Ford Rouge Factory Tour

LIGHT, CAMERA, TAKE ACTION

A quick glance above solves an engineering mystery

COLLABORATION, BRAINSTORMING,

PROBLEM SOLVING. These are habits and actions of innovation shared with visitors of the Ford Rouge Factory Tour as they take a deep dive into the history of the Ford Rouge Complex and view the final assembly line of the Ford F-150.

In late 2014, the F-150’s launch team had to put their problem-solving skills to the test and do a bit of sleuthing to solve a mystery in the plant. In the midst of prebuilds for the upcoming model launch, a pesky problem with calibrating the F-150’s new 360-degree view camera arose. The high-tech feature uses cameras mounted in the front grille, tailgate handle and sideview mirrors to give drivers a continuous view of everything around them.

At times, calibrating the cameras on the plant floor went just as planned. And then other times, as Don Pijor, F-150 launch manager, said, “It just wouldn’t take, and we couldn’t figure out why.” The vexing issue would come back randomly — sometimes days, sometimes a week later. They quickly deduced that it only occurred during the day shift, but happened with all the different weekday and weekend crews. For about three months, the launch team went round and round, making tweaks here, there and everywhere, from moving targets on the floor to making multiple micro adjustments to the positioning of lasers. Still the problem persisted.

“One day, the team was down there again just talking and trying to figure out the problem, and someone happened to look up,” said Pijor. “Then they said, ‘It couldn’t be that easy could it?’”

In fact, it could. They discovered that at certain times of the day — only when the sun was out — the light would shine at a particular angle through the plant’s skylights and hit the camera during the calibration, causing a failure. The team covered the skylights with heavy black tarps — problem solved.

Eventually, a large American flag was placed up above to block out the light. And even though the camera calibration operation is no longer done in that area of the plant, the flag remains. “We kept the flag hanging there because it looks cool,” said Pijor.

— JENNIFER LAFORCE, MANAGING EDITOR,

THE HENRY FORD MAGAZINE

ONLINE For the most up-to-date information, hours and pricing for the Ford Rouge Factory Tour, visit thf.org/rougec

MODEL i

While trying to solve the camera conundrum at the Dearborn Truck Plant, the F-150 launch team demonstrated several elements of the universal language of innovation that The Henry Ford’s Model i learning framework brings together: Actions of Innovation and Habits of an Innovator. Sometimes learning, problem solving and innovating are messy — and that’s OK.

To learn more about Model i and The Henry Ford’s inHub learning platform, visit inhub.thehenryford.org.

bA large American flag hangs high in the Dearborn Truck Plant. It was strategically placed a few years back to help block out sunlight that was hindering a camera calibration test. Even though the camera checkpoint is no longer done in that area of the plant, the cool-looking flag still remains.

PHOTO BY BILL BOWEN