The Blue Oval is investing $4 billion in the Louisville operation to rewrite the book on automotive manufacturing.
In 1908, the Ford Motor Company introduce the Model T, the first truly affordable, mass-produced automobile in history. Ford’s assembly line techniques were so advanced for the time that the Ford production system and management strategy was called “Fordism” and was regarded as the future of all manufacturing.
Today, the Ford Motor Company is attempting to do it again, with a major project to rework the massive Louisville Assembly complex into a paragon of modern automotive manufacturing, replacing the traditional linear assembly lines with a root-and-branch structure that will involve discrete assembly of major modules, based on large-format aluminum die castings. The goal is to create a $30,000 midsize electric pickup, a wide-open market that is currently unexploited.
The automotive industry is watching, and if successful, the project could give Ford a significant advantage in the transition to electric vehicles.
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