Brief Background & History of Ford Motor Co.
The Ford Motor Company was started in 1903 by Henry Ford, the son of a farmer born in Michigan. He built his first vehicle in 1896 and founded the Detroit Automobile Company (DAC) just two years later. In 1900 the DAC had dissolved and Ford was able to concentrate on his company. The Ford Motor Company started out small, but quickly grew to become one of the most successful and profitable companies in the world. They started with a small series of vehicles and by 1909 were producing nearly 18,000 vehicles a year. By the end of the 1920s, Ford was producing over a million vehicles annually. In 1911 Ford Motor Company expanded overseas and by 1925, in addition to factories in the United States, they had factories in Canada, England, France, Denmark, Germany, Austria South Africa and Australia (www.ford.com).
Today, the Ford Motor Company ranks third in automobile sales worldwide. The company has expanded over the years and now includes the Lincoln, Mercury, Volvo, Jaguar and Mazda brands. “Since value for money has always been a top priority in developing Ford vehicles, that concern has never been about quality or quality solutions” (www.ford.com). Ford relies on innovation and always has vehicles that fit the customer’s needs. The current line includes smaller cars and “smart cars” to support the changing needs of the environment.
Corporate Leadership Shown
Ford has had many corporate leaders over the years of service and it appears that many of their time leaders have done more. , towards employees. Ford is experiencing turnover in its workforce, which has little effect on revenue. Ford leaders focus on business to get things done. William C. Ford Jr., CEO of Ford Motor Company from October 2001 to September 2006. As CEO for five years, W. Ford spoke at a series of leadership conventions for the US Chamber of Commerce in November 1994. Ford was seen. as an innovative pioneer in the care of health and environmental fields. He spoke about public policies and what needs to be done to improve America’s competitiveness (www.uschamber.com).
In May 2000, Ford spoke at the Ford Motor Company Annual Shareholders Meeting. Here’s what he said about the leaders of Ford’s employees. “We encourage that kind of concern, involvement, and leadership among our employees. We want people on the Ford team acting, and pushing others to act. They build goodwill, strengthen our corporate reputation, help us recruit and retain the best and brightest.
Ford employees also follow corporate leaders in their mission to support the company. W. Ford reports packing workers in his effort “to help victims of earthquakes in Turkey, Venezuela, floods in Poland and China, and hurricanes and storms here at art education and Education. He preserved and protected the environment, and gave time and money to those less fortunate than himself.
Change System or Problem
The Ford Motor Company has been a leader in the automobile industry for more than 28 years, which has focused and succeeded to some extent in reducing costs, increasing market share, and the quality of its products. Recently, the Ford Motor Company has seen a mistake in the quality of its products that cause a loss of performance in two areas; customer satisfaction and market share (Paton, 2004). It appears that customers have regrets with the composition of the car’s structures as well as defects. For example, “many Ford Mustang owners expressed dissatisfaction with the amount of effort it took to close the hoods on their vehicles” (Paton, 2004). It is believed that the problem affected all levels of the organization. Car owners were wary of the Motor Vehicle Company’s marketing, which had a negative effect on the company’s market share.
Because of the decline, Ford CEO Jacques Nasser knew that organizational-change”>organizational change needed to happen in order to sustain the decline in profits. and the developer. The company has adopted a new vision “as a consumer-products”>consumer company for automotive products and services” (Paton, 2004). In addition, CEO Nasser told his employees in an internal meeting that “we are more focused on our customers and customer satisfaction is our top priority” (Paton, 2004). CEO Nasser’s speech on organizational change reinforces the idea of the importance of the company the adoption of Six Sigma and the impact it will have on change in society.
Describe the change
Ford introduced Six Sigma to change its resource management dynamics in many ways. He has affected all aspects of the business and has resulted in many positive outcomes. Ford applied the results of each change process by department. Ford chooses which projects will involve Six Sigma based on three different criteria. “They must report customer satisfaction, reduce failure events by at least 70 percent, and each project $250,000 in cost savings” (Paton). Whenever Ford designs a problem, a two-year job is expected from “Black Belts” or middle management.
The first principles of change instituted at Ford were to address continuing problems with the vehicle’s lines. Using Six-Sigma statistical tools, Davis identified the source of vibrations in 2000 Super Duty F-series trucks and trailers. in some parts from previous models with a fine design. The defect was fixed, but Ford’s engineers believed in the first bump and the suspension at the front end, it would have persisted” (SME). When Ford feels that all the principles of change in relation to the lines of the vehicle are complete, then finally they are. They ordered their focus to management supply-chain.
Act is implemented
The company has taken an online course of action to cope with the declines in the common market and customer satisfaction. CEO Nasser changed the company’s vision to incorporate a focus on consumerism. To implement the change, the company chooses Six Sigma, a program established by Motorola, which will help to achieve the desired increase in customer satisfaction and positive growth in sales. Phong Vu, Director of Quality, was an instrumental player in getting the Six Sigma program going. Vu stated, “I did research when I visited Mike Harry of the Six Sigma Academy” and with GE and other large companies that were using Six Sigma (Paton, 2004). CEO Nasser was the biggest player in providing financial support. In addition, the program has played an active role in the development of the program, while their specific system can accelerate the quality improvement of the results.
Vision and Mission Statement
Ford’s vision is “to be the world’s leading consumer company for automotive products and services” (www.ford.com). The company has had a successful track record and seems to be on track to reach their vision. Their mission statement states: “We are a global family with a proud heritage passionately committed to providing personal mobility to people around the world.
In addition to having a vision and mission statement, Vadum has four values that we remain committed to: “1. Our business is our customer focus, driven by creativity, ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit. 2. We are an inspired, diverse team that never disappoints and makes a positive contribution to society. 4. Driven by these values, we provide superior returns to our partners” (www.ford.com) These assets are the key to the success that Ford has achieved today.
Expected Results
The outcome of Ford’s Six-Sigma process is expected to be increased customer satisfaction. In order to increase customer satisfaction, Ford should focus on their supply chain and flow. “Ford has indicated that Six Sigma will play an essential role in helping the company achieve its goal of being the leading automotive company in quality, efficiency and the development of great products” (Moore). Six Sigma also provides Ford with the best technology for reducing waste and receiving statistical information.
Ford’s plans were to attack the company’s problems in the same way. Using language, skills, and measuring success allows everyone at Ford to tackle problems with the same passion and passion. This Six Sigma strategy allows all parts of Ford to continuously improve.
Communications Plan
It seems that the company has been able to articulate and manage the data of all its global operations in an efficient way. Ford, unlike other companies, knew how to use Six Sigma to affect change, which would allow them to benefit from the discovery. There were three levels of communication in the plan. In stage 1, three hundred and fifty people were trained, who were comprised of people who were in charge of the top management and the leadership group. The three training groups were given a broad application of data and how it can save capital. Stage 2 people have identified in the organization as “six sigma processes” (Paton, 2004). In Stage 3, the workers were divided into three categories, which were Master Black Belts, Black Belts, and Green Belts. It appears that each belt in the six sigma process has a different responsibility, which ensures that the continuous effect of cost reduction and customer satisfaction is obtained.
According to our research, Ford has done an excellent job in its communication strategy. Apparently, everyone in the organization was on board with Six Sigma. We can assume that all levels of the organization’s program have failed because of the security job in question. In addition, CEO Nasser could have continued communication about the six sigma initiatives with some members of top management and employees. Therefore, we believe that the decision to communicate was well made by everyone’s agreement.
Action Plan
Six-Sigma has been in the process at Ford since 1999. There are no indications that Ford will move away from using the Six Sigma strategy in the future. Since its inception at Ford, Six Sigma has “saved approximately $1 billion in waste elimination globally. Annual savings worldwide were $359 million last year. In addition, customer satisfaction rose five points in internal customer satisfaction” (Smith). All Ford employees have either fully adopted Six Sigma or are in the process of learning all the benefits of each strategy from Six Sigma initiatives. So Ford’s plan of action is to continue with the successful program that Six Sigma is for them. Their corporate culture is extremely positive regarding execution.
Programs
Direct spin-off programs from Six Sigma implementation were such as the DMIAC Cycle. The DMIAC cycle is defined as defining, measuring, evaluating, improving and controlling. Using this cycle, Ford Motor Company does not feel any policy unless all the steps in the DMIAC cycle are completed. It acts as a measuring instrument.
The second phase of Ford’s Six Sigma is called Design for Six Sigma. “This time, he started using Six Sigma in the manufacturing processes to prevent problems before they happen” (Paton).
Measurement
Ford Motor Company had an interesting method of determining if the process was superior. The company had two groups of workers, one of which was unrestrained and the other a controlled group. The company was given controlled training on how to install the parts better on the Ved Vehicle, while they did not do so uncontrollably. The study indicated that the controlled group had less per vehicle failure than the uncontrolled group (Minitab, 2002). The change was very successful because the defects per vehicle decreased and the business was able to save over 300 million dollars.
Outcome Change Strategy
Overall, the change plan worked well. Customer satisfaction has increased over 5% in the year since installation. Also, because of the implementation of these policy changes, the Ford Company became much leaner in the manufacturing process, saving the company over $350 million. The revamped manufacturing process also reduced the defective part count, limiting the amount of additional work being done by Ford workers. Large manufacturing companies are constantly competing with the brevity of the manufacturing process and the time needed to complete any project, and the implementation of Six-Sigma has so far been an effective way to complete this task.
recommendations
Our recommendation to Ford would be to continue to shape and improve its Six-Sigma process. Like all large companies, new issues and problems arise constantly, so the process can be varied to meet and facilitate the solution, whatever the reasons arise. Also, more emphasis should be placed on shooting and preventing problems before they occur. The Six-Sigma process, if used correctly, is a great vehicle for identifying a problem before it grows and making a plan to solve it as quickly as possible. The overall performance of the company is proactive, not reactive, so early detection of problems is a must. They must also vary their methods according to the task of operation, because each area differs, not all uses can be used universally. Our final recommendation is to create a work standard for the university. A work standard is a great vehicle for clearly defining the process for completing a task. The standard work principal also provides assistance to existing employees in the most effective way to handle day-to-day work.
Works Citation
(2008). Around the ford Retrieved August 3, 2008, from the Ford Motor Company Web site: http://www.ford.com/about-ford/company-information/corporate-governance/corporate–governance- policies /regime-consilium-803p
(6/3/2001). Ford incorporates Six-Sigma Quality Goals. Retrieved August 4, 2008, from the Society of Engineers Web site: http://www.sme.org/cgi-bin/get-press.pl?&&20012513&ND;&&SME;&
Ford Six Sigma Busts Surface Flaws. (2002, January). Retrieved August 3, 2008, from Minitab.com: https://www.minitab.com/resources/Stories/QualityFordJan2002.pdf
(2008). National Camera Foundation. CEO Leadership Series. Retrieved August 3, 2008, from the Chamber of Commerce Web site: http://www.uschamber.com/ncf/ceoseries.htm
Paton, Scott No Small Change: Doing a Quality Job!, Again. Retrieved August 4, 2008, from Quality Digest Web site: http://www.qualitydigest.com/sept01/html/ford.html
Patton, S. M. (2000). Consumer-driven Six Sigma saves Ford $300 million. Retrieved August 3, 2008, from Quality Digest: http://www.qualitydigest.com/sept01/html/ford.html
Smith, Kenney Six Sigma at Ford Revisited. Retrieved August 4, 2008, from Quality Digest Web site: http://www.qualitydigest.com/june03/articles/02_article.shtml
(2008). William C. Ford, Jr., Ford Motor Company Annual Meeting of Shareholders, Atlanta, GA, May 11, 2000. Retrieved August 3, 2008, from Ford’s media site: http://media.ford.com/ article_display. .cfm?article_id=4791
Originally written: August 6, 2008
