Jul 27 2005
When Karl-Josef Kasch first started at the Ford Saarlouis plant, it was just beginning, too. The production supervisor of the press shop has seen a lot of changes since the plant first began production in 1970.
"Production was much harder than nowadays, there was more manual work," said Kasch, 56. "All the transfer presses that we use today weren't known. Let me say that it has been an industrial revolution."
For 35 years, the Saarlouis plant has played an important production role for Ford of Europe. It recently celebrated building its 10 millionth vehicle, a tonic blue, 1.6-litre Ford Focus wagon.
The Focus was a fitting tribute to the plant's production milestone, being the top-selling product in Europe, as well as one of the best-selling vehicles around the world.
Top-selling vehicles like the Focus and others have helped the plant reach this success since it began production in the German state of Saarland in 1970.
The Saarlouis plant began making the new Ford Focus in 1998. It became Ford of Europe's lead production facility for the Focus, operating three shifts. By 2004, together with its sister plant in Valencia, Spain, it had made 3 million of them. So far, Saarlouis alone has made a total of more than 2.3 million Focus vehicles.
Another big-seller, the Ford Escort, put plant production in high gear between 1970 and 1998. Its 5 millionth vehicle was made by 1990. Along the way, Saarlouis also made the Ford Capri, Fiesta and the Orion.
"Ford's Saarlouis plant is one of the most productive automotive plants all over Europe," said Albert Lidauer, executive director, Vehicle Operations, Ford of Europe. "But we really have to fight for this position every day."
When the plant first started, it produced about 600 cars a day, said Kasch; now, the production level is three times that with the same number of workers.
The Saarlouis plant is one of Ford's most efficient in Europe, operating at 100 percent capacity. Producing vehicles on three shifts at a rate of 1,810 a day, there were 370,801 vehicles made in Saarlouis last year alone.
Over the years, that adds up to a lot of vehicles -- and even more bumpers (20 million) and wheels (50 million). In fact, the 4 million-plus tons of steel used in manufacturing since the plant's opening could have built 548 Eiffel towers; the 45 million kilometers of wiring in these vehicles would wind around the earth 1,125 times.
Because of its role as the lead Ford Focus plant, Saarlouis is also home to the vehicle's launch team -- a group of 250 engineers and specialists responsible for planning and designing all aspects of production long before the first vehicles come off the line.
Ford has invested approximately $3.6 billion to expand and modernize Saarlouis since 1966. The plant and related investments over the years have created an estimated 25,000 new jobs in the surrounding region in retail, trade and supplier sectors. The plant itself employs 6,800 people with an additional 1,800 workers employed at suppliers in the adjacent industrial park.
"Saarlouis has 35 years of experience delivering great products to our customers around the world," said Lidauer. "To have built 10 million cars is an historic achievement and a significant contribution toward rebuilding the success of Ford of Europe."
http://www.ford.com