DEARBORN, Mich., Sept. 23, 2011 – CBS and Ford have teamed up again to run “The Amazing Race” this fall as 11 new teams set off on a global adventure starting Sunday, Sept. 25 (8 to 9 p.m., ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.
Ford’s sponsorship includes… read more
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DEARBORN, Mich., May 25, 2011 – As fans across the country wait to find out whether Scotty McCreery or Lauren Alaina will be the next American Idol, Ford is marking its 10th season as a sponsor of the hit FOX television show that has enabled the Blue Oval to engage millions of consumers with its products and technologies.
“American Idol’s high ratings make it a mini-Super Bowl every week,” said Crystal Worthem, Ford Brand Content and Alliances manager. “The show attracts a huge audience that is able to connect with our…READ MORE
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DEARBORN, Mich., April 4, 2011 – The CW and Ford have formed a strategic marketing partnership, The CW SHOWroom, giving viewers a chance to win a new 2012 Ford Focus each night during The CW’s prime time, beginning Monday, April 4, through Friday, April 8. The CW will create custom commercials for an unprecedented, week-long campaign featuring stars from the network’s shows, including “Gossip Girl,” “The Vampire Diaries” and “90210.” The spots will air each night of the week, and viewers can watch to learn how to enter to win an all-new Ford Focus, see sneak previews of upcoming episodes of The CW shows, and get an up-close look at the all-new Focus.
“We’re thrilled to partner with Ford for the global launch of the 2012 Focus and to create the biggest program to date for The CW Network,” said Alison Tarrant, executive vice president, Integrated Sales and Marketing. “For the first time, we are featuring talent from across our network’s prime-time schedule to interact directly with the brand. This is a really exciting partnership for us; we are proud of the entertaining co-branded creative and the opportunity to give our fans the chance to win new Ford Focus vehicles and get sneak peeks of the final episodes of their favorite shows.”
Each weeknight beginning April 4, The CW will air branded Ford Focus spots including stars Michael Steeger of “90210,” Tika Sumpter of “Gossip Girl,” Robert Buckley of “One Tree Hill,” Nigel Barker of “America’s Next Top Model,” Sara Rue of “Shedding for the Wedding,” Katerina Graham of “The Vampire Diaries” and Cassidy Freeman of “Smallville.” Viewers need to watch The CW each night to find out how to enter to win a 2012 Ford Focus. One Ford Focus will be given away to one winner on each of the five nights of the sweepstakes.
Customized for each night of the campaign, the long-form ads showcasing the sweepstakes will feature The CW stars giving special previews of what’s coming up on their shows, as a Ford product specialist – and a very enthusiastic CW fan – shows them all the features of the all-new Ford Focus. As part of the partnership, Ford Focus brand messaging will also be carried across The CW on-air, online and on-mobile for the full week, with special night opens and billboards on-air each night.
“The all-new 2012 Focus has so many class-leading advanced features and content that it is hard to capture in a traditional 30-second ad,” said Crystal Worthem, Ford Brand Content and Alliances manager. “This new and creative collaboration with The CW is allowing the new Ford Focus to fully communicate its attributes to a younger, more connected consumer in a more engaging and relevant way.”
The CW and Ford partnership continues in the April 6 episode of “America’s Next Top Model.” The models are teaming up with Ford Warriors in Pink to help raise awareness and work toward a cure for breast cancer. The relationship will be integrated into the entire episode and garner support through a print campaign for the 2011 Warriors in Pink line of apparel. Ford is a 17-year partner of Susan G. Komen for the Cure and has dedicated more than $110 million to the breast cancer cause.
Beginning Monday, April 11, viewers can also see more sneak previews from The CW stars of what’s coming up this season online at www.CWTV.com/fordfocus
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WAYNE, Mich., March 17, 2011 – Ford Motor Company is celebrating production of its all-new global Ford Focus, built for North American customers in its completely transformed Michigan Assembly Plant (MAP). Following a $550 million transformation, the plant features an environmentally friendly workplace with flexible manufacturing capability and a motivated, specially trained work force ready to deliver a fuel-efficient new car to the marketplace.
“MAP epitomizes the best of what Ford stands for – fuel efficiency, quality, smart technology,” said Mark Fields, president of The Americas. “Focus delivers even more of what customers truly want and value – and this new car could not arrive in the market at a better time.”
The new Focus sets a new standard in the small car segment in North America, offering more technology and features than more expensive European cars, such as SYNC® with Traffic, Directions and Information, MyFord Touch™, active park assist and Wi-Fi access, while delivering up to an unsurpassed 40 mpg with an automatic transmission.
Fuel economy and greener driving will be built into each new vehicle slated for production at MAP. With its flexible manufacturing system, Ford workers can build multiple models on one or more platforms in the same facility. The Focus Electric zero-emission battery electric vehicle is slated to go into production late this year at the plant, followed by production of the new C-MAX Hybrid and C-MAX Energi plug-in hybrid in 2012.
With this product lineup, Ford’s Michigan Assembly Plant will be the first facility in the world capable of building a full array of vehicles – gas-powered, electric, hybrid and plug-in hybrid – all on the same production line.
The company’s investment in Wayne, Mich., is supported by strong partnerships at the state, county and local level, as well as by Ford’s green partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy. Michigan Assembly Plant is one of 11 Ford facilities in the U.S. participating in the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program initiated by Congress and implemented by the Obama administration. This green loan program is helping to develop advanced technology vehicles and strengthen American manufacturing across the country. Ford, Nissan, Tesla, Fisker and Vehicle Production Group (VPG) are all participants in this initiative.
Making Ford vehicles smarter, greener
MAP is Ford’s most flexible plant, thanks to reprogrammable tooling in the body shop, standardized equipment in the paint shop and a common-build sequence in final assembly. This flexibility allows the Ford team to produce multiple models on the same assembly line – and in even more environmentally friendly ways.
In its flexible body shop, at least 80 percent of MAP’s robotic equipment can be programmed to weld various-sized vehicles – a Ford first. And, MAP’s integrated stamping facility allows the stamping and welding of all large sheet-metal parts on-site, ensuring maximum quality and minimum overhead.
The plant also will employ an efficient, synchronous material flow, where parts and other components will move in kits to each operator, providing employees with the tools they need in the sequence they will need them.
Michigan Assembly is the first U.S. plant to commercially use a three-wet paint application that will save about $3 million in production in natural gas and electricity – without compromising Ford’s paint quality or durability.
“In most other automotive plants, we apply a layer of paint called the primer coat and we bake the unit, and then we put on the base coat and the clear coat, and we bake it again,” said John Nowak, environmental engineer. “The three-wet process allows us to put on primer, base and clear, and bake it only once. We save all the electricity from the blowers that run the booths and the ovens, plus all the natural gas from heating the air and the ovens. Ford is leading the way on this greener, cleaner paint process.”
Because of the differences in technique – including robotic processing, elimination of equipment and associated pollutants, and increased line speed – the three-wet paint process produces 6,000 metric tons fewer CO2 emissions per year compared to waterborne systems and 8,000 metric tons fewer CO2 emissions per year compared to conventional high-solvent-borne systems. There also is a Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) emissions savings of 5 percent related to processing.
Driving on sunshine
MAP also boasts one of the largest solar power generation systems in the state as well as several electric vehicle charging stations, allowing the plant to operate on a blend of renewable and conventional electricity.
Renewable energy collected by the solar panels directly feeds the energy-efficient microgrid, helping power the plant. When the plant is inactive, such as holidays, the stored solar energy will provide power during periods of insufficient or inconsistent sunlight. The projected energy cost savings is approximately $160,000 per year.
“We have taken steps great and small to make the plant as green as possible,” Nowak said. “Our goal was to help the 4,000 Ford employees make this several-million-square-foot facility truly environmentally friendly and cost-efficient.”
The plant also has 10 electric vehicle charging stations that recharge electric switcher trucks that transport parts between adjacent facilities – saving an estimated 86,000 gallons of gas a year.
Plus, the 50 percent of the parts arriving for the all-new Focus that come from Europe, packed in cardboard, are carefully collected, sorted and recycled, as is the bubble wrap, the Styrofoam and water bottles used by employees. Even the temporary wooden partitions that were put up as the plant was revamped and remodeled were donated to the local Habitat for Humanity.
Quality focus
But equipment isn’t all it takes for a plant transformation to occur. Work force training is equally important. Doug Mertz, organization development manager at MAP, worked with the team to develop training that would focus on the plant’s operating principles – safety, quality and flexible manufacturing – with high priority placed on respect for people, product and processes.
Group leaders from Wayne Assembly Plant participated in an intense, three-week quality education, which included pre-builds of the new Focus and in-depth training on safety, ergonomics and work-station design. In addition, group leaders were trained on “soft skills,” such as developmental leadership, personality preferences and their impact on behavior, conflict resolution, change management, techniques for teaching others, and other skills to aid in situations specific to their base departments.
“Since the group leaders would be training the base operators when they came to the MAP site, we wanted them to understand not only the implication of performing their job correctly, but also the impact that performing the job incorrectly would have downstream,” said Mertz.
As the full MAP salaried and hourly work force arrived at Michigan Assembly Plant, operating patterns helped to ease the transition. The first week, the normally two-shift operation was combined into one so that group leaders on both day and afternoon shifts could work collectively with their teams and ensure standardization of work practices. Shifts continued to overlap so line employees could work together and minimize variability on job performance.
“The all-new Ford Focus is truly global in the sense that we’ve created it to satisfy the needs and wants of people all around the world,” said Plant Manager Rob Webber. “This has been an exciting challenge but one we’re ready for. We have the people and processes in place to deliver on the promise of the new Ford Focus and the many products to come.”
Inside MAP
Click here for video of the all-new Ford Focus on the assembly line at Michigan Assembly Plant.
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