Monday, August 1, 2011

#216 JIT Kink for Ford


Ford can’t make enough Focus cars to keep up with rising demand because of equipment problems that have caused a shortage of dashboards, two people familiar with the situation told The Associated Press.

Machinery that makes the skin that covers dashboards at a Ford parts factory outside Detroit works intermittently. That is forcing the company to take the unusual and costly step of flying in parts from Europe to keep its assembly lines moving, the people said. Despite those efforts, the Focus plant near Detroit can’t run at full speed, they said.

The problem comes at a time when high gas prices and shortages of Japanese small cars have driven up demand for the Focus. Dealers say they’re having trouble getting the newly redesigned compacts, and they’ve been forced to put customers on waiting lists.

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