Ford has faced its fair share of quality woes in recent times, becoming the most recalled automotive manufacturer in 2022 in the process. CEO Jim Farley has made it quite clear that the automaker is focused on fixing this problem, which he says “grew back” along with various other corporate inefficiencies including a major overstaffing problem that are eating into the company’s profits, though they will ultimately take years to correct. Now, FoMoCo has made another move to help right the proverbial ship after hiring John Dion as its new chief transformation officer.
John Dion is no stranger to improving the efficiency of large corporations, having spent 24 years at Danaher Corp. and leading the integrations and transitions of multiple acquisitions during that time span. Most recently, Dion worked at ESAB Corp. as vice president of business excellence, where he led the company’s industrial and cultural remaking as it transitioned from a 120-year old private company into a publicly-traded entity.
In his new role, Dion will be tasked with simplifying and streamlining Ford’s operations and improving its quality at the same time, using his knowledge of lean manufacturing – or Kaizen – and other related methodologies to lead the global deployment of methodologies and tools.
“Henry Ford was doing lean manufacturing decades before anyone even defined the term,” Farley said. “High value and quality, continuous flow, rooting out waste – those things have been fundamental to who we are for more than a century. John’s an expert in all of the principles of lean, and he and his team will provide our culture the urgency, guidance, and support we need to reassert and raise Ford’s reputation for excellence, thrift, and growth.”
“Jim and everyone I met spoke with great clarity and candor about what’s possible and required to fulfill the promise of Ford+,” Dion said. “What I saw isn’t a simple program or initiative, it’s a new way of doing business – to win and create value for customers and everyone who counts on Ford.”
We’ll have more on all of Ford’s executive shakeups soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for 24/7 Ford news coverage.
Expanding that lineup yet again.
A way to potentially help avoid obstructions in wet weather.
Increasing a bit compared to the past couple of quarters.
A massive project, but one certainly worth undertaking.
Most companies are transitioning workers back to the office, too.
While the overall market posted a sharp increase in issues.
View Comments
Good luck, sir.
I’m not sure that “leaning” the operation is the complete answer. Functional quality has more to do with how well components are engineered and more importantly, how those systems work together. Leaning the operation won’t solve those issues.
Maybe the right type of person in that he's not from silicon valley and has experience in companies where they actually make things. But Lean / Kaizen is not the real answer, listening to the experienced engineers instead of shoving them out the door is
I can tell you, some of the ford senior engineers were so inflexible & locked in their thinking (sometimes thinking only good ideas came from inside) and fearful of change, nothing improved in their commodity until they retired.
Everyone has a role in quality, be it good or bad. For Ford, it has been bad. Yet, Farley does not acknowledge his role in the “bad”… that he and Furniture Boy created distractions and worshipped process shortcuts in their zeal to emulate the nimbleness (“disruption”) of Tesla.
I believe the car companies have pushed their vendors so hard to cut costs, they have paid the price in quality. I don’t seem to hear about recalls with Mercedes Benz, Audi, BMW or Lexus brands. Those cars are certainly in another price range from Ford, GM and Chrysler. I guess if you want better quality, you have to pay for it, just like diamonds, steaks, etc …. I just hope Ford can get their quality issues fixed, one way or another.
Alan Mulally used to visit the assembly lines, walk/ride down the line and talk with the workers. He always wanted to know what they thought the company could do to improve the process and the quality. They always enjoyed talking with him and offering up their suggestions.
I agree with your assessment.
Regarding soliciting feedback from the plants, Farley does the same and gets a warm welcome from the line as well.
So where does that leave the highly touted QC expert who Ford hired from JD Power? Is he demoted with a new boss? Does his job become redundant? Did his statement that quality would turn the corner this year sink him? Just asking…
Different functions.
Nice try I suppose.
How long do you think his contract is for.
I suspect much of Fords challenges lie within their workforce that has consistently underperformed the industry in general.
The issues are likely social, political positions needlessly fanned by the reprehensible behavior of our elected officials... and I personally hate to say it, Republicans in particular.
Can't hang this one on BEV cheerleaders.
Ford has too many employees.
Ford: hires another highly compensated employee.
Lol here’s another K-street FUDster pushing the same short-sellers disinfo. Ever since fords stock went up they’re out in force trying to move the market.
Ford stock is down cumalitively by 50% over the entire past year. Investors are disappointed, EVs killed Ford stock.