Sounds like a paid announcement on WTAM in Cleveland. Ford announces that production of the Villager/Quest is cancelled for next week, starting January 10. Production will resume on the 18th. Employees are to report at their regular time then. Don't know if this is a Y2K problem, but it seems odd to shut it down for a week on the spur of the moment. Any other information from the Cleveland area?

-- cmd0903 (cmd0903@dontcall.com), January 07, 2000

Answers

I heard it was "too much inventory".

-- Uncle Bob (UNCLB0B@AOL.COM), January 07, 2000.

If I had to venture a guess it's because the truck won't make it on time with the parts. Perhaps the driver has the flu and they couldn't find someone to cover his route for him.

-- Former Trucker (flyindown@the.highway), January 07, 2000.

Uncle Bob, Did you hear from someone who works at Ford? Sounds like the same this Saturn said earlier, but this is NOT the Saturn plant.

-- cmd0903 (cmd0903@dontcall.com), January 07, 2000.

LOL

Kind of falls in line with the two Saturn plant closings this week don't it (further down in the threads). I wonder how many of the robotic tools down on the floor need attention..Remember now! "We don't know that it is that's gone wrong! But she ain't y2K!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Shakey~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-- Shakey (in_a_bunker@forty.feet), January 07, 2000.

Uuhhhgggg....inventory baaaaaaaad.......JIT guuuuuuuuuuud!

FrankenKook

-- Y2Kook (Y2Kook@usa.net), January 07, 2000.

Ford has been having Y2K problems all week. This is just the tip of the iceberg. It will get much worse from here.

-- (aeo@notrel.org), January 07, 2000.

aeo, can you share more?

Thanks,

Mike

======================================================================

-- Mike Taylor (mtdesign3@aol.com), January 07, 2000.

I heard the announcement yesterday on WTAM. I just called my uncle who has worked there for 29 years, he said "some kind of computer problems, but I wasn't told what". FWIW

-- Powder (Powder47keg@aol.com), January 07, 2000.

Does anyone have a link to the discussion of the GM or GMC plant that rolled the clocks forward back in '98 to test? Ed, was this noted in the 1st TB? If I recall correctly, everything came to a grinding halt and one of their spokemen said something along the lines of "catastrophic," but then recanted.

-- Lisa (lisadawn@yahoo.com), January 07, 2000.

Probably overproduction folks. We have a distribution yard near my location that was built for 1600 vehicles. Now 2000 on hand awaiting delivery.

-- Tommy Rogers (Been there@Just a Thought.com), January 07, 2000.

aeo:

Care to enlighten us all a bit about the problems with some reference URLs?

Thanks.

-- Interested Spectator (is@the_ring.side), January 07, 2000.

Just a thought. If it was overproduction, don't you think it would have been known before now? Would it not have been accounted for in considering the return-to-work date?

-- Powder (Powder47keg@aol.com), January 07, 2000.

Notice that the cancellation is for the Villager and Quest production only. VANS. Judging by my neighborhood, they're selling fast. I'd be more inclined to blame excess inventory if it were a lot full of sedans or sport cars.

-- cmd0903 (cmd0903@dontcall.com), January 07, 2000.

For those of you not familiar, I believe Villager and Quest are the only vehicles produced at this particular Avon, Ohio plant, other models such as Econoline vans, are trucked in here from Lorain, painted, then trucked back out to the Lorain assembly plant. I haven't heard about Econoline shutdowns yet.

-- Powder (Powder47keg@aol.com), January 07, 2000.

It takes only one key supplier outage to knock out the line, I expect. Maybe Ford figures that in a week their programmers can fix the systems of whatever supplier is in trouble. It's sure worth their investment to do that.

We told people last year to be ready for extreme disruptions in the vehicle assembly lines this year. So many JITs, it's almost inevitable.

-- bw (home@puget.sound), January 07, 2000.

Here's what I was told by a resident of Cleveland: Date: Sat, Jan 8, 2000, 1:12am (CST+1) To: C-1-5@webtv.net (Linda) Subject: Re: parting thought

OH!!! The Ford Layoff week had NOTHING to do withY2K, The Kentucky Plant that makes the F-350 got and extra order for 300 trucks and didn' have enough transmissions, so they took them from Avon Lake. At least that's what a friend told me, and she's a robotics expert. BUT>>> if this is true I don't think I would EVER buy an F-350... the SAME transmission as a Villager... I know a few more people that work there, I'll keep asking till I at least hear a respectable lie..HA HA

-- Linda (C-1-5@webtv.net), January 08, 2000.

ROFLMAO - They had to shut down a plant for a week ... on short notice ... because they didn't have enough transmissions ... and had to send them elsewhere???

If that's the case, sure sounds like a JIT - "Just-in-Time Inventory" problem to me. Or BAD MANAGEMENT!!!

Ford sure sounds like it's having some problems. Did you see the explosion at their Ford Dearborn Rouge Steel facility a couple of days ago?

-- Cheryl (Transplant@Oregon.com), January 09, 2000.

Any more news on this item?

-- bw (home@puget.sound), January 11, 2000.