Automotive company Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa (FMCSA) has realised several milestones at its Struandale engine plant, in Gqeberha, through a focus on efficiency, a people-centred culture and innovation.

The plant has also enjoyed considerable success since the R600-milllion investment to produce engines for the new Ranger in 2021.

This was highlighted during a media tour of the plant on September 12.

The city is where FMCSA was founded in 1923. Forty-one years later, Henry Ford II officially opened the Struandale engine plant in 1964, which has produced 11 different engine types since its inception.

This has culminated in the plant reaching a milestone of four-milllion engines produced at the end of August – a two-litre four-cylinder Bi-Turbo diesel engine that will be installed in a new Ranger bakkie (pickup) at Ford’s Silverton assembly plant, in Pretoria.

The Ranger is produced for domestic sales, and exports to more than 100 global markets, with an installed capacity to produce up to 200 000 vehicles a year.

“We have an installed capacity for producing 720 vehicles a day, running on three shifts to meet the global demand for the Ranger, but we already exceeded that target twice in August this year, with peaks of 736 and 737 vehicles.

“This is not only the highest production we’ve achieved for the Silverton assembly plant, but is a record for the South African motor industry. And, with all the engines used in our locally assembled Ranger coming from Struandale, it’s a major achievement for both of our plants,” Ford South Africa operations VP Ockert Berry pointed out.

Another milestone for Struandale was reaching production of 300 000 two-litre Single Turbo/Bi-Turbo (SiT/BiT) diesel engines since this programme was launched in 2018.

Struandale also produces the 2.2 litre and 3.2 litre Duratorq TDCi engines that were introduced in 2011, as well as the new 3.0L V6 diesel engine that powers the models in the new Ranger line-up, with production starting in 2022 following the R600-million investment.  

Therefore, 2022 marked the first time the plant was running three engine programmes concurrently – the 2.2L/3.2L Duratorq TDCI; the 2.0L SiT/BiT; and the 3.0L V6 diesel engines.

Struandale engine plant manager Shawn Govender highlighted that the plant had a flexible production format to enable assembly of the Duratorq TDCi and 3.0L V6 diesel engines on the same line, making this the only Ford plant in the world to produce both in-line and V-configuration engines, as well as a combination of four-, five- and six-cylinder engines on a single line.

“The combined assembly line was essential to make optimal use of our facilities and contain the total investment required, and to ensure that we are competitive from a cost-per-unit perspective,” Govender outlined.

Relying on a flexible production format, with scheduled batches of the two different engine programmes being assembled, the line incorporates 40 stations that are common to both platforms and a further 25 stations that are unique to the 3.0L V6 Diesel. The total installed capacity for this line is 130 000 engines a year.

Moreover, it is designed to allow for capacity changes on both engines to support future demand from the Silverton plant, with Govender highlighting that it is currently only running at about 85% capacity.

In addition to assembling the 3.0L V6 diesel engine, Struandale machines the cylinder heads for this engine. For the Duratorq TDCi engines, the cylinder head, cylinder block and crankshaft are also machined on site.

The 2.0L SiT/BiT engine assembly line has an installed capacity of 120 000 units a year, resulting in a total capacity of up to 250 000 engines a year for Struandale.

In 2018, the plant became the global source for all Duratorq TDCi machined components.

Another notable milestone was reaching production of 500 000 Duratorq TDCi engines in 2017.

As alluded to, the company is also pursuing innovation at the plant, and one such tool that has played a role in facilitating efficiency at the plant is a continuous performance monitoring system for equipment at the plant.

Showcasing this to Engineering News during the visit, the publication was told that this system continually and automatically monitored machines, uploading this data to the technology portal where the line manager could be notified about issues on the equipment, thereby assisting them with doing their jobs.

It was highlighted that this had led to fewer breakdowns in equipment, as it allowed for maintenance to be undertaken proactively rather than reactively, as was the case prior to the system being implemented at the start of this year after it was designed in conjunction with the Indian plant counterparts.

The company will explore expanding this to other operations based on this success. It is also pursuing other innovations.

Also mentioned on the day was the fact that, last year, the Struandale engine plant won the overall 2022 Exporter of the Year title and the Best Exporter original-equipment manufacturer award from Exporters Eastern Cape.

Berry emphasised that the company had invested in efficient, error-proof systems, with technology on par with or exceeding global operations; as well as in ensuring a quality working environment for workers, which included upgrades to canteens and facilities. Struandale currently employs about 850 people.

Govender added that the company was focused on job creation and supporting the surrounding communities with skills development and training through its extensive learnership, apprenticeship and experiential trainee programmes, and providing upliftment and empowerment opportunities through corporate social responsibility programmes.

The latter includes disaster relief and school upgrades after extensive flooding in Komani; and a rally to read programme in Nelson Mandela Bay.

There is also a global effort to bolster involvement in motorsport, with Ford Performance set to compete in next year’s Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia on a “finish and learn” basis.

SUSTAINABILITY

The site visit was followed by a tour of non-profit the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds' (SANCCOB's) centre in Gqeberha, which, along with its second centre in Cape Town, receives support from the Ford Wildlife Foundation.

SANCCOB rescues and rehabilitates sick, injured and oiled seabirds.

Over the past two years, the Foundation has donated R100 000 to SANCCOB’s Save the African Penguin project to support the rescue and rehabilitation of penguin populations on St Croix and Bird islands in Algoa Bay, and has also provided vehicles to both centres.

SANCCOB Gqeberha Centre manager Carl Havemann lauded the support received thus far from the foundation, saying it had assisted in fulfilling the daily operations at the centre, which were costly, owing to food, medicine and other costs, enabling the centre to increase the number of birds it treated, as well as to conduct rescues.