https://fordauthority.com/2022/11/ford-ceo-jim-farley-says-mistakes-led-to-chip-shortage/
So why isn't the supply chain management being replaced? GM & Toyota don't seem to have this issue to the same degree as Ford.
7 replies (most recent on top)
The red tape and outdated processes in Purchasing are mind boggling. Ford makes it so difficult on the suppliers and takes forever to pay them, if they ever do. I was told to fight every Covid related price increase that suppliers asked for. Lots of last minute scrambling to avoid stop ships with premium freight when suppliers finally stood up to Ford. It was so depressing seeing how Ford treats their "partners", but now I see they treat their own employees worse.
When a company abuses their supply base, they adopt an ABF posture.
Anybody But Ford.
As stated before, you reap what you sow.
Wait a minute didn’t Farley hire Annie Liu to fix this problem? Why is he still babbling (fibbing) about this? And furthermore why is it not resolved? After all Farley claimed she was an expert in supply chains and would quickly solve all Ford’s problems.
Precious Lisa Drake was VP of purchasing so how could we possibly have any supply or suppliers issues? Lisa is incompetent but very likable. It's her fault but she will never get blamed.
@OP Farley is lying (again). The "chip crisis" is not due to a "lack of communication", but to a BAD decision from Ford's management. Fearing a low demand of vehicles in early 2020, Ford rushed to cancel the chips orders and they rushed because there were already pushing cost cutting measures across the company.
At the same time that car manufacturers were cancelling their orders, computer manufacturers were doubling their orders. Now, all those chipmaker companies that had their orders terminated, had to update their matrixes and production lines for the newer chipsets, which ended yielding a better profit.
Of course, those chip manufacturers are not going to spend money going back to older designs with less profits just to help Ford. Unless demand for computer and electronic goods chipsets goes down, forcing the chipmakers to look for new (or old) clients, the best option for FMC is to start using the newest chipsets in their cars, like Tesla does.
Instead, Farley has been pushing for the US government pays for new chipmaking facilities with the older designs. Talk about crazy, eh? Well, crazier than asking the US government to help a private company, is the government complying to the request.
So in short, someone at Ford thought of getting a good bonus for being so earnest in cancelling the chips orders. Chipmakers found a better client, and Ford has been crying a river since then, instead of updating their designs (I am talking a whole overhaul, not just a couple of tweaking as Ford is doing today). Now the taxpayers are on the hook for a mistake that some big shot at Ford did, probably still at the same position, still making a salary over 95% of the Americans. What a F...up!
So when is he resigning? Or will he be taking poor performer sessions?
That's what happens when you use the "Just In Time" method for parts. Ford was so proud to use this method to "save money" never realizing it would eventually come back to bite them.