Ford Wins Progressive Manufacturing Operational Excellence Award for Wireless Software Installation on the Assembly Line

• Ford accepts Operational Excellence Award from Progressive Manufacturing (PM) for assembly line Wi-Fi® provisioning for delivery of Ford SYNC® software to Wi-Fi-enabled MyFord Touch™-equipped vehicles
• To date, the wireless Ford software delivery method, which was developed to reduce manufacturing complexity, improve quality and save costs on a global scale, has delivered 13 distinct software releases to more than 213,000 vehicles with a 100 percent delivery success rate since implementation started in mid-2010
• Ford vehicle assembly plants in Oakville, Ontario (home of Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX), Chicago (home of Ford Explorer) and Wayne, Mich., (home of Ford Focus) are currently running the on-the-line Wi-Fi software delivery capability

VIDEO: WiFi Software Delivery Process at Oakville Assembly Plant

DEARBORN, Mich., June 7, 2011 – Ford has been honored by Progressive Manufacturing (PM) for its industry-first use of Wi-Fi® provisioning to deliver Ford SYNC® software wirelessly to vehicles equipped with MyFord Touch™ driver connect technology as they are being built.

The new on-the-assembly-line Wi-Fi capability took home an Operational Excellence Award during the 2011 PM100 Award program in May, with Ford joining an elite group of diverse manufacturers in the Operational Excellence category, including Lockheed Martin and Chevron.

“We are pleased that one of our latest innovative manufacturing techniques has been recognized by Progressive Manufacturing,” said Linda Cash, director, Vehicle Operations Manufacturing Engineering. “Wi-Fi installation for complex, software-intensive systems such as Ford SYNC and MyFord Touch makes rapid globalization – with the highest quality and most efficient, cost-effective processes – a reality for Ford today.”

The distinguished PM100 Award program honors manufacturers that have transformed themselves through the use of information technology, recognizing work that delivers competitive advantages and demonstrates a company’s mastery within at least one of eight core disciplines. Those disciplines are Operational Excellence, Customer Mastery, Innovation Mastery, Data and Integration Mastery, Training and Education Mastery, Business Model Mastery, Supply Network Mastery and Leadership.

Ford has been methodically transforming its manufacturing operations based on a nimble, flexible, technologically advanced model that uses reprogrammable tooling in body shops, standardized equipment in paint shops and a common-build sequence in final assembly, enabling production of multiple models in one plant.

By 2012, 100 percent of Ford North American assembly plants, for example, will have some degree of flexibility embedded in their daily operation. Currently, Michigan Assembly Plant, home of the Ford Focus and one of the plants using Wi-Fi provisioning, is the most flexible Ford facility in the world.

Global tailor
Using the Wi-Fi provisioning, Ford can store many different SYNC configurations for global market-specific features, such as languages and services, as software on a computer server and wirelessly install it on a common, basic SYNC hardware module via access points set up on an assembly line.

This innovative software delivery technique eliminates the need for building, stocking and storing multiple SYNC hardware modules to address the globally diverse Ford vehicle platforms, thus reducing manufacturing complexity, improving quality and saving cost.

“As we began developing different levels of MyFord Touch driver connect technology, we initially proposed unique SYNC software modules for each possible vehicle configuration – resulting in more than 90 individual parts numbers,” explained Tim Geiger, a Ford SYNC architecture engineering manager and manager of Global Client and Security Engineering. “Using wireless software installation via Wi-Fi gives us the ability to stock just one type of module loaded with a basic software package that can be easily modified for individual markets and as system updates occur.”

Wi-Fi provisioning, for example, will allow Ford to easily tailor SYNC software for the globally manufactured Focus, built on three different continents. Next year, SYNC launches on Focus in Europe, followed by introduction in the Asia Pacific markets. Each region will have customized SYNC software wirelessly delivered to Focus vehicles as they are built on the assembly line.

To date, Ford is using Wi-Fi provisioning at Michigan Assembly as well as at the Oakville, Ontario, assembly plant where Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX are built, and at Chicago Assembly, home of Ford Explorer. Several other assembly plants around the world are also being equipped with the technology.

Since its initial plant implementation, the wireless on-the-line method has delivered 13 distinct software releases to more than 213,000 vehicles and is achieving a flawless success rate.

“We have had a 100 percent success rate with the line provisioning for SYNC-equipped vehicles,” said Geiger. “We have also been able to quickly deliver and provision newly built vehicles with new functionality, service packs and updates as well as reprovision existing vehicles with updates that have not yet left the plant.”

For more information about the 2011 PM100 Awards, please visit www.managingautomation.com.

More information on Ford’s winning Wi-Fi provisioning technology can be found at: media.ford.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=33153

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About Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company, a global automotive industry leader based in Dearborn, Mich., manufactures or distributes automobiles across six continents. With about 166,000 employees and about 70 plants worldwide, the company's automotive brands include Ford and Lincoln. The company provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company. For more information regarding Ford's products, please visit www.ford.com.