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New Technology Saves Time and Money at Ford Courtesy of Ford Motor Company
New Technology Saves Time and Money at Ford

By Ellen Akins

DEARBORN, March 29, 2005 (FCN) -- Better air
quality in the plants and less noise are just two of
the benefits employees will realize as North
American plants switch from combustion engine
forklifts and tow motors to all electrically powered
vehicles. Other advantages of the change include
space savings in the plants and an estimated $5
million savings to the company's bottom line each
year said Roger Tenney, manager, Industrial
Vehicle Strategy and Engineering.

We've been working on trying to reduce the
number of combustion engine vehicles in our plants
for a number of years, said Tenney. But we had to
put a hold on the process until technology caught up
with our needs.

For years, the vehicles used to move materials
within the plants were either powered by propane or
batteries. Those running on batteries were charged
at central locations called battery rooms in each
facility. When employees noticed the battery getting
low on their vehicles, they would drive to the
battery rooms for charging, often disrupting their
work. They would have to physically replace the
dead battery with a fully charged one or, in the
most extreme cases, wait up to eight hours for the
battery to be charged.

With new technology provided by PosiCharge�, the
leading provider of fast charge battery systems,
battery stations have been set up in natural work
areas, eliminating the need for constant trips back
and forth to a battery room. On lunch breaks or
when workers have a few minutes of down time
during their shift, they can drive a few feet to a
battery station right in their immediate work cell and
top off the charge of the battery. The results are a
75 percent reduction in the total charging time
required during a typical day. Because the batteries
no longer need to be exchanged, it also is possible
to reduce the number of batteries purchased per
vehicle.

During a single shift, forklift and tow motor drivers
were traveling 26 miles back and forth to the battery
rooms. That non-value added work is eliminated
with the fast charge battery systems, said Tenney.
Tenney said the schedule is to begin installing
charging stations at key sites around each plant,
and discontinue traditional battery rooms by the end





Courtesy of Ford Motor Company
of summer in 2006.

The Dearborn Truck Plant has 100 fast charge
stations. A typical plant will have between 85 and
125 fast charge stations replacing the centralized
battery rooms, said Tenney. Supporting all the
industrial vehicles in each plant in their natural work
cells is a key benefit of this program.

There are other benefits to the fast-charge battery
technology.

"The need for industrial truck batteries is also being
significantly reduced which contributes to our
environmental friendliness criteria," said Roman
Krygier, group vice president, Global Manufacturing.
"It used to take 2.5 batteries to do the job that one
fast-charged battery can handle. This reflects a 60
percent battery reduction."

North American vehicle operations plants will switch
from all combustion-engine forklifts to electric-run
vehicles by years end. All tow motor vehicles will be
electrically run by the end of 2006. Tenney said
there have been discussions about replicating the
technology in Ford of Europe plants and facilities in
Asia Pacific markets after the North America roll out
is closer to completion.

Note: reprinted with permission of Ford Motor
Company