Sounds like Ford's #1 problem is failure to train its engineers, in how to design reasonably maintainable vehicles.
>> He noted, for example, learning to take a diesel engine out of a Ford Super Duty truck takes at least five years.
>> The current system is not meeting the standard, he added.
I fully agree with your opinion .... but this guy's quote is bizarre.
What system is failing to meet the 5-years-to-learn-how-to-remove-one-particular-engine standard?
High school trades? Community college? Private $xx,000 high-debt mechanic school?
None of these are remotely capable of teaching Ford's hyper-narrow specialization. Trying to would be a disaster.
Not Applicable. If it somehow took an engineering degree to toast a Pop-Tart, the "failing to meet" would have nothing whatsoever to do with any education system for engineers.
EDIT: On another read...I'd say the bizarre quote is just Farley desperately trying to throw the blame somewhere, somewhere far away from where it belongs - with him and Ford.
My 2010 Mercedes had headlight bulbs that died frequently. But there was no way for a human to reach in and replace them, without either some special tool or disassembling a bunch of stuff at the front of the car. Just one example. You can find many similar complaints elsewhere.
I replaced that VW with a Honda in 2010, and will never buy another "German Engineering" car.
I spent more time building a make shift tool to detach/attach the battery than I did actual work. This due to them placing a bolt really bad so you can't access it with a normal wrench.
Not offering a paid upgrade to a 4G modem for the app features when they kill the 3G network in Sweden is also a bummer (they do in the US though, guess they are afraid of law suits).
I like the car in general, but they do some bad decisions that make me look at other brands when considering a new car.
Step one, remove car from bulb. Step two, replace bulb. Step three, assemble in reverse order.
Honestly starting to feel the same way about developing software.
HN discussion of related article - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45500699
But then everything takes longer, because nothing is realistic and people end up working overtime for free.
Because there's no way those jobs are 6 figures at the dealerships when automakers and dealers push fixed-fee services and severely underrate the hours required.
I don't think he's got a firm grip on this market.
Capital blaming Labour for it's problems? UNHEARD OF
"it's not our shitty cars and terrible work practices, people don't want to work
It definitely isn't. Here in Germany I could redirect you to a dozen small businesses in the trades I personally know that are starved for young people and that pay better than a decent chunk of degrees, but vocational and blue collar work even here, and this is in my experience even more common in the Anglosphere, is just deemed unattractive by a significant chunk of the workforce.
It's so bad that I know a handful of people who'd even pass the business on because their own kids didn't want to stay in the trades but go to uni.
Trades people like to compare total comp but never talk about working conditions, upward mobility, how much they drive or whether their employer provides their tools.
Effectively you will either do the repair in the timeframe set by somebody from a desk, or you are not getting the 6 figure.
And I can already see pencil pushers making limits tighter when too many people would be able to fit in them. So only way to win is not play.
It's not up to me to decide if a given employer does or does not pay enough. If people don't want to work for your company, then you're not paying enough relative to your expectations around the job. That's not anyone's opinion, it's just how prices work.
I agree in principle though, the people exist and can be hired
He is also extremely ignorant if he thinks it takes 5 years to learn how to take an engine out of a vehicle, people get PhDs in 5 years, and I could teach someone to remove and replace a certain vehicle's motor in a few days at worst including most of the tips and tricks when things don't go smoothly, after a year I would expect them to be able to take out any motor from any vehicle without guidance. Taking a motor out of a vehicle is one of the easier parts of a mechanic's job, the hard part is being able to diagnose problems without tearing the entire motor out before you know it needs to, or figuring out how to fix a problem without tearing apart every nut and bolt on the car per the official repair, especially as a dealership mechanic where you only get paid a set minimum price for each job no matter how long it takes you in reality. Sure a brand new vehicle might have bolts that spin off in 10 seconds, but the crusty rusted out car from Michigan salted roads might require torches to remove it or time to extract a broken bolt, or drilling and tapping and helicoiling a stripped hole. Even if the hourly labor was free, the parts that either MUST be replaced once bolts are pulled and seals broken, or will inevitably be broken in the process of removal no matter how careful you are, still cost money.
Well, then we ended up weird designs that expects you take and engine out to change an alternator or estimates that are way off.
It’s quite dishonest that all the problems of the entire sector is being merged into “nobody wants to work anymore” style conversation with a lot of fine prints.
This car was designed to assemble, not to disassemble.
Easiest example: the gray fabric-like panels in the trunk that cover everything? They are attached with small christmas-tree fasteners that mate with holes in the trunk walls. They take maybe 1/4 second to fasten. But to unfasten they take finesse to carefully remove without breaking the fastener.
Cars are like that all the way down. Also, a lot of these types of fasteners are designed to be replaced after you take them apart. But basically no mechanic does that. It's one reason why you have door and other interior panels making squeaking or other vibration noise after your car has been worked on.
Even decent reusable fasteners like screws frequently deserve a little locktite when replacing them and nobody does that.
TimorousBestie•2mo ago
So put your money where your mouth is and open your own trade school? If someone as incompetent and corrupt as Falwell can open and operate Liberty University, then why can’t CEO Farley?
WarOnPrivacy•2mo ago
I'm guessing it involves some front-end expense - which (like all business expenses) are at odds with shareholder wishes.
TimorousBestie•2mo ago
He can easily finance a small trade school as a pilot project on his own, without shareholder approval.
So does he think it has ROI or no?
signatoremo•2mo ago
TimorousBestie•2mo ago
If his point is that it’s only worthwhile when the public subsidizes the cost, then he’s just yet another rent-seeking millionaire looking to profit off the taxpayer’s dollar at no risk to either himself or Ford.
AngryData•2mo ago