Challenges faced by Ford

Some of the major problems identified during Design phase were: 1. The tape on the molding wasn't contacting the car body enough 2. Holes located on the body used to line up the molding were too high and were hitting an indent on the body side 3. It turned out the pressure we were using to apply the molding was too low 4. The body side was not sufficiently clean, so the tape wasn't sticking as well as it could Once the problems were identified, MAIC was applied !!! Measure : The team measured where the holes on the body side were located, how flat the part was and how we could fix the moulding to make it flat, further the pressure being used was also measured Analyze : Once all the data had been gathered, the team analysed results and found the appropriate solution Improve: The solution included moving the holes on the body side down about 2 millimetres On the body-side moulding, moulds were changed to make sure that it was very flat on the back side Next they figured out optimum application pressure, then they replaced the head on the cleaning fixtures to clean the body side more effectively Control: Changing the hole location on the body side was a permanent fix, regular quality checks to make sure moulds were flat, ensuring that optimum pressure was used to apply moulding Overcoming scepticism: Another major chief roadblock to implementing 6 was employee scepticism. Team felt that the only way to overcome this challenge was to demonstrate successes over time. 2 years later, it was found that more and more Ford employees are jumping on the 6 bandwagon as they realize results experienced by other departments Success Story: Since the team's improvements have been implemented, the project has yielded $100,000 in waste elimination savings per year !!!

2/23/13