⛑ Ford effectively assumes operational control of Webasto's Plymouth plant to help resolve Bronco top supply issue

[DarthTod]

Can you imagine? It has to be absolutely humiliating for "leadership" there.

I can. I was on a team surveying a supplier once to assess their adherence to standards, I didn’t make any friends. I embarrassed the fuck out of some managers and supervisors. They were utterly incapable of following their own procedures.

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[WhiteMamba]

They need to move the plant here to South Carolina. No unions to worry about. BMW is having no delays either. Just saying.

**runs and hides**

Yeah, because most supplier plants are union right? Like there aren't enough companies driving down wages and benefits already......

 

[Richtor]

So will this plant increase the number of MIC tops produced?

 

[shieldsy]

I can only imagine the amount of board room meetings and powerpoints on this topic at Ford and Webesto. At all Corporate levels.

Almost none of them useful to solving the problem.

 

[Inigo Montoya]

Ford is going with the scatter gun approach to protect its stock price, passing the blame around. The only real issue is chip shortages which will almost certainly be reflected in the next quarterly earnings report. See the forest for the trees. This is not just a Bronco issue…

 

[Carbon Bronco]

Same plant is supposed to supply tops for FCA as well. They were still planning on building the plant in April of 2019. Probably didn't know they had production problems because they couldn't get the raw material from China to practice making the tops until recently. That may have been masking the problem for the last year.

I am still thinking about how off the first roof insulation kits were. Takes time a practice to hone the process.

 

[Rubicon 2 Badlands]

Now that today's news is out there....

Within the last 6 weeks, Ford engineers were dispatched en mass to the Webasto plant in Plymouth to troubleshoot issues with factory output. In the time since, Ford has effectively assumed operational control of the plant and are working to resolve the issue under threat of vacating the contract entirely.

Some MAP employees have spent their shutdown time over in Plymouth trying to get things moving.

The "additional millions to resolve supply chain issues" in today's messaging specifically references the major rework Ford is paying for at the facility.

The good news is that the early quality concerns have been completely addressed, as the assemblies currently coming out meet all the agreed upon standards. However, both the physical setup of the plant itself and a toxic, disorganized management culture are severely limiting output of product and onboarding of employees.

The ship is being righted but it won't be fully resolved in the near term.

Source: same as all the other info I've shared along the way... friends in engineering and production on this project.

This is great if it is true, and if Ford can get things moving on the right path. Godspeed to them!

 

[DUSTYcazOREGON]

Now that today's news is out there....

Within the last 6 weeks, Ford engineers were dispatched en mass to the Webasto plant in Plymouth to troubleshoot issues with factory output. In the time since, Ford has effectively assumed operational control of the plant and are working to resolve the issue under threat of vacating the contract entirely.

Some MAP employees have spent their shutdown time over in Plymouth trying to get things moving.

The "additional millions to resolve supply chain issues" in today's messaging specifically references the major rework Ford is paying for at the facility.

The good news is that the early quality concerns have been completely addressed, as the assemblies currently coming out meet all the agreed upon standards. However, both the physical setup of the plant itself and a toxic, disorganized management culture are severely limiting output of product and onboarding of employees.

The ship is being righted but it won't be fully resolved in the near term.

Source: same as all the other info I've shared along the way... friends in engineering and production on this project.

Great!!! And as others said....FORD should have just said that....then we know they are working on this. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Daktari]

great info, best of luck to Ford and Webasto to get this thing out of the mud and rolling! Seems like that toxic management needs to get replaced with people that know what they're doing, sounds like that's what's going on.

I'll get my ride when I get it, not changing anything on my order. Realistically I won't need a new car for an other 10 years, if ever. I just want this thing - while still alive though, that would be nice :-D

 

[airishfan]

The million dollar question

No trust me he's lucky. Most of us don't have a clue when our Bronco will even be considered for build

maybe Ford should take some off the MSRP for people who stuck with

What you guys need to realize is there is really only one OEM manufacturer for sun roofs, moon roofs, convertible rag tops, any removable/retractable roof system. Webasto. They even make the motorized retracting transformer top on the new C8 corvette. There is absolutely no reason to question why Webasto got this contract, only how poorly it’s been executed.

Do they make the hard tops for Jeep Wranglers

 

[ronstar]

So you're saying that a 100+ year old company that has been making tops for years is not performing and Ford is coming in to save the day?

 

[bronc'o]

Ho. Lee. Crap.


This gives a lot of hope at least.

My concern has to do with the fact that we're half way through 2021 already- so, assuming they get this situation rectified by July, it will still be difficult to complete vehicle delivery within this fiscal calendar year, except for a select few. In other words, time stamp will mean very little here, since Ford will be looking to satisfy any soft top/base orders they can, while situation is remedied. Really disappointing. Day 2 reservation holder here.

 

[MayhemMike]

I’m confident there was a pending law suit that persuaded Webasto to allow Ford to intervene. If this is in fact legit, then I applaud Ford for taking this step. All I and many others require is “ positive effort”.

 

[Badmommallama]

This scenario plays out all the time in business. If a company always waited until absolutely sure, nothing would ever be done and there would be no innovation.

Projections are just what you do. Sure, you try to do the math to ensure accuracy and efficiency, but sometimes, all the time, unknowns or unforeseens occur which cause you to adjust.

Just ask anyone who's served in the military about "planning vs. execution".

Why not change suppliers? Economies of scale, patents, tooling, training, testing, liability and risk. These are the reasons why standing by Wabasto is the best pathway forward, as they are close to a breakthrough with a little pushing.

Now, next go around, a new supplier may come online as others are no doubt approaching Ford with proposals, but you can't buy that in the middle of a campaign, as an analyst like me would nail you and your rating, thus killing your stock price.

It's just business, no one is trying to hurt any of us.

Military life = Hurry up & wait


I have more patience than I desire some days.

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