NOTES MADE BEFOORE GOING INTO PLANT/FACTORY FLOOR (INTRODUCTION

PRESENTATION)
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Trying to get locals to be seniors in the organization/plant

#1 priority = safety = strict rules
They have honors/awards for the employees = form of motivation
Focuses on communication as it is a large factory = over 2000 employees
They give education to employees = training classes | learning/coaching | on the
job training
A goal is for people to work as one team not just the employees everyone
including suppliers and customers
Mission = t be benchmark plant in the world(for other ford plants) | to be a good
place to work| make a class vehicle (please needs) | keep same standard
globally
It is a young factory compared to others here

VEHICLE BUILD UP PROCESS

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STAMPING
Draw trim flange piercing separate
BODY
Body side - under body closure hang
( both automated/people)
PAINT
Pretreatment rodip e coat (high-tech latest, it saves space (rotates) which
means less chemicals are used which means it saves the environment and
cost) 3 wet HS spray booth inspection polish
TCF
Assembly point
QUALITY
Quality checks

Cars that are made are sold mostly in asia/ asia pacific
In the plant they produce FOCUS/ECOSPORT/FIESTA
Has the capability to produce more, they now produce 3 types of cars but
they have the potential to produce 6
Every year 150 billion dollar sales roughly
Employees have free transport/ food
They utilize unused parts scraps) = to be made into other things such as tables
toys etc. then those things are donated to charities
They have also rebuilt school
Charity work is done all around the world
Environmental wise- ford comply to all thai laws = they do more than the law
have a high standard
All waste form the plant is disposed of properly - does not go to land fills

NOTES MADE WHEN ON FACTORY FLOOR

They import their metal from japan/korea and Germany

Their supplier cuts the metal
STAMPING ( 500 pieces can be made in one hour)
It takes 6 minutes to change the machinery for the different models of cars
The plant is expanding they plan to cut their own metal rather than relying on
their suppliers
At the end of stamping there is a quality check
There are recreational activities at the factory such as a basketball
/football/badminton court
Medical center on sight = free medical = if anyone gets hurt it is reported to
someone higher in the hierarchy
Signs all over the factory about safety, even models (dummys) to show how
they
be dressed in each part of the plant
Found KAIZEN sign
Employees raise issues to direct supervisor
There are TVs/scoreboards around the production sights to show the amount
made, how many need to be made, if they are falling behind, problems and such
This is able to motivate employees and also to tell the employees what they
have done achieved in the day
In the body shop there were a lot of people building the parts and wielding it
rather than it all being automated
There were women working on the factory floor production (gender equality?)
ASKED EMPLOYEE A QUESTION HE SAID HE ENJOYED WORKING AT FORD AND
SAID HE FUN AT THE JOB/ IS ABLE TO PLAY SPORTS AT THE PLANT ON BREAKS
AND SUCH
(SAW EMPLOYEES PLAY FOOTBALL OUTSIDE)
There are recycling bins and areas all over factory
Pictures to motivate employees what the company stands for and such and as
slogan kind of ONE TEAM. ONE GOAL. ONE IDEA use the idea of ONE FORD
Leisure spots for employees mini Salas
All signs are in English with some Thai
For pickup of parts they use a lighting system to make sure the right things are
being picked up
Before a car is sent off for test drives and such there are scanners when the cars
go through a belt the scanners are used to alert if there is anything wrong with
car. If there is something wrong a red light appears and the car is driven to the
right to be checked, if t=everything is OK then a green light appears and it is
driven to the left for quality checks and test drives.
Employees need licenses if they do the test drives
There are water stations all over for the employees, also chairs and tables when
they need a rest r need to sit down
Test drivers have to be skilled in hearing seeing and noticing slight things this
is sooo they can recognize fault with the car and so the car can be checked
again
If everything is OK with the car then it is moved to the shipping yard
Factory located in Rayong so shipping of the cars is easier

NOTES MADE IN MEETING

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continue innovation factory floor = such as computers - to help the workers so

they dont have to strain themselves physically as much so that they are
healthier
going to become an exporter
now producing 2014 models soon they will produce the 2015 ones there are
slight changes to make them better scrap the 2014 models = however
depends on the demand and orders at the dealerships
Factors that could cause disruptions
Import parts so there could be a delay they are trying to localize
Natural disasters worried as well
When suppliers are affected it affects them such as TSUNAMI in japan
factory that produced black pigment for the cars color was wiped out, this
caused most car manufacturers to have problems difficulty producing black
cars
Voice of customer fleet problems let people test run the cars for like 600 km
for people to find issues with car and fix it, production does not run until the
problems that are found are fixed
Worked with Thai government when the plant was set up they worked very
closely
4-5,000 cars are produced per month, trying to increase
Political instability did not affect FDI this is because ford came out and said
they support Thailand
Sometimes they slow down delivery as they as there are problems with car and
they fix it, to make Sure the best car comes out
They will continue selling all types of cars such as diesel, petrol, electric
They will always try to advance and innovate they technology they use to make
sure the car production is efficient
Someone asked about if they plan to increase the cars they make anuallly, it
depends on demand, and they dont want to produce too much or too little.
Not making hybrids in the plants, not selling in Thailand either- hybrids = this is
because no demand for hybrid cars in Thailand