Ford adds safety features and boosts performance of popular family-hauling SUV. Detroit Free Press
Ford Motor Co. alerted its autoworkers and supervisors this week that the company will pivot to full U.S. production ahead of schedule in an attempt to make up for lost time created by the coronavirus.
“We are pleased to be able to return to our normal operating pattern in the U.S. on Monday — which is sooner than expected — because our workforce and suppliers are able to support,” Kelli Felker, Ford global manufacturing and labor communications manager, told the Free Press.
So it’s really Ford’s workforce that allowed the company to speed up the schedule, as both workers and suppliers have settled into their new routines. The so-called full production status with Ford and other automakers reflects the pre-coronavirus production schedules. They build to meet consumer demand.
The company is careful to note that the line speed is unchanged. Ford is bringing in additional shifts and temporary workers who are UAW members.
Ford, which has carefully brought additional shifts back, has worked with its UAW members to implement safety precautions and protections related to COVID-19.
“The safety of our workforce continues to be our top priority,” Felker said.
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With time and money at stake, the automaker is making a hard push to stock up on the highly valuable pickup supply depleted by the coronavirus factory shutdown from mid-March to mid-May.
Ford is staffing up its factories at the Dearborn Truck Plant, Kentucky Truck Plant and Chicago Assembly. The Kansas City Assembly Plant in Claycomo, Missouri, has already returned to three shifts, Felker said.
At the Kentucky Truck Plant, the factory will go from just under 6,000 hourly workers to just under 9,000, union officials told the Free Press.
“I think it will be stressful for all parties to some degree,” said Todd Dunn, president of UAW Local 862 in Louisville, explaining protocols related to COVID-19 safety, regular illness and absences due to virus concerns. “There’s a lot of complexity.”
An estimated 1,000 workers have been hired over the past four weeks, said Marcus Sheckles, vice president of UAW Local 862.
Increased production will replenish the supply of F-Series pickups, Ford Explorers and Police Interceptors.
Police agencies have said they’re waiting for orders to be filled and dealers have said there’s a back order on Explorers specifically. Launch problems in 2019 created delivery delays for the Explorer and Interceptor that affected the year-end earnings.
Contact Phoebe Wall Howard: 313-222-6512or phoward@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @phoebesaid. Read more on Ford and sign up for our autos newsletter.
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