Jump to content

Better way to track a factory order


rammer77

Recommended Posts

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.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

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 $$$.....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...
  • 3 weeks later...

And better yet, they could deliver your car in 30 minutes or less:)

Or it's free... :rockon:

 

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.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

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.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
  • 3 weeks later...

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...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...