More than a century after Henry Ford founded the company, his environmental spirit still guides the decisions we make in designing our manufacturing processes and plants.
The Ford Rouge Complex
From 1917 to 1925, Henry Ford built a revolutionary manufacturing complex on the banks of the Rouge River in Dearborn, Michigan. A marvel of modern engineering, the Rouge complex turned raw materials into completed automobiles at one site. Ford's "vertically integrated" approach became respected as the manufacturing model for the first industrial revolution.
At its peak in the mid-1930s, the Rouge employed 100,000 workers. The storied history of the complex is filled with drama, including the beginnings of unionization, great successes, tragic losses, an era of decline due to increased network manufacturing processes, and now, a time of rebirth.
Ford Unveils a Revolutionary Plan
In 1999, Bill Ford Jr., then Ford Motor Company Chairman of the Board, proposed to overhaul the entire Rouge complex. Re-establishing the environmental spirit his great-grandfather Henry had instilled in the company, Bill Ford set out to "lay the groundwork to transform a 20th-century industrial icon into a model of 21st-century sustainable manufacturing." Construction began on the new project in November 2000.
An All-New Rouge from the Ground Up
To turn the $2 billion project into reality, we assembled a dream team of environmental, development and manufacturing specialists and recruited noted sustainability architect William McDonough. Their redevelopment plan incorporated a number of lean manufacturing and environmental features to make the Rouge complex a healthy, productive, supportive work environment.
The Factory of the Future
The new assembly plant features world-class flexibility, with assembly lines capable of handling three different vehicle platforms and nine different models. Finished vehicle storage space has been reduced by 50 percent inside and outside the plant, since 90 percent of the vehicles produced are shipped the same day.
Advanced environmental concepts applied and tested at the complex include the following:
- Living roof: The world's largest ecologically inspired living roof—about 500,000 square feet—dramatically affects the Rouge-area watershed by holding several inches of rainfall
- Phytoremediation: The use of natural plants throughout the grounds rids soil of contaminants
- Swales: Shallow green ditches seeded with indigenous plants improve storm-water management
- Storm-water management: Porous paving filters water through retention beds with two to three feet of compacted stones, helping manage storm-water runoff
- Green exterior: Trellises for flowering vines and other plants shade and help cool the Rouge Office Building and the new truck plant
- Renewable energy: Solar cells and fuel cells provide sources of renewable energy
- Wildlife habitats: More than 1,500 trees and thousands of other plantings attract songbirds and create habitats
