TÜV SÜD America Awarded 12-Month Ford Contract
TÜV SÜD America Awarded 12-Month Ford Contract
TÜV SÜD America was recently awarded a 12-month contract to support Ford Motor Company's Vehicle Operations at various assembly plants in the NAFTA region. These contracts are known as the Transportable Environmental Four Poster (TEFP) and the Transportable Ambient Four Poster (TAFP). We are responsible for the staffing, management, maintenance, and operation of these sophisticated portable systems. The primary function of these systems is to identify and resolve any Squeak and Rattle (S&R) concerns prior to public release. In this role, our technicians function as the lead auditors for the S&R attribute on all new product launches for Ford Motor Company.
As an independent auditing partner, TÜV SÜD provides a highly credible service to both Manufacturing and Product Development in their work to improve both the assembly processes and inherent NVH characteristics of the design. Demonstrating the flexibility of these environmental testing systems, the TÜV SÜD team also works with other Ford engineering teams to evaluate engine cold starts, electrical robustness, and fit-and-finish issues related to drastic environmental conditions (-40 to 140F).
The work includes managing the four purpose-built portable testing systems that are owned by Ford. The TEFP / TAFP systems are staffed with TÜV SÜD technical specialists, with a Program Manager to oversee the operations. Our staff performs maintenance, vehicle scheduling, S&R evaluations and other performance testing. Reporting of identified concerns is handled in concert with the responsible Ford Forward Model S&R Engineer, in conjunction with Design Engineering and Suppliers. The output of this team significantly reduces Ford's warranty cost and improves customers' initial satisfaction as indicated in J.D. Powers® and other surveys.
In addition to the TEFP contract, Ford Motor Company has awarded multiple contracts for On-Road Testing. The contracts were awarded to the On-Site Group. The initial concept of On-Road Testing was developed to identify those S&R concerns that are not found through regular in-plant quality checks. Through a combination of public road driving and Ford test track work, up to one third more potential customer concerns can be identified. These S&R concerns are reviewed daily with the respective Plant Vehicle Teams in order to determine what course of corrective action is warranted. In other cases, where Ford has requested specific On-Site support of a given assembly plant's S&R Variability Reduction Team, TÜV SÜD has provided veteran S&R technical staff to partner with the Plant Vehicle Teams in implementing their quality improvement plans. The On-Site Group has provided these services to Ford since August of 2006 with impressive results, in terms of the product quality improvements achieved by this strategic partnership. Current and past On-Site contracts have been supported for these programs: Mustang, Mazda 6, Edge, MKX, Taurus/Sable, and MKS.
Program Manager, Steve Miaskowski said, "It takes a unique and dedicated individual to work far from home, on a 24/7 - on-call basis. Team members spend the majority of their time on the road working out of these test systems. Due to the importance of this work, Ford expects the facilities to be highly utilized with minimal downtime." The systems are portable and move to where Ford is doing new launches or needs additional testing capacity. We can tear down and reassemble at a new assembly plant over a long weekend. It is a grueling pace for our team as the staff will work three weeks on-site and then have one extended weekend off to visit home.
The TEFP / TAFP tests vehicles from their early prototype stage through initial production runs (Job 1) and beyond. Recently, our teams have been located in Oakville, Canada, Dearborn, Michigan, Chicago, Illinois, and Hermosillo, Mexico with future locations at Louisville, Kentucky and Cuatitlan, Mexico. Vehicle programs include the Ford 2010 Mustang, Lincoln 2010 MKT, 2010 Fusion / Milan / MKZ, 2010 Taurus/Sable, 2010 F-Series Heavy Duty Truck, and the all new 2010 Fiesta slated for North America.
Media Relations: Frank Volk
