Ford Motor Company Supply Chain Strategy Essay

Lean manufacturing is the production of goods using less of everything than in mass production: less human effort, less manufacturing space, less investment tools and less engineering time to develop a new product. A company becomes lean by continuously increasing its capacity to produce high-quality goods while simultaneously decreasing

The Ford Motor Company’s Supply Chain Management ABSTRACT The influx of foreign automobiles that flood the United States market is higher than ever before and American companies are struggling to adapt to this decrease in market share. Ford is one of the organizations that has restructured its supply chain strategy to better integrate suppliers into their system reducing cost and

Ford Motor Company is one of the world’s largest producers of cars and trucks and one of the largest providers of automotive financial services marketing vehicles under the eight brands shown below. The Company is a publicly traded company listed on the New York Stock Exchange. During 2002, the company made 6.7 million vehicles and employed 328,000 people worldwide. Business partners include 25,000 dealers and more than 10,000 suppliers.

In 1908 Henry Ford had constructed the Model T; the time it took him to create this automobile was 13 days. Now eager to achieve more, Ford knew that he needed a place to construct these cars. He also knew that to sell mass amounts he would have to sell cheap, and buy parts and supplies even cheaper (Douglas, 25). The construction of the first Ford Motor plant used the world’s only conveyer belt. This was part of the Fords plan to build fast, when he constructed the assembly line cars were pumped out in as fast as 15 minuets, this was down from 19 days. Ford was able to make the automobile a car for everyman, a working man with a family.

In this world of technology and innovation even Ford Motor Company is investing in new technologies in order to improvised their supply chain management, build an environment with interaction between each department as well as suppliers in order to reduce the bridging gap between them. As it is a leader in auto market segment, needs to update and coop with time and technology periodically but due to huge competition from the Japanese auto makers like Toyota, Honda, and Nissan, Suzuki etc., who are strong and powerful with references to the supply chain process management due to which Ford market share dip compared to others as well as the sales also declined. During this time, Ford analysed the situation and thought positively and started improvement in the supply chain management.

Ideas introduced in the article assist in understanding Ford’s current situation. Ford reported sharp falls in U.S. auto sales in May 2008. Sales of its most profitable pickups and SUVs suffered the most (“US Auto Sales Slide”). Some of the main

The automobile industry has influenced the US society in many aspects. The automotive production on commercial scale started in Europe in 1890’s. At this time, they were only able to produce a few numbers of cars in the market. When the automobile industry started in the US, cars were considered as toys for rich. From 1904 to 1908, about 241 auto-manufacturing firms went into business. One of these firms was Ford Motor Company, led by Henry Ford, which outpaced its competitors in a very short time. After Ford Model N success in the market, Henry Ford was encouraged to introduce his Model T car to the market; after several failed product lines. As a result of its durability and price, Henry Ford innovated one of the most important innovations

Lean manufacturing is the production of goods using less of everything than in mass production: less human effort, less manufacturing space, less investment tools and less engineering time to develop a new product. A company becomes lean by continuously increasing its capacity to produce high-quality goods while

One cannot discuss the impacts of the American automotive industry without giving due credit to Henry Ford. While Ford did not create the first gas powered car, nor the first assembly line, he did revolutionize both (Voice of America, 2012). He was an accomplished machinist and one day he discovered a gas powered machine called a Silent Otto (Voice of America, 2012). Henry was a self-motivated independent learner who relished innovative challenges. As his innovations developed marketable products, Ford insisted on making cars that were affordable for everyone. The improvements he made to assembly line manufacturing streamlined production and kept consumer costs low, even though he had to fight tooth and nail to retain this control.

Profitability (performance) ratios are used to assess a company’s ability to create equity as compared to its debt and other appropriate expenses created during a particular time frame. A favorable analysis of profitability ratios will reveal that a company’s value is higher than a competitor’s value.

Over the years, the U. S. auto industry's market has been experiencing fluctuations due to many reasons including: price, quality and foreign competition. General Motors Corporation (GM) which had been the leading car and truck manufacturer had been experiencing declining market share and facing stiff competition from both U.S manufacturers and foreign imports such as the Asian auto producers that included Toyota, Honda and Nissan. The main reason for increased foreign competition was that foreign cars were more fuel efficient, smaller, less expensive, and often more reliable than their American counterparts.

The key to achieving this goal lies in the ability to take advantage of the Ford Company’s size and global presence to invest in information technology. This can be accomplished by using its intelligence resources to renegotiate the way it does business with suppliers, including partial integration of the “virtual integration model”, such as Dell Corporation

Dell applied virtual integration in four main areas: organizational simplification, inventory management, customer service and support, and suppliers’ management. Ford’s supply base is complex in nature when compared with the DELL supply base—many more layers and many more companies. This is one area that would be difficult to apply the same degree of virtual integration. Although there are several key differences between the companies, the restructuring initiatives of Ford 2000 have set a viable foundation to implement Dell’s virtual integration strategy in inventory management, customer service and support and suppliers’ management. In order to successfully implement the virtual integration, the problems existing in the current supply chain will be identified and addressed.

I will recommend the BOD to approach the Dell model with a prudent attitude, neither too aggressive nor too timid. Emulating the virtual integration should focus on developing the strategic partnerships with technologically advanced suppliers and eliminating the correlation with smaller ones. Ford would make sure that key suppliers have access to forecasting data from customers' purchasing trends and production information to enable a faster order-to-delivery cycle. The difference in the distribution model between Dell and Ford lies in the middle link of using retail shops. Since Ford cannot skip retail as a focal distribution point, it should work on establishing a network of retail shops that it owned. Ford make sure shops are not affecting

4. In a service supply chain, the (explicit) cost of information is higher than in a product