rammer77 Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 It would be nice to see a more automated way to track a factory order. People are excited about their new factory order vehicle if there was a better tracking system, maybe even a system for seeing what stage their vehicle is at, without having to depend on other people. Just something to get the buyers more involved in the birth of their vehicle, that is if they are interested. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted May 8, 2011 Share Posted May 8, 2011 Yes, i would enjoy that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobrajim Posted May 9, 2011 Share Posted May 9, 2011 yep sign me up!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djdcz1 Posted May 9, 2011 Share Posted May 9, 2011 I agree Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firemedic3293 Posted May 10, 2011 Share Posted May 10, 2011 please please please :hyper: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djdcz1 Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 This is a way to track your vehicle, but you need a VIN. http://researchmaniacs.com/Ford/TrackFactoryCarOrders.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smittyclan Posted May 15, 2011 Share Posted May 15, 2011 Yes sign me up as well, the wait is killing me and so far the dealer is unable to get any information and it's going on 30 days Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteelCity Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 Better yet, how about a web cam showing you vehicle as it moves down the line! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted May 26, 2011 Share Posted May 26, 2011 This is a way to track your vehicle, but you need a VIN. http://researchmania...yCarOrders.html Gets you the window sticker. Not exactly what the original poster means by tracking a vehicle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted May 26, 2011 Share Posted May 26, 2011 In principal, having cam's all over a plant to follow your car sounds awesome. However workers in general would not be in favor of being on camera all day long. Although they could place them where no workers would be in the picture. Should be doable. All you would need is a rotation number. As it is, ford knows exactly where each unit is at any given time. I like the idea.....i would have to take the day off work so i can follow my car online. That would be a first in the auto-industry.......it definitely would be to ford's advantage. Opps......gotta get past the bean counters as that would take a bit of $$$..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awbaker77 Posted May 27, 2011 Share Posted May 27, 2011 Gets you the window sticker. Not exactly what the original poster means by tracking a vehicle. At least it explained about the build date on the window sticker. I now know that mine should have been built today! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted May 27, 2011 Share Posted May 27, 2011 At least it explained about the build date on the window sticker. I now know that mine should have been built today! Right....better then nothing, but ford could do better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xargos Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 At least it explained about the build date on the window sticker. I now know that mine should have been built today! The problem is that there are different versions of the window sticker depending on the model. The Fiesta, for example, doesn't seem to show a build date on the sticker. I've looked for the information both on the window sticker for a Fiesta already on a dealer's lot and on the sticker for the one I ordered, and neither seems to have a build date. Given how pretty much everything shipped can be tracked these days, you would think that Ford would at least have an official consumer facing site to show when their vehicle is completed, put on a train, gets off a train, etc... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radication Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 I agree - if Dominos can provide tracking for my pizza from order to delivery, Ford should be able to do the same with factory orders 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgretch44 Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 I agree, it seems like an easy enough system. If the phone system is automated, couldn't they do the same for the interweb? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkoester Posted August 27, 2011 Share Posted August 27, 2011 I agree - if Dominos can provide tracking for my pizza from order to delivery, Ford should be able to do the same with factory orders And better yet, they could deliver your car in 30 minutes or less:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geost1 Posted September 13, 2011 Share Posted September 13, 2011 And better yet, they could deliver your car in 30 minutes or less:) Or it's free... Seriously, if Amazon can provide up to date order information and tracking on a $20 book why can't Ford do so with a $20,000 car? A simple automated website that could just provide the following milestones would be awesome: - Date the Window Sticker is available for download, along with a link to do so - Date the vehicle is scheduled to be built - Date the vehicle is completely built and/or released from the factory - Date the vehicle is scheduled to arrive at the dealership (ETA) The Ford customer service people are great but a website that could provide this info, without having to call and give someone all your personal info every time, would be a lot better. Unlike my book example above, there are certain things that need to be taken care of when buying a car. So this system would be a great planning tool for those of use that ordered vehicles to know when to arrange for financing and insurance. That way after a 2-3 month wait you don't have to waste any time sitting on a dealer lot once the car comes in waiting for the loan to get approved. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgretch44 Posted September 13, 2011 Share Posted September 13, 2011 I completely agree. I think it would make for happier customers that call and bother their dealers far less often! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianinswfla Posted September 29, 2011 Share Posted September 29, 2011 Having just ordered a new Mustang I can certainly get on board with this idea. I can see at least one potential customer service issue though. Assuming that an auto plant is similar to some of the other industrial facilities I work in a schedule is just a suggestion. Many things can cause problems with production and delays are inevitable. Once you give a customer a build date/ETA or whatever any delay is going to become a big deal. There are ways to address these issues but I am sure that has to factor into why they don't already make this easier. It has the potential to be a customer service nightmare. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apu Posted October 2, 2011 Share Posted October 2, 2011 Many things can cause problems with production and delays are inevitable. Once you give a customer a build date/ETA or whatever any delay is going to become a big deal. Orders from Amazon, or FedEx packages, or anything else you can track have delays too. But any information makes the purchaser feel like he/she is informed and involved instead of feeling like they sent in their money and now are just waiting for the Publishers Clearinghouse van to pull up any day now. And the info we want is already available to the dealers via a website, correct? So they just need to build one page that asks for some basic info specific to the one order the customer cares about so someone cannot sit there all day querying VIN after VIN to find out how well/poorly Ford is doing in fulfilling orders. Perhaps VIN and dealer ZIP Code? Easy for the customer to have but hard to randomly guess the right combinations? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theoldwizard Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 I agree - if Dominos can provide tracking for my pizza from order to delivery, Ford should be able to do the same with factory orders I completely agree. I think it would make for happier customers that call and bother their dealers far less often! I have been retired for over 4 years, but last I knew the whole Ford vehicle build schedule system was still based on a "model" that used keypunch cards that was developed in the 60s/70s. That is why it used to be easy to "pull" your order and move it to the front. They actually "pulled" cards and moved them to the front !! Ford's IT organization is almost non-existent now. Several of the buildings that were used for IT personnel are empty, All first level computer support is "off-shore". About all they do is enter your name and problem description and tell you someone will contact you within 2 business days ! The last major project that IT undertook was an attempt to re-write the entire non-production purchasing software system (which was going to ultimately replace the production purchasing system). The Ford "Everest" procurement system was killed after 5 years of development (and over 1 year of "roll out"). Rumored costs were in excess of $2B. It was rumored the reason it was killed was that phase II of the project (which still did not include production purchasing) was going to cost in excess of $1B. They could buy faster servers that ran the old software for a lot less money. IMHO, Ford's IT organization is worse then useless. They are more interested in getting things done "by the book" than actually solving a problem. They do a reasonable job at providing email service (MS Outlook/Exchange) and CAD (multiple solutions; they still probably have PDGS running is some corner), but not much else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrispsu05 Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 I'm all for this... Seems like it would make the 800 number folks and the dealers more efficient. Less time dealing with pain in the butts like me!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobertEvans Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 +1............ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ford4v429 Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 bring Kzinti back! I remember one guys mustang had disappeared for a couple days, kzinti contacted someone at flatrock, found it was being reworked as something wasnt up to spec, described what it was, assured the buyer that it would be checked closer than normal production as it was pulled offline, etc, guy was just happy...kzint was getting us window stickers 2 weeks before the car was built six years ago- thankfully Ford now 'authorizes' this, but why did it take so long... ford customer service is vastly improved with folks like 'Deysha at ford' on some of the mustang forums actually giving buyers someone to correspond with one on one- a huge improvement over the old CS's "contact your dealer" loop of tape service... if Kzinti's original 'friend at the factory' level of interaction could return, it would win over soooo many buyers... was really cool reading about others rides coming in while waiting for a VIN, and waiting, and waiting, then the Vin, then the scheduled (and window sticker!) then built, then finally gate released, then tracking the train, then on the transport for delivery...sucked when the idiot hauler smashed it after the months of waiting- couldnt even get a test drive...then reordered, went thru it all again with Kzinti's tracking along the way again...the wife ended up with a matching 07, then when the updated 10 was previewed, we got yet another matching 09 if not for Kzinti's calming updates along the way, I woulda kept driving my Mark VII forever and said screw ford just due to the vin wait /allocation bs... dealing with fords 'black hole' system at the time was one of the most aggrivating experiences I ever had... Kzinti changed all that beyond what anyone coulda ever expected...he sold at least 3 mustangs that I know of- and I'm forever grateful, wouldnt have known what I was missing- these cars are such a blast to drive or even just look at... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrigby002 Posted December 8, 2011 Share Posted December 8, 2011 I agree Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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