[Sal Collaziano]

Ford's AutoAlliance International assembly plant in Flat Rock made a transition today from two shifts to one after Ford reassigned nearly 900 employees to other jobs.
Ford first announced plans to reduce the number of shifts at the plant, which makes the Ford Mustang and the Mazda 6 midsize sedan, in February.

At the time, Ford said about 900 workers would be laid off from the plant. Instead, Ford spokeswoman Marcey Evans said Ford has been able to reassign almost all of the employees to other jobs.

Through June, sales of the Mustang have increased 18.5% to 40,035 while sales of the Mazda 6 have increased 3.8% to 18,325, according to Autodata.

But even with those sales increases, there was not enough production volume to support two shifts, Evans said.

“The plant was not running efficiently,” Evans said.

Evans said Ford is able to meet demand for both the Mustang and the Mazda6 by increasing the line assembly speed at the plant by 35%.
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[ausrutherford]

Ford’s Flat Rock plant drops shift, moves jobs

Ford's jointly owned plant with Mazda which produces the Mustang and Mazda6 has switched to a single shift, reassigning the excess workers to other jobs.
When Ford first announced plans to cut back from two shifts to one at the jointly operated facility with Mazda in Flat Rock, Michigan, the automaker said that it expected to lay off some 900 workers as a result.
Until this week, the Flat Rock plant had been operating with two shifts to produce the Mustang and Mazda6, which due to reduced sales in 2009, resulted in significant downtime at the plant. The new single shift is 35 percent more efficient than the previous assembly line, but ended up requiring more workers than originally anticipated, according to Marcey Evans, a Ford spokeswoman.
Ford has now announced that despite its initial plans to lower the work force from 2,300 to 1,400 workers at the plant, there will now be no workers that will be permanently laid off, with only some workers being put in temporary lay-off status until their new jobs become available.
Some of the workers will be reassigned to build the new 2012 Focus starting later this year at the Wayne assembly plant in Michigan, while others will help fill the second shift of 1,200 workers in Chicago starting in the third quarter of this year, producing the all-new Explorer.

Mazda - Ford - Ford Motor Company - Autos - Makes and Models

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[Sal Collaziano]

Ford reassigns 900, trims shift at Flat Rock

Ford's AutoAlliance International assembly plant in Flat Rock transitioned Monday from two shifts to one after Ford reassigned nearly 900 employees to other jobs. The Dearborn automaker first announced plans in February to reduce the number of shifts at the plant, which makes the Ford Mustang and the Mazda 6 midsize sedan.
The Dearborn automaker first announced plans in February to reduce the number of shifts at the plant, which makes the Ford Mustang and the Mazda 6 midsize sedan.

At the time, Ford said about 900 workers would be laid off from the plant. Instead, Ford spokeswoman Marcey Evans said, Ford has reassigned almost all of the employees to other jobs.

Through June, sales of the Mustang have increased 18.5% to 40,035 while sales of the Mazda 6 have increased 3.8% to 18,325, according to Autodata.

But even with those sales increases, Evans said, there was not enough production volume to support two shifts.

"The plant was not running efficiently," Evans said, "It was running on two full shifts, but there was a lot of down time."

Evans said Ford is able to meet demand for both the Mustang and the Mazda 6 by increasing the line assembly speed at the plant by 35%.

Ford said 1,766 hourly employees continue to work at the plant, which is a joint venture with Mazda.

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