Ford help me understand the chip hold

[Razorbak86]

The better question to as ford is….why did you continue to build thousands of broncos without chips knowing full well they would be stuck in lots for months, and months? They’ve paused the line before in 2021 when they didn’t have parts or MiC tops.

I suspect that it’s cheaper financially to run the plant at normal speed, when only small components like modules are missing and can be added later, than to shut the entire plant down and also absorb the 75% labor cost that the UAW contract stipulates for temporary shut-downs.

The MIC tops are not small components, and production at Webasto was so woefully behind on such a major portion of the total USOB (~80% hard tops at the time), that it likely made sense financially to eat the additional labor cost at that time.

Is that “fair” to customers awaiting production of special orders? Probably not.

Does it make sense financially to the management of a for-profit corporation attempting to maximize profits for its shareholders? Probably.

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[Cornbred]

Hi! Ford Here, here to explain to you the wonderful world of chips!

CHiPs was an American crime drama television series created by Rick Rosner, that originally aired on NBC from September 15, 1977, to May 1, 1983. It follows the lives of two motorcycle officers of the California Highway Patrol (CHP). The series ran for 139 episodes over six seasons, plus one reunion television film in October 1998. CHiPs episodes were usually a combination of light comedy and drama. A typical episode would start with Ponch and Jon on routine patrol or being assigned to an interesting beat, such as Malibu or the Sunset Strip. In roll call briefing, Sgt. Getraer would alert his officers to be on the lookout for a particular criminal operation, such as people staging accidents as part of an insurance scam, or punks breaking into cars. A few interesting, unrelated vignettes often transpired during "routine" traffic enforcement.

A light-hearted subplot would also be included, such as Harlan trying to hide a stray dog from Getraer at the office. A more serious theme, such as Ponch trying to keep a kid from his old neighborhood out of a potential life of crime, might also be included. After a few failed attempts to apprehend the gang that had been menacing L.A.'s freeways, the episode would invariably culminate in Ponch and Jon leading a chase of the suspects (often assisted by other members of their division), climaxing with a spectacular series of stunt vehicle crashes.

The show then typically featured a dénouement of Ponch and Jon participating in a new activity (such as jet skiing or skydiving), designed to showcase the pair's glamorous Southern California lifestyle. Often, Ponch would attempt to impress a woman he had met during the episode with his athletic prowess or disco dancing, only to fail and provide Jon, Getraer, and others with many laughs. As the preliminary end credits would start, the image would freeze multiple times, showing various characters laughing or otherwise enjoying the social scene.

Hi! Ford Here, here to explain to you the wonderful world of chips!

CHiPs was an American crime drama television series created by Rick Rosner, that originally aired on NBC from September 15, 1977, to May 1, 1983. It follows the lives of two motorcycle officers of the California Highway Patrol (CHP). The series ran for 139 episodes over six seasons, plus one reunion television film in October 1998. CHiPs episodes were usually a combination of light comedy and drama. A typical episode would start with Ponch and Jon on routine patrol or being assigned to an interesting beat, such as Malibu or the Sunset Strip. In roll call briefing, Sgt. Getraer would alert his officers to be on the lookout for a particular criminal operation, such as people staging accidents as part of an insurance scam, or punks breaking into cars. A few interesting, unrelated vignettes often transpired during "routine" traffic enforcement.

A light-hearted subplot would also be included, such as Harlan trying to hide a stray dog from Getraer at the office. A more serious theme, such as Ponch trying to keep a kid from his old neighborhood out of a potential life of crime, might also be included. After a few failed attempts to apprehend the gang that had been menacing L.A.'s freeways, the episode would invariably culminate in Ponch and Jon leading a chase of the suspects (often assisted by other members of their division), climaxing with a spectacular series of stunt vehicle crashes.

The show then typically featured a dénouement of Ponch and Jon participating in a new activity (such as jet skiing or skydiving), designed to showcase the pair's glamorous Southern California lifestyle. Often, Ponch would attempt to impress a woman he had met during the episode with his athletic prowess or disco dancing, only to fail and provide Jon, Getraer, and others with many laughs. As the preliminary end credits would start, the image would freeze multiple times, showing various characters laughing or otherwise enjoying the social scene.

 

[shoelessjoe]

Can you recall which video, and maybe an approximate timestamp?

Not positive, but I think it was in the last week.

 

[Razorbak86]

Not positive, but I think it was in the last week.

Here is some more info about the contingency planning put in place by the fabs prior to the war in Ukraine.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

​

Alan Priestley, an analyst at Gartner, told CNBC that most major chip manufacturers have several months of neon in reserve, adding that it's not a major issue for them yet.​

​

Intel said it is monitoring the situation closely. "Intel has assessed the possible impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict on its supply chain," a spokesperson told CNBC.​

​

The person added: "Intel's strategy of having a diverse, global supply chain minimizes its risk from potential local interruptions. We continue to monitor the situation carefully."​

​

TSMC declined to comment and Samsung did not immediately respond to a CNBC request for comment.​

​

"Some smaller fabs with limited supply may be affected earlier," Priestley said. Chip manufacturers are working with their supply chains to try to minimize the impacts, he added. A fab is a chip factory, where semiconductors are "fabricated."​

Preparing for a neon shortage​

​

The global semiconductor industry has been preparing for an event like this for years.​

It took crucial steps to try to limit future risks associated with neon supplies in the wake of Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014.​

​

"Following the Crimean annexation, the chip sector acted to cut the need for use of neon in the manufacturing process," Hanbury said. "At the same time, steps were taken to increase stocks of the gas at two points in the supply chain, so both gas suppliers and semiconductor makers each typically now have three to 12 months supply at hand."​

​

New suppliers outside of Ukraine and Russia were also put in place by semiconductor manufacturers, Hanbury added.​

​

"We estimate only about two-fifths of the neon used in global semiconductor production today is sourced from Russia and Ukraine," Hanbury added.​

​

Dutch firm ASML, which makes the highly complex lithography machines used by the chip giants, reduced its reliance on neon sourced from Ukraine to approximately 20% of previous levels, Hanbury added.​

​

A spokesperson for ASML told CNBC, "ASML recognizes the importance of being prepared in order to manage unplanned events including conflicts when they could impact our supply chain."​

​

They added: "We continue to closely monitor the status of the conflict and are currently investigating together with our suppliers what the impact (if any) would be and to what extent our suppliers can use alternative sources if necessary."​

​

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/25/rus...hortage-threatens-semiconductor-industry.html​

 

[kodiakisland]

Hi! Ford Here, here to explain to you the wonderful world of chips!

CHiPs was an American crime drama television series created by Rick Rosner, that originally aired on NBC from September 15, 1977, to May 1, 1983. It follows the lives of two motorcycle officers of the California Highway Patrol (CHP). The series ran for 139 episodes over six seasons, plus one reunion television film in October 1998. CHiPs episodes were usually a combination of light comedy and drama. A typical episode would start with Ponch and Jon on routine patrol or being assigned to an interesting beat, such as Malibu or the Sunset Strip. In roll call briefing, Sgt. Getraer would alert his officers to be on the lookout for a particular criminal operation, such as people staging accidents as part of an insurance scam, or punks breaking into cars. A few interesting, unrelated vignettes often transpired during "routine" traffic enforcement.

A light-hearted subplot would also be included, such as Harlan trying to hide a stray dog from Getraer at the office. A more serious theme, such as Ponch trying to keep a kid from his old neighborhood out of a potential life of crime, might also be included. After a few failed attempts to apprehend the gang that had been menacing L.A.'s freeways, the episode would invariably culminate in Ponch and Jon leading a chase of the suspects (often assisted by other members of their division), climaxing with a spectacular series of stunt vehicle crashes.

The show then typically featured a dénouement of Ponch and Jon participating in a new activity (such as jet skiing or skydiving), designed to showcase the pair's glamorous Southern California lifestyle. Often, Ponch would attempt to impress a woman he had met during the episode with his athletic prowess or disco dancing, only to fail and provide Jon, Getraer, and others with many laughs. As the preliminary end credits would start, the image would freeze multiple times, showing various characters laughing or otherwise enjoying the social scene.

I loved CHiPs. Every episode had babes in bikinis and 70s muscle cars. Oh, yeah, that Blue GMC K15. Between CHiPs and The Fall Guy, I was a GM diehard as a kid. Also thought everyone in CA wore bikinis every day. Ah, childhood was great.

 

[WyoBronc]

I suspect that it’s cheaper financially to run the plant at normal speed, when only small components like modules are missing and can be added later, than to shut the entire plant down and also absorb the 75% labor cost that the UAW contract stipulates for temporary shut-downs.

The MIC tops are not small components, and production at Webasto was so woefully behind on such a major portion of the total USOB (~80% hard tops at the time), that it likely made sense financially to eat the additional labor cost at that time.

Is that “fair” to customers awaiting production of special orders? Probably not.

Does it make sense financially to the management of a for-profit corporation attempting to maximize profits for its shareholders? Probably.

Perhaps if half of the 10,000 or so people that were treated as nothing more than lubricant to keep the machinery running instead of current and future customers decide to never buy another Ford and turn their families into GM customers……well, then I hope the short term profits of that decision is worth it. Companies would be better served looking at the big picture and building generations of loyal customers rather than short term financial profits and decisions made out of convenience and expedience.
But, what do I know? I’m just a lifelong Ford guy that will have spent over $150k since March of 2021 on Fords that will never, ever buy another one after this experience.

 

[Razorbak86]

Perhaps if half of the 10,000 or so people that were treated as nothing more than lubricant to keep the machinery running instead of current and future customers decide to never buy another Ford and turn their families into GM customers……well, then I hope the short term profits of that decision is worth it. Companies would be better served looking at the big picture and building generations of loyal customers rather than short term financial profits and decisions made out of convenience and expedience.
But, what do I know? I’m just a lifelong Ford guy that will have spent over $150k since March of 2021 on Fords that will never, ever buy another one after this experience.

I understand your perspective — the special order customer with a prior loyalty to the OEM, now in tatters.

Do you understand the perspective of the OEM?

“The automotive industry is a stellar example of the cost of downtime. It’s estimated that 1 minute of downtime costs automotive manufacturers $22,000 or $1.3 million per hour. Some estimates ran as high as $50,000 per minute.”​

​

Troubleshooting Thursday | True Cost of Factory Downtime: How Downtime Affects Productivity​

​

The $150,000 that you have spent on Ford vehicles in the last year could be consumed in approximately 3-5 minutes of production downtime. Costs like that can fund a lot of future marketing and customer acquisition costs to replace your prior brand loyalty.

Right now, Ford is attempting to satisfy its wholesale customers, the independent franchise dealers, under very difficult supply-chain constraints affecting a hot, new product with almost insatiable demand. Neither you nor I are Ford’s primary customers. You and I are the end users of their products. If you or I go away, other end users will quickly step up to purchase what would have otherwise been our special-ordered vehicles.

Please don’t take it personally, because the corporation certainly doesn’t. Its primary purpose is to deliver a return for its shareholders, not to suboptimize production costs to the tune of millions of dollars per hour to placate its end users’ production preferences. At the end of the day, Ford’s primary customers, the franchise dealers, will still be there if you or I go away, and they will still sell the vehicles that you or I walk away from.

 

[shoelessjoe]

Perhaps if half of the 10,000 or so people that were treated as nothing more than lubricant to keep the machinery running instead of current and future customers decide to never buy another Ford and turn their families into GM customers……well, then I hope the short term profits of that decision is worth it. Companies would be better served looking at the big picture and building generations of loyal customers rather than short term financial profits and decisions made out of convenience and expedience.
But, what do I know? I’m just a lifelong Ford guy that will have spent over $150k since March of 2021 on Fords that will never, ever buy another one after this experience.

Shareholders want dividends every quarter so that is the bottom line. I work for GM and I will never buy another GM product ever again. My Bronco is the first Ford I have ever owned. If I buy another vehicle it will probably be another Ford.

 

[WyoBronc]

I understand your perspective — the special order customer with a prior loyalty to the OEM, now in tatters.

Do you understand the perspective of the OEM?

“The automotive industry is a stellar example of the cost of downtime. It’s estimated that 1 minute of downtime costs automotive manufacturers $22,000 or $1.3 million per hour. Some estimates ran as high as $50,000 per minute.”​

​

Troubleshooting Thursday | True Cost of Factory Downtime: How Downtime Affects Productivity​

​

The $150,000 that you have spent on Ford vehicles in the last year could be consumed in approximately 3-5 minutes of production downtime. Costs like that can fund a lot of future marketing and customer acquisition costs to replace your prior brand loyalty.

Right now, Ford is attempting to satisfy its wholesale customers, the independent franchise dealers, under very difficult supply-chain constraints affecting a hot, new product with almost insatiable demand. Neither you nor I are Ford’s primary customers. You and I are the end users of their products. If you or I go away, other end users will quickly step up to purchase what would have otherwise been our special-ordered vehicles.

Please don’t take it personally, because the corporation certainly doesn’t. Its primary purpose is to deliver a return for its shareholders, not to suboptimize production costs to the tune of millions of dollars per hour to placate its end users’ production preferences. At the end of the day, Ford’s primary customers, the franchise dealers, will still be there if you or I go away, and they will still sell the vehicles that you or I walk away from.

How about this…..let’s give you a first 10 minute day 1 reservation and a #1 dealership allocation. Then let’s take a year and a half to build it, then once it’s built it can sit in a parking lot for another 1/2 year while broncos built months after fly off the shelves. Then I’ll send you a condescending story on the cost of labor. Then let’s see if you don’t tell me to go fuck myself.
I have an emotional attachment to seeing this vehicle built that involves the loss of my Son while waiting, so I won’t walk away. I won’t buy another.

 

[WyoBronc]

Shareholders want dividends every quarter so that is the bottom line. I work for GM and I will never buy another GM product ever again. My Bronco is the first Ford I have ever owned. If I buy another vehicle it will probably be another Ford.

I suppose as a customer I should just view everything through the prism of the shareholder and disregard my own experience? Oh, okay.

 

[HeyItsABronco]

I’ve said it before in other posts, that Ford is playing a shell game with us with the end goal of keeping their stock price and investors happy. It’s actually down 28% year to date, in spite of all their gamesmanship/deceptions and at this point, I couldn’t care less about how far it tanks.

They really couldn’t care less about Dirt Mountain, and their own account here appears to be trolling our frustrations with their congratulatory posts on the few that actually are being delivered.

In the last 6 years, we have bought 5 new Fords and this Bronco mess will likely be our LAST Ford purchase if/when it does deliver.

 

[TheMostToysWins]

Perhaps if half of the 10,000 or so people that were treated as nothing more than lubricant to keep the machinery running instead of current and future customers decide to never buy another Ford and turn their families into GM customers……well, then I hope the short term profits of that decision is worth it. Companies would be better served looking at the big picture and building generations of loyal customers rather than short term financial profits and decisions made out of convenience and expedience.
But, what do I know? I’m just a lifelong Ford guy that will have spent over $150k since March of 2021 on Fords that will never, ever buy another one after this experience.

Amen.

 

[gryphon1231]

@ fordmotorcompany Please help me understand the logic behind buliding and shipping Broncos every day ( over 14,000 in march) while mine and 1000’s of others sit for MONTHS waiting for chips. Chips that aren’t an issue for the assembly line to continue. All without any explination or what the plan is. This is unacceptable from a consumer standpoint. I’m angry.

Because they want to keep the assembly line moving. Once Broncos come off the assembly finished or unfinished they are simply less of a priority for Ford.

 

[irishdore]

How about this…..let’s give you a first 10 minute day 1 reservation and a #1 dealership allocation. Then let’s take a year and a half to build it, then once it’s built it can sit in a parking lot for another 1/2 year while broncos built months after fly off the shelves. Then I’ll send you a condescending story on the cost of labor. Then let’s see if you don’t tell me to go fuck myself.
I have an emotional attachment to seeing this vehicle built that involves the loss of my Son while waiting, so I won’t walk away. I won’t buy another.

I suppose as a customer I should just view everything through the prism of the shareholder and disregard my own experience? Oh, okay.

Unfortunately, yes. That is the way of the world in 2022 and has been for quite some time. That is how it works. You, Razorbak, shoelessjoe, and me are all just cogs in a very large wheel. We are all replaceable. It's a very simple Cost Benefit Analysis - quite literally a business 101 class or even high school level course on profits and loss.

I am sorry for your loss. I continue to wait as you continue to wait. I will not stop waiting. But you have to understand that Ford is not going to behave in the manner you seek and neither will any other large or profitable business.

 

[prospectfour]

Dont be mad. Your bronco is at least built. Others are still waiting for an in production email after nearly 2 years since reservation (635 days for me)

It's irrelevant who's been given the worse experience. Ford screwed the pooch on both of your orders and should be giving a better explanation in both instances.

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