Ford Tooling

U.S., Canadian Progressive Stampings Exports Primed to Pop

Of the different segments in the tooling construction and metal stamping industry in the U.S. and Canada, one in particular could see a spike in activity at least in 2010-2012 on behalf of OEM assembly plants transition to Mexico. »

Ford Fusion Wins Motor Trend Car of the Year

Nice to see some of the strategic moves Mr. Mulally and co. have taken are providing much-deserved recognition.

DETROIT (AP) — The 2010 Ford Fusion was named Motor Trend magazine's car of the year Tuesday, beating out the Toyota Prius, BMW 7-Series, Chevrolet Camaro and others in the closely watched competition.

It was yet another accolade for Ford Motor Co.'s midsize sedan, which got high reliability scores in the most recent rankings from Consumer Reports and was the top-selling car made by a Detroit automaker through October. U.S. Fusion sales were up 15 percent in the first 10 months of this year, to 148,045, despite a 25 percent drop in overall car sales.

Still, the mid-size Fusion continues to lag behind the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord – perennial leaders in the competitive U.S. mid-size market.

Motor Trend said the Fusion can compete with the Camry and Accord in performance, comfort and fuel efficiency. It praised Ford for offering several versions of the Fusion, including a fuel-efficient gas-electric hybrid and a sporty version with a V-6 engine.

"Ford has proven its resilience in these tough times by delivering to market a car with broad appeal to a broad range of consumers," Motor Trend Editor in Chief Angus MacKenzie said in a statement.

Motor Trend considered 23 new or significantly refreshed vehicles. The Fusion, introduced in the 2006 model year, was redesigned for 2010 with a new lineup of engines and transmissions, new exterior and interior and new options, including the Sync entertainment system and a blind-spot warning system.

Derrick Kuzak, Ford's group vice president of global product development, said the 2010 Fusion has a sportier look and better fuel economy than previous versions. It gets 34 miles per gallon on the highway when equipped with a four-cylinder engine and six-speed automatic transmission. The gas-electric hybrid version gets 41 miles per gallon in the city.

The Mercedes-Benz E-Class sedan, Buick LaCrosse, Lexus HS 250h and Hyundai Genesis coupe were among the cars Motor Trend considered. The Fusion also beat out other Ford models, including the Mustang sports car and Taurus sedan.

It was the first time a Ford car had won since 2003, when the Ford Thunderbird got the honor, Kuzak said. Ford's 2009 F-150 was Motor Trend's truck of the year last fall. The Nissan GT-R was the car of the year for 2009.

"It reinforces the progress that we've made, particularly on the car side of the business," Kuzak told The Associated Press. "When people think of trucks they think Ford, but we needed to put Ford cars and crossovers in people's consideration."

Motor Trend conducts road tests on each vehicle and judges vehicles in six categories: design advancement, engineering excellence, intended function, efficiency, safety and value. (Article Courtesy of www.manufacturing.net , Motor Trend Names Ford Fusion Car of the Year)

Upcoming Tool and Die Forum to Bring University, OEM, Tier 1 and suppliers together

If you are located–or open to driving–near Auburn Hills, Michigan you are invited to attend this forum on the campus of Oakland University put together by Center for Integrated Business Research and Education (CIBRE) . You can email your reservation per the instructions below or feel free to email me with any questions. If you want to make a reservation to attend by contacting me, that's fine too and I'll take care of it.

There is no cost to attend and this follows up a meeting we had with Dean of the Business School as well as Executives from Ford and Takata on how the future of U.S. tooling companies can work cohesively with the supply chain and ultimately strengthen our future. I've been honored to have been selected as a CIBRE Associate and take great pride in the value and services it provides the local business environment. If you are a client of mine you are welcome to attend but rest assured I will represent and attend on your behalf. ~Joe Brown

The Future of Tool and Die: An Industry Dialog

The School of Business Administration at Oakland University is pleased to host an industry dialog on the future relationships between the tool-and-die industry and its customers in the automotive value chain, as the automotive industry continues to transform itself. The purpose of this dialog is to jointly explore what those evolving relationships will be to allow us all to better prepare to take advantage of the new business relationships that will define the automotive industry in the 21^st century and help create a strong manufacturing base in the US and in Michigan.

Where

School of Business Administration

Oakland University

2200 N. Squirrel Road

242 Elliott Hall

Rochester Hills, MI 48309

Date

November 17, 2009

Time

7:30 a.m. to 1:00pm

Reservations

Please notify Carrie Sliwinski (cmking@oakland.edu) by November 12, 2009 if you plan to attend.

This is a free event, but registration is on a first-come basis and will be limited to a small number to allow for greater interaction. If you register and decide you can’t attend, we ask that you take time to cancel.

Agenda

7:30 a.m. Registration

8 – 9 a.m. Where are we heading in value chain relationships?

Bruno Barthelemy, Ford; Jeff Engle, Takata Stamping; Jay Baron, Center for Automotive Research; and others

9:15 – 10:15 a.m. Problem-Defining Exercise

10:30 – 11:45 a.m. Team Breakout Exercise

11:45 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Team Reports

12:30 – 1 p.m. Summary and Action Plan

New Ford-UAW Deal Includes Promise to Study Cost Outsourced Dies

Several provisions are in line between a proposed agreement between Ford and the United Auto Workers includes concessions and promises from both sides. Rank and file members still need to approve the deal but all signs appear they will–and soon.

One interesting portion is Ford’s commitment to study the cost of producing dies in China with the UAW and to consider whether to bring that work to the United States.

Many of us have taken the stance that despite the rising cost of labor in China, the difference in the total or actual cost of American and Canadian-built dies vs. Chinese-built dies has been skewed and misrepresented ever since OEMs started outsourcing programs there.

This included hard and soft costs such as communication delays and errors, shipping and lack of quality in the fabrication process which caused many dies to be repaired–immediately.

This could be voted on in the coming days. Check back to T&D for updates.

-Joe Brown

Ford Engineer Arrested for Stealing Trade Secrets; Gave to Chinese Companies

One person doesn’t represent an entire nation but I’ve heard enough b.s. from some people who have tried to defend LCC (low-cost-countries) tendencies to copy. Granted, it’s a small percentage that have defended it but their responses were something along the lines of how it’s a culturally accepted behavior in places such as China. Oh yeah? Maybe there, but not in America.

Now, we have a former Ford Product Engineer, Xiang Dong Yu (known as "Mike Yu" by his coworkers), a chinese man who stole ("copied") 4,000 Ford docs onto an external hard drive–the night before he quit. He was arrested yesterday and a federal indictment announcement was made 30 minutes ago in Detroit. Some of the propietary files he took were:

system design specifications connected to engine and transmission mounting systems
steering wheel assembly
interior trim
front/rear side door specs
instrument panel and console systems

From the Detroit Free Press article,"Former Ford Engineer indicted on stealing trade secrets"

A former product engineer for the Ford Motor Co. has been indicted on allegations that he stole trade secrets from the automaker, federal officials in Detroit announced today.

Xiang Dong Yu, aka Mike Yu, 47, of Beijing, China, was arrested Wednesday at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport after he exited a flight from China. He is charged with theft of trade secrets, attempted theft of trade secrets and unauthorized access to a protected computer.

According to an indictment, Yu was a product engineer for the Ford Motor Co. from 1997 to 2007 and had access to Ford trade secrets, including Ford design documents. In December 2006, Yu accepted a job at the China branch of a U.S. company.

The indictment alleges that on the eve of his departure from Ford and before he told Ford of his new job, Yu copied 4,000 Ford documents onto an external hard drive, including sensitive Ford design documents. Included in those documents were system design specifications for an engine/transmission mounting subsystem, electrical distribution system, electric power supply, electrical subsystem and generic body module, among others.

Yu remains in federal custody in Chicago where he is scheduled to have a detention hearing on Tuesday.

Detroit FBI Special Agent in Charge Andrew Arena said in a statement today: “Michigan, as well as the rest of the United States, is significantly impacted by the auto industry. Theft of trade secrets is a threat to national security and investigating allegations involving theft of trade secrets is a priority for the FBI.”

U.S. Attorney Terrence Berg said: ““Protecting the competitive edge technology of our companies through vigorous enforcement of our federal trade secret laws is a top priority of this office.”

Each of the theft and attempted theft of trade secrets counts carries a maximum penalty of 10 years and a $250,000 fine. The unauthorized access to a protected computer charge carries a maximum penalty of five years and a $250,000 fine.

According to the indictment the stolen Ford documents include: system design specifications connected to engine and transmission mounting systems; outside rear view windows; sliding doors; steering wheel assembly; interior trim; wipers and washers systems; front/rear side door; instrument panel and console systems; sound and heat control and electric power systems.