In a recent interview to NDTV Profit, Jim Farley, Group Vice President (Marketing and Communications) at the Ford Motor Company, spoke about the vibrancy of the Indian market, the differences between Indian and Chinese car buyers, and challenges of communicating the Ford’s brand promise in India.

About India, he said, “This is a very unique market, the customers are very demanding and they have a pride point in owning a vehicle that you don’t see anywhere else.” Watch the full interview here.

The robots at our Maraimalai plant are quite versatile. In an earlier post, we told you how they paint a Ford car. In this post, we will tell you how the robots put your vehicle together at the plant’s body shop.

The new state of the art facility has an array of high-tech robotics – a total of 92 new robots have been installed in the body shop, paint shop and final assembly.

The all-new body shop

Sixty-six robots are used in the body shop for critical processes like spot welding, sealer application and door hemming. The robots have increased the automation level at the expanded facility gearing for volume production to 30 percent.

Automated underbody framing robots build the lower and upper body structure of the vehicle. This operation requires absolute precision, as large metal structures are assembled and spot-welded into vehicle floorpans.

The body shop has also become “flexible”, with a framing line designed for handling up to six different models simultaneously in a single line.

Other features of the body shop include:

• Portable measuring machine: to measure jigs and fixtures for build precision.
• Part checking fixture: to measure all major subassemblies, body, front-end and rear-end fit and finish.
• Real-time seal gap measuring equipment: a step up over measuring seal gaps with hand-held calipers.

Why these robots are special
Once we program a robot, it can perform complex and repetitive tasks quickly and precisely. The body shop welding robots are equipped with new servo motor welding guns. These are quieter than the older welding-gun technology, and deliver high-quality welds that are cleaner, with reduced expulsion and burring. Servo motors allow the welding tips to be brought smoothly into place, which helps to eliminate distortion of the metal and ensure stable weld pressure.

Why robots? “A modern automobile plant needs robotics to get the precision that’s essential to a well-constructed vehicle,” says Tom Chackalackal, Vice-President, Manufacturing, Ford India.

Big impact
The robots have made processes speedier. Our body shop capacity has more than doubled, from 15 to 34 jobs an hour. The new line is “future engineered” – flexible enough to build different vehicles one after the other. The new body shop line will build vehicles in Ford India’s current product portfolio as well as the Figo.

With enhanced production efficiency and quantum leap in quality, the plant is now geared to deliver even higher quality cars to consumers that will be not only be great products but competitive in the market.

As Mr. Chackalackal puts it, “This huge conversion will make us very competitive with Indian manufacturers and give Indian customers a better product than ever. Much of our investment is centred on quality and our desire to be the best in class in India.”

What do you think of the robots in our new body shop? What else do you think robots could do in an automobile plant? Tell us!

Why would Ford President and CEO Alan Mulally trek across an overgrown field to get his picture taken with a tree? What does a 5,000-person town hall meeting actually look like? How can everyone in the room be named Sandeep?

Get answers to these questions and more in a special issue of @Ford, our company newsletter. The issue provides in-depth look at how Ford is transforming its business in India.

Enjoy reading our newsletter and let us know what you think!

-By the Ford Figo Team

Green is a favourite colour at Ford’s Maraimalai plant near Chennai, where the Figo is being produced. The plant has almost 50 acres of green cover that includes well-tended lawns and a green belt. This is just one aspect of Ford’s commitment to the environment and the community.

Across the plant, Ford has also put in place initiatives to reduce energy consumption and emissions. “The biggest user of energy and fuel in a manufacturing plant is the paint shop,” says Tom Chackalackal, vice president, Manufacturing, Ford India.

Ford’s revamped paint shop incorporates the three-wet high solids process, which has reduced carbon dioxide emission by 15 percent and Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) emission by 20 percent. We call this the next-generation environment-friendly technology.

In addition, the paint shop uses energy-efficient ovens and equipment. “By introducing this new technology, we’re cutting energy use and fuel consumption significantly, and that’s good for the environment and the community,” adds Chackalackal.

Ford has also installed a zero-discharge wastewater treatment facility for the plant complex. As a result, all the wastewater is treated and reused – saving plenty of water.

The company’s environmentally-aware practices do not end here. Manufacturing units often dump their solid waste in landfills, creating hazards for the environment. Ford has completely eliminated the need for landfills by building a zero solid waste facility. All the solid waste that is generated at the plant is recycled or co-processed in the cement industry.

Finally, Ford has also improved internal processes to reduce consumption of important resources. Here’s a tiny indicator: in the past three years, we have reduced water consumption by 30 percent per car, and electricity consumption by 10 percent per car.

What do you think of these green initiatives? How do you live a green life? Tell us!

- By the Ford Figo Team

Liked what the new Ford Endeavour looks like? We did too. The car’s good looks are thanks to the distinctive embossed chrome grille, wraparound headlamps and new tail lamps, the wide header bar, and, of course, its glossy colour and paint quality.

The new Endeavour is the first car to be painted using our pioneering painting technology– the three-wet high solids system. At Ford, we take pride in our high-tech colour selection and painting process. Here’s a peek at what goes into painting a Ford car.

Painting cars – Then and Now
Earlier, our designers had to rely on paint chips or a car door to see how a colour would look. Now, with computer-generated models, the designers map a colour on any vehicle, and view it from a variety of angles and lighting conditions to make sure it’s right. Thus designers can experiment, and we get better colours for our cars. BTW, the colours also need a nod from our dealer network and customers.

The three-wet high solids system was used to paint the new Endeavour. This paint system was pioneered at the Avon Lake plant for trucks in the US a couple years ago. Ford is the only automaker to use the three-wet high solids system in India. “We’re excited to launch this breakthrough technology in India,” says Kalyan Murugan, project manager for Ford India’s paint shop.

Why we Love it (and you will too)
Our team is excited about this because it will be used for the Figo as well. The technology gives us and car owners a range of innumerable benefits. For us, it’s great because:
• It has reduced our energy consumption, is eco-friendly, cost-efficient solution that produces beautifully painted vehicles with long-term durability
• It has more than doubled our Chennai plant’s hourly vehicle capacity (from 15 to 34 vehicles per hour)
• The system produces less carbon dioxide and greenhouse gas emissions and reduces volatile organic compounds emissions by 20 percent, important considerations for Ford and the community

The paint shop team loves it because it makes things simpler and faster for them. Cars are painted in three wet coats without baking between coats, so there are no primer ovens and no primer preparation booth.
It’s good for the car owner because it gives his car a superior finish with high gloss and depth of colour, greater durability and better resistance against scratches and stone chips.

“It’s not very often that we can deliver quality, cost and environmental objectives with a single paint technology,” Mr Murugan explains.

Robots get to work
The most exciting bit is that (hold your breath here!) robots apply the paint. It’s a sight straight out of a sci-fi movie. Specialized robotic paint units apply the coats quickly, efficiently and evenly. The paint booth uses 16 such robots — eight for the base coat application and four each for the primer and clear coat.
There is also a new robotic underbody sealer application process, which uses three robots to apply the sealer (a quicker, higher quality approach for vehicle durability). After the finishes are applied, each vehicle passes through one of two new baking ovens.

The new formulation we use contains more paint solids, which means that the car paint promises longer-term resistance and better durability to scratches than other paints (water-borne paint and medium-solids solvent-borne paint).

The result — a fabulous Ford car that you can show off. So watch out for the Figo’s high-quality appearance, glossy finish, and more.

– By the Ford Figo team