The Ford Silverton plant
Ford South Africa (Ford SA) is steadily improving built quality at its Silverton plant and it aims to achieve less than ten warranty repairs per 1 000 Ranger bakkies as a yearly average by the end of 2022, says Ford SA quality director Kevin Heunis.
This number is seen as the holy grail within the Ford global production system.
If such repairs eventuate, they typically happen in the first 12 months after the vehicle has been sold.
In May 2019, Ford SA recorded 34.71 repairs per 1 000 Rangers, with June of this year seeing a significant improvement to 4.88 repairs.
“This was pretty much our best point ever,” says Heunis. “But that is one month’s data. In the 2021 model year – from June to June – we finished at 84 repairs per 1 000, with our lowest monthly point then at 4.88.”
This is a massive improvement from the period between 2008 and 2010, when Ford SA was at just over 400 repairs per 1 000 Rangers.
“This was prior to transformation and the implementation of a new Ford production system worldwide, where the source of each warranty claim is tracked to the factory floor,” says Heunis.
“We believe we are definitely on the right track.
“We are currently holistically sitting at 84 repairs per 1 000 for the current Ranger, down from 400-plus.”
The current Ranger has another year left in its model lifecycle, before production of the new Ranger starts at the Silverton plant, in Pretoria.
“Everything we learnt in the old Ranger we’ll replicate in the new Ranger,” says Heunis.
“Hopefully the new Ranger will start at a much lower base. The message is that we are on the right track.”
Heunis says the Silverton plant is being transformed to be a cut-and-paste version of the Thailand plant, which is operating at less than ten warranty repairs per 1 000 vehicles.
The best plant in the global Ford network is operating at two repairs, but this is not a Ranger plant.
“With the new Ranger, we are aiming for less than ten repairs per 1 000, and we have to be there by the end of 2022,” says Heunis.
He adds it is important to achieve this number as Ford SA must be a competitive operation within the US car maker’s production network.
“We are supplying a large majority of our vehicles into Europe. Thailand is knocking on the door to get into Europe.”
The current 84 repairs per 1 000 vehicles at the Silverton plant places the operation in the mid-range of all global Ford plants in terms of quality.