals that of Toyota.

Body Interior, which includes such areas as trim, instrument panel, carpets, seats and climate control, recorded 299 TGW per 1,000 vehicles, according to Ford's 2007 second quarter Global Quality Research System. Toyota was at 297 -- a difference of just .002 TGW per single vehicle, which is statistically insignificant.

"The whole team has worked extremely hard and continues to focus on quality every day," said Body Interior Director Marcy Fisher. "There is an extreme sense of urgency around delivering the best products for our customers."

Each week Body Interior teams review the status of key areas. Special attention is given to those that have the greatest impact on quality. When data dictates, teams spring into action.

"For example, every seat trim cover that comes into the warranty return center is scrutinized like never before. We also have teams that audit Tier 2 suppliers for quality, before customer concerns even surface," explained Fisher.

Body Interior has established aggressive targets to ensure that its quality improvement continues. One group is in the midst of delivering a 50 percent improvement in the quality of air conditioning compressors, which continue trending in a positive direction. Over the past five years, warranty spending has declined an average of nine percent year-over-year. Compressors are the heart of an air conditioning system and are vital to delivering customer comfort.

"We are implementing new compressor technology across our North American vehicle lineup. Dealer technicians also are receiving comprehensive training so they understand how the new compressor works and how to diagnose it," said Frank Fusco, lead functional manager climate systems.



Focus ambient lighting "Our engineering team is closely monitoring any compressor returns, determining root cause and quickly implementing permanent corrective actions. The plan to achieve a 50 percent improvement is showing progress."

One of Body Interior's recent successes was the launch of ambient lighting in the current Ford Focus. The technology was particularly challenging to the team because it traverses many areas of the vehicle interior.

"We introduced multi-colored ambient lighting quickly before anybody else. This allows customers to alternate among several different colors, which is also a first. They love being able to customize their cars," said Fisher.

Increased safety technology and added features, such as heated and cooled seats, add to Body Interior's challenge. But Fisher quickly admits that the team is up to the task. In fact, she says along with improving TGW performance, Body Interior is intensifying its effort to score higher on the J.D. Power and Associates Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout (APEAL) Study.

The survey is regarded as a measure of Things-Gone-Right -- what customers like about their vehicles. Customers' likes are just as important as their dislikes.

"We want to offer interiors that create a strong emotional connection with customers in addition to high levels of quality," Fisher said. "That's how we can really move the needle on customer satisfaction and purchase consideration."
 
See less See more
#3 ·
Yup
Quality has (judging from awards & flawless launches) gotten so good, I expect nothing less from FML


now they just need to make the features/options uniformly differentiated for each brand -
ie. every Ford has most/all the same goodies-list,
same for Mercury (or moreso) think Merc would be well-served by having even my ranted-for C class available with every option offered on any Merc,
and then Lincoln's bag'o'tricks has to rival the LuxLeaders. Tho I find that "other L brand" to be downright silly much of time; believe Lincoln has to have counter-offers to each & every doodad (if not the exact same gizmo).
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top