Ford to Increase F-Series Capacity at Kentucky Truck Plant, Adding About 1,000 Jobs
24 October 1997
Ford to Increase F-Series Capacity at Kentucky Truck Plant, Adding About 1,000 Jobs
LOUISVILLE, Ky., Oct. 24 -- Ford Motor Company will
add a third production crew at its Kentucky Truck Plant (KTP) in Louisville
during the first half of 1998 to support increased production.
The third crew will require the addition of about 1,000 people to support
increased production of the new F-Series line of commercial trucks rated at
over 8,500 pounds Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW). Most of the people needed to
support "three crew" will be drawn from other Ford plants around the country.
The first wave of employees, about 640 people, are moving from the company's
Lorain Assembly Plant in Ohio.
"We believe this is a win-win situation for employees affected by our
recent product decisions," said Jac Nasser, president, Ford Automotive
Operations. "This increase in production at KTP provides the opportunity to
put highly skilled production employees to work assembling our latest F-Series
models."
"We've had a very positive experience building vehicles on a three-crew
basis at our Michigan Truck Plant since 1995, and we've learned valuable
lessons there which we'll apply at KTP," said Frank Foley, Kentucky Truck's
new plant manager.
Frank Foley, as manager of the Michigan Truck Plant in Wayne, Mich.,
launched the three-crew operating system there in Feb. 1995. Kentucky Truck
becomes only the second Ford assembly plant to operate on a three-crew basis,
Foley was appointed plant manager of Kentucky Truck Oct. 13.
Production of the new vehicles is scheduled to begin January 1998. When
the third crew is launched a few months later, the plant will go to a 120
hour-per-week operating pattern with two 10 hour shifts Monday through Friday
and single 10 hour shifts on Saturday and Sunday.
Ford also will redeploy Kentucky Truck employees affected by the sale of
Ford's heavy truck business to Freightliner Corporation on the three-crew
operating pattern. The company will discontinue production of heavy trucks in
mid-December and transfer production equipment to Freightliner's plant at St.
Thomas, Ontario.
Ford will transfer production of Class 6 and 7 medium duty trucks from KTP
to the Cuautitlan Assembly Plant in Mexico, where production will begin in
March. The Cuautitlan Assembly Plant near Mexico City now produces other
F-Series trucks, and Ford Contour and Mercury Mystique sedans, which will
continue.
To prepare KTP for the new F-Series models, there has been a major
expansion to the body shop. Provisions have also been made to assemble doors,
fenders and quarter panels at KTP. As a result, the plant has been expanded
by more than 130,000 square feet -- to 4.73 million square feet.
Employees at KTP built 204,930 F-Series trucks in 1996 and 47,947 medium
and heavy trucks. The Kentucky Truck Plant opened in 1969 and currently
employs 4,285 women and men.
SOURCE Ford Motor Company
