You’ve heard from us earlier on how our Maraimalai plant in Chennai has put in a lot of efforts to be as green as possible. Well, our efforts have been rewarded, because Ford India recently received the 2009 APA Environmental Leadership Award for its innovative efforts to reduce landfill waste. In a ceremony at the Chennai plant, Tony Caon, manager of APA’s Environment Quality Office, presented a trophy to Sandip Sanyal, executive director, Operations, Ford India, and handed out certificates of recognition to members of the Chennai team.

“Our efforts speak volumes of the team’s commitment to make our manufacturing site green,” Sanyal said. ”While we have been transforming and growing our operations, we have tried to be creative and integrate the best environmental practices possible in all techniques and process. It’s a great facility and we feel proud about it.”

Our ”Zero Waste to Landfill” strategy is in line with Ford’s global environmental policy, and we are using alternative ways to dispose of hazardous waste with a rigorous recycling programme. Ford India’s drive to reduce waste has significantly reduced the burden on landfills in Tamil Nadu and has turned otherwise hazardous materials into a useful resource.

“At Ford we recognise that landfills are not a permanent solution and presents potential legacy issues further down the track,” said Caon.

It was our innovative scheme to turn hazardous waste into alternative fuel that clinched us the third annual AP&A Environmental Leadership Award. ”This was a tremendous achievement and we are honoured to be recognised by the region for our green efforts,” said Tom Chackalackal, vice president of Manufacturing, Ford India. ”As we continue to grow the Ford business in India, the implementation of

This is the second part of an earlier blog post.

After visiting the Ford India Engine Plant, the bloggers were showcased the company’s efforts to reduce the cost of owning Ford cars through its selection of child parts. These child parts reduce the cost of repairing or replacing spare parts by eliminating the need to replace large sections of the car. This is done by simplifying major assemblies into component-level parts. For example, a starter motor, which was previously replaced as a complete unit, has now been classified into several component-level parts such as the arm assembly, housing assembly, bushing, drive assembly and solenoid assembly. Similar child parts are also developed for engine components and transmission systems, to name a few.

“Ford has taken an awesome initiative to reduce costs at both the manufacturing as well as maintenance level. Owners of the Figo will experience very reasonable prices of spares. Add to that, the company has ensured that you don’t need to change the complete part should anything go wrong with a part being made of sub-parts and thus making it cheap to replace,” Faisal of Motorbeam wrote on his blog.

The last stop for the bloggers was the delivery yard, where the cars are stored when they are ready for delivery hundreds of Ford Figos stood waiting to be delivered to dealers. For the car-loving bloggers, it was a fascinating experience to watch the journey of a Ford car

Earlier, we posted about the Ford facility tour and Driving Skills for Life session, which we organized recently for select auto bloggers. Here is a sneak peek into the Ford manufacturing facility. The video starts with a visit at the Blanking facility where sheets of steel are cut into ‘blanks’ or shapes of the car’s body , according to specifications. It then moves on to the Stamping unit , where the blanks are moulded into specific car body components such as doors, hood, roof etc. Then, it is moved to the Body Shop where 66 robots spot weld the ‘stamped’ sections of the cars, followed by the Paint Shop where the cars are painted in the vibrant colours. Finally, the tour moves on to the Trim Chassis and Finish (TCF) where the engines, doors and seats as well as other electrical parts are fitted in the cars before they finally roll out for stringent quality tests. We also have a sneak peek of the delivery

“Have you ever seen a car factory in India? Been explained, in the highest detail, the entire production process by Heads of Manufacturing? Right from the time that sheets of steel come in, to the car actually rolling out? I’ve been to other factories before, but no one allowed a camera inside. I was pleasantly surprised when Ford accepted my request to click pictures inside their production facility. And why not? Ford has a facility that’s worthy of showing off.” This is what Rush Parekh of Team BHP had to say about his visit to Ford India’s world-class facility at Maraimalai Nagar, near Chennai.

Ford India took a select group of auto bloggers on an exclusive tour of its state-of-the-art facility on 19 May, 2010. The facility that sprawls over 350 acres has a capacity to produce up to 200,000 vehicles a year and 250,000 engines.

For the invited bloggers, it was a rare opportunity to see a car take shape from a coil of steel. Their tour began at the Blanking, where the coils are cut into flat sections called ‘blanks’. These blanks are then sent to the Stamping, where they are ‘stamped’ into the different parts of the car, such as the roof, side body panels, etc. through both automatic and semi-automatic press lines.

The action then continued at the Body Shop, where the parts of the car are assembled together. The bloggers were fascinated by the sight of 66 robots going about their jobs in their own relentlessly robotic way, carrying out critical processes like spot welding and door hemming.

Road accidents are often the result of poor driving habits and skills. Most of us tend to forget the basics of good driving and put ourselves and others on the road at risk. To inculcate good driving skills in drivers, Ford India conducts the Driving Skills for Life (DSFL) program. The unique DSFL program is a CSR initiative by Ford to train new and seasoned drivers in safe, efficient and eco-friendly driving through a mix of theory and practical sessions.

“We take a lot of things for granted while driving, and with time get ignorant about certain vital things that are of utmost importance for safety. This event was a great refresher about these basic precautions. It reminded us that we don’t need to wait for an accident to happen before incorporating basic safety precautions into our routine.” said Amit Chhangani of Motoroids.com

Amit was part of a group of bloggers whom Ford India had invited to take part in a DSFL session at the Maraimalai Nagar plant, near Chennai. The bloggers spent an eventful two days in Chennai.

In our earlier post, we explained how automation at the Chennai plant and robots ensured best-in-class vehicles.

But quality doesn’t end with the manufacturing process. We have to ensure that our cars are able to survive tough Indian road conditions before they’re shipped out. For this, Ford’s developed a 3.2-kilometre dedicated vehicle quality testing circuit in our plant.

Testing Time

Name the road type and the testing track has it – straight, twisting, cement, rough roads or village streets! Engineers conduct rigorous quality test drives on Ford cars for up to 40 kilometres.

Our forthcoming Ford Figo will also go through several quality checks and tests to ensure we give consumers nothing but the best. Some of these tests will include:

• Hill climbs to test vehicle power and braking
• Lock-to-lock turning manoeuvres to check the steering system
• Straight line tests to verify wheel and steering alignment

Once we begin Figo production, we will test vehicles at random for quality inconsistencies in manufacturing and get them corrected. “Quality is one of the key pillars our brand stands on and the spirit of commitment to achieve world-class quality is inspiring,” says Ram Ramanathan, general manager, Vehicle Quality, Ford India.

Did You Hear That?
You certainly don’t want to hear squeaks and rattles while driving your car. We’ve adopted a global approach to identify the root causes of such noises and fix them permanently.