Are we just too demanding?

[Bikeman315]

Because while we taught the Japanese all about Kaizen and they took it to heart, Detroit abandoned the concept because it cost money and required an empowered and intelligent workforce who could overrule myopic and lazy "management" and "accounting" that cared only to produce just good enough to get away with it.

100% agree. I worked for Panasonic for 24 years so I know a little bit about Kaizen. I also worked with the nephew of Dr. Edward Deming. Got some very interesting insight over the years.

Sponsored

 

[Dfeeds]

This kind of thing does not happen outside of boutique car makers. The car gets built as ordered, as the material flow is too controlled to make a change like this once the vehicle is scheduled/slotted.

The fact still remains that many vehicles are delivered with mismatched options. So there has to be a problem somewhere.

Totally agree. What I do not understand as to why my wife’s Escape had good paint and panel fitment and many Mustang’s do not. Are the Escape’s factory's workers that much better than Flat Rock’s? Are the assembly and paint robots superior to Flat Rock? And why after 5 years of the current body style are we still discussing this?

Good questions, and questions I wish I could have answered. Maybe Flat Rock just isn't maintained or outputs a much lower volume? Maybe Flat Rock has less workers or is understaffed, so quality takes a hit in order to keep up with corporate metrics. If the panel fitment is any indication on how the engines are assembled, then I'm not overly pleased.

Then again, Ford Explorers are being shipped to Michigan for repairs so none of the above could be true. Maybe it's as simple as Ford having a poor work environment.

EDIT: Looks like shogun gave a solid answer above, that goes beyond speculation.

 

[BmacIL]

The fact still remains that many vehicles are delivered with mismatched options. So there has to be a problem somewhere.

Operator mistakes. Not everything can be barcode scanned, and all the variants for certain components are usually lineside/not sequenced. That and sometimes the sequencers get it wrong. The point remains that orders aren't changed within a few weeks of the vehicle slot date due to material requirements. Most of it is "just in time".

 

[green97probe]

The S197 mention caught my interest. I had a chance to test drive a 2005 GT a few months back, and it was an eye opener to compare it to my 2018 GT.

The simplicity of the early S197 was refreshing and a good reminder of the 2007 GT that started all of this for me.

The entire experience felt less refined and more raw than my 2018, but in a very good way. I missed that heavy clutch that actually gave you some feedback through the pedal.

That said, I've come to view my Ruby Red 2018 GT as an evolution of my former Redfire 2007 GT. It still has the Mustang character, it's just evolved to be faster and handle better.

Sponsored