Ford quality has suffered a bit in recent months, prompting the automaker to take a number of steps that aim to make improvements in that area moving forward. Those include paying technicians to send in photos of quality issues, making quality a key component of the automaker’s reorganization plan, and hiring former J.D. Power Vice President Josh Halliburton as its new executive director of quality, who recently stated that Ford quality issues will begin to subside in 2023. In a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal, Halliburton also revealed that FoMoCo is using some interesting techniques to improve overall quality, too.
Those include, for starters, utilizing video cameras to catch flaws at assembly plants before vehicles are shipped to customers, monitoring social media to catch customer complaints related to quality, and asking workers to speak up if they see potential problems during the vehicle design and production processes.
One of the very first problems Halliburton discovered after he started with Ford was that the automaker was making a number of last-minute changes to new vehicles prior to launch, which increases the risk that those vehicles will experience problems later on. FoMoCo also harbored a culture of rallying to fix these issues rather than prevent them in the first place, which is what he aims to change, as well as reward workers who spot these problems early on.
Part of that process involves installing cameras at plants to monitor vehicles that are in the early, pre-production phase so that any potential problems can be corrected before full-scale production begins. “We are placing more time and emphasis on ensuring everything is done right upfront to prevent quality issues from manifesting later in the development process,” Halliburton said.
Additionally, following the launch of the Ford Mustang Mach-E, The Blue Oval used a team to monitor social media for problems that owners were experiencing, and interacted with some of those customers after the fact. That effort was recently expanded to include the Ford F-150 Lighting, Ford Bronco, and Ford F-150, while the same team is also monitoring trends involving vehicle complications. All of this is being done in an effort to not only reduce recalls, but also regain the automaker’s reputation for quality. “We want to be a quality leader,” Halliburton said.
We’ll have more on Ford’s efforts to improve quality soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for 24/7 Ford news coverage.
Comments
Ford sucks! I only buy Ford’s. When it comes to problems they will continuously brush you off, instead of addressing the problem. I have a 2015 Ford Transit 350 XLT mid roof. They had a recall on the drive shaft. After they “FIXED” my van I have had to deal with a vibration in the drivline. They couldn’t fix it. They now say “It’s a normal characteristic of the vehicle”. BULLSH!T!! It NEVER did that before. It was still covered under the 5 year 60,000 miles warranty. I kept complaining and they kept closing my case. Finally they refused to listen to me anymore and gave me an ultimatum. Take our free extended warranty or we’ll close the case and you get NOTHING!! I lashed back at them with “IT’S ALREADY UNDER A WARRANTY AND YOU AREN’T FIXING IT. WHAT’S AN EXTENDED WARRANTY GOING TO DO?” Needless to say I took it to buy me extra time with the van. The problem still exist and that’s why FORD SUCKS!!
Unbelievable, I just spent 15 minutes writing a detailed comment on my dissatisfaction with Ford and this website moderated and totally deleted it. So much for FREEDOM OF SPEECH.
I spent an hour on the phone with Ford two different depts trying to find out about my Feb 2021 bronco order , they could not tell me when production would be running.They would need my order #, and sales # without that they can’t tell you anything once they got that they said we don’t have any info on that currently call your dealership. I said they tell me to call you , you are the one building it right? Yes but we dont know , thanks one hour wasted. Called my dealership asked to have the sales order sent to me to confirm changes I made in Feb in the dealership of this year was correct. No it wasn’t and I have noticed the price increase of 2k I asked about it since I (WE ALL ) have been told we would be price protected. Now they are spinning as Ford should be offering sometype of rebate to you , but we are not sure how much. So I pointed out I have a signed agreement at this price, well we will try to work with you when the Bronco is deliveried and we go thru the paperwork, my reply yes we will for the agreed upon price. Oh and Ford tells me to ask you when the Bronco will be built , well we dont know we just sell them, but don’t be surprised that you will most likely get a 2023 model now. Then tells me that Ford won’t be taking any new orders until they are caught up with back log. Which Ford didn’t say while they are on the phone. I think a major class action suit is coming about all the BS ford is saying and doing. They can come out with new colors, models , but can’t build the orders they have and what they have built are full of issues reported. Hopefully Fords manangement will read and reach out to every order holder from 2021 and make this right. GLTA
The addition of Josh Halliburton is a welcome hopeful improvement to quality and the total lack of communication going on. The addition of cameras, media monitoring and interaction and providing employees incentives for finding and communication quality issues is encouraging. Let’s just hope this happens TODAY to stop the bleeding. Getting caught up of builds and DELIVERY before more units are ordered is key for us waiting!
I am pleased that Ford is addressing quality issues. The issues Halliburton has identified so early in his tenure are Quality 101. Quality in the product delivered to customers must be designed in. Once production begins it is way more difficult to address quality problems. Not sure what the thinking is behind the cameras on the production line. Cameras are useful for identifying things like cold solder joint, perhaps finding something installed incorrectly. How can the design allow things to be installed incorrectly in 2022??? What about the supply chain? How much of the Bronco (or anything else) does Ford actually manufacture? My background is defense and aerospace manufacturing. The major A&D contractors procure around 75% of their product. Getting feedback from the people on the production floor is a good step. Will they be involved in the design? Putting some engineering and technical practices in place is part of a solution. There may be some cultural issues which a re much more difficult to address. I hope Ford can recover as they hope. As of today I have been waiting a full year for my Bronco; as mentioned above by someone, no production number in sight.
I own several Ford’s: 2008 Mustang, 2015 Taurus SHO, 2016 GT350. They all have serious quality issues and are falling apart. I have been a big Ford fan, but I will never buy another one. I just bought a new 2022 BMW X3. I’ll likely buy a new X6M in 3 years.
My 2017 F150 was due to be replaced. Instead of 1 new F150, we bought 2 new Honda Civics for less money and better quality. Multiple circumstances at play here, but Ford’s quality didn’t help their cause.