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Quality Driven
Despite being one of the biggest automakers not just in the U.S. but worldwide, Ford has had lingering quality control issues, as evidenced by the countless recalls over the years. As a major company, they have promised to address these issues that stem from the production side of the business.
Ford's outspoken CEO, Jim Farley, has gone on record to put the spotlight back on the brand's efforts to address its quality issues on a local and global stage. Surprisingly, America isn't setting the pace; it's the rest of the world changing Ford's quality reputation.
Leading Through Mexico and China
Farely just told reporters that most of the company's best-quality work isn't coming out of America, but rather across the border in Mexico and even farther east into China. Furthermore, Mexico and China are being praised by Farely as setting the benchmark that apparently everyone else is chasing.
Specifically, Farely has laid out that China and Mexico's factories, which produce cars like the Maverick and Bronco Sport, consistently outperform the rest of the group's manufacturing facilities in following production processes and in troubleshooting and problem-solving on the production floor. Farley told The Detroit News that plants in those locations have the "deepest" problem-solving skills and are the most compliant. He also acknowledged that different countries have varying workplace cultures that can either make or break the company's quality goals.
America's Catching Up
While it may seem like America is lagging behind, Farely points out the opposite. He said that Ford manufacturing facilities in America, represented by the UAW, have rapidly improved their quality. This comes off the back of Ford's shock victory in this year's JD Power Initial Quality Study after the company had consistently sat at the lower end of the rankings over the past few years.
Farley says the win is the result of over four years of hard work by all stakeholders involved in manufacturing and quality. A lot of work is still underway to ultimately prove Ford's turnaround when it comes to quality, but it seems things are headed in the right direction.
