Ford
is to build a state-of-the-art ‘Learning Centre of Excellence’ at its sprawling
Dagenham site, east of London, where it is soon to stop Fiesta car production
with the loss of 2000 jobs.
The centre will offer including world-class graduate and postgraduate degree
programmes.
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The giant automaker will also develop a new supplier park on land owned by
the London Development Agency to support its new diesel production operations.
Ford has also changed the location of a new, high technology diesel engine
‘clean room’ assembly hall which it plans to build.
The first phase of the new learning centre will be jointly developed by Ford
and the London Development Agency, together with Barking and Havering further
education colleges.
The second phase will focus on higher education, including bachelors and masters
degrees, together with ongoing research and technology programmes. The centre
will build upon long-standing Ford relationships with some of Britain’s key
academic institutions, including Loughborough University and the University
of Warwick.
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By GlobalDataThe centre will also support the training, education and development requirements
of diesel engine manufacture at Dagenham.
Building will commence this June, subject to final planning approval.
Planned facilities include technical workshops, flexible classrooms that can
be adjusted to meet specific needs and class sizes, an e-library, a vehicle
dealership training area, conference amenities, a business innovation centre
and a fully-equipped gymnasium and crèche.
The new supplier park is located on land owned by the London Development Agency
and Ford anticipates small and medium high technology businesses other than
those supplying the diesel engine plant will also be located in the supplier
park, bringing further employment opportunities to the area, helping to offset
the 2000-jobs loss caused by the axing of Fiesta production.
The diesel engine ‘clean room’ assembly hall will now be located on a Dagenham
site currently used for the preparation of ‘knock-down’ vehicle kits for export
markets, an activity likely to stop along with the demise of Fiesta production.
KD operations will be temporarily relocated until car production halts some
time in 2002.
The new diesel assembly facility will be significantly more cost effective
than the original plan announced in October because it utilises present building
foundations and services, and is positioned between the proposed supplier park
and the existing engine plant which will facilitate enhanced lean manufacturing
logistics processes.
The land owned by the London Development Agency originally designated for the
construction of the assembly hall will now be used for the new supplier park.
Clean room construction starts in May 2001 and will be completed by February
2002.
The exterior and interior of the existing 30,000 square metre KD operations
building will be completely rebuilt to transform it into one of the most modern
manufacturing facilities in Europe.
It will significantly boost diesel engine production capacity at Dagenham from
today’s level of around 650,000 units per annum to up to 900,000 engines each
year by 2004. The new building will have the necessary space for further increases
in production volume, if required.
The new building will feature an ergonomically-designed, open-plan environment
and will make extensive use of lean manufacturing systems and principles – all
intended to maximise efficiency.
A 6,200 square metre office area to accommodate engineering and other support
staff will be constructed on the north side of the building.
The clean room will provide a state-of-the-art environment for diesel engine
assembly. Manufacture of future diesel engines will be established in the new
building: assembly of current versions will be re-located to the clean room
when extensively redesigned.
The existing Dagenham engine plant facility will focus on engine machining.
The clean room and the existing plant together will form what Ford calls a ‘Diesel
Business Centre’ at Dagenham with suppliers close by.
David Thursfield, president and CEO, Ford of Europe, said: " Ford remains
committed to the $US600 million Dagenham estate five-year investment plan, $US500
million of which will be invested in diesel engine engineering and manufacturing,
and in maintaining Dagenham as London’s largest industrial centre with over
5,000 employees after [Fiesta production ends in] the first-quarter 2002."
