Ford Motor Co.'s brands had the largest year-over-year decline in initial quality, led by Lincoln with 208 problems per 100 vehicles, 41 more than last year. Ford had 201 problems per 100 vehicles, up 34, according to J.D. Powers.
This is a direct result of a Quality management problem. Worst part is that this Quality Management team doesn’t even know how to properly engage Engineering Management at the stress points that have so been negatively impacting Quality since the Quality Management reorg of 2020.
JH was hired away from JDP - a real arrogant non performer that doesn’t know how to fix Quality for Ford. This guy distances himself from the working level and never once pulled any of the people that actually delivered real projects and Quality to see what is working or needs improvement. It is unfortunate that so many good experienced people that brought Ford to the top of Quality left last year so the “how to fix Quality” experience is really gone. These old school Quality Professionals ran high mileage and black projects with engineering chief support and delivered Quality results impacting multiple programs. They also used sophisticated competitive benchmarking and forecasting to setup high leverage projects for successful forward model implementation - found issues, ensured the fix worked, and implemented across all future programs to positively progress Quality. Ford was tops in Quality in almost segments during this time.
This current management has setup a system that gives no accountability to the functional Chiefs to deliver Quality. These Quality leaders are so afraid of properly engaging engineering to help them with their product and process shortfalls - they will not dare lay it on the line for a chief that has degraded Quality on a program or functional chiefs that implemented their own flawed Quality process as an enabler to get cost reductions through easier. The current Quality leadership is planning nothing more than tracking/checking/audits of a process that is letting customers down. It seems as though Management has no clue how to prioritize and fix what matters to the customer. The needed follow up that the fixes are working and prevented on future programs is poor and never discussed at Management level. Quality people are not even involved in the numerous Quality related cost reductions that get through until after the changes have been approved. No shared objectives between Quality and Engineering at the working level allows for a lot of finger pointing and no ownership for Quality.
Ford need some accountability for Quality and needs to cut these deadwood clueless Chiefs that have allowed Quality to degrade so badly. Get some Chiefs that engage and manage actual projects instead of reacting to meaningless R/Y/G audits.