DETROIT – Ford Motor Company will resume production of F-150 pickup trucks Friday at the Dearborn Truck Plant after more than a week of down time due to a fire at the Meridian Magnesium Products facility in Eaton Rapids, Michigan.
“While the situation remains extremely dynamic, our teams are focused on returning our plants to full production as fast as possible,” said Joe Hinrichs, Ford president of global operations. “The ramp-up time to full production is improving every day.”
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Production of the Super Duty is expected to resume Monday at the Kentucky Truck Plant and Kansas City Assembly Plant, which also makes F-150 pickups, Ford announced.
Crews removed 19 dies from Meridian’s badly damaged facility, and in one case, moved an 87,000-pound die from Eaton Rapids to Nottingham, U.K., via an Antonov cargo plane -- one of the largest in the world -- in 30 hours door-to-door, Ford said. A die is a tool used to cut or shape material using a press.
“Faced with unexpected adversity, the Ford team, including our global supply partners, showed unbelievable resiliency, turning a devastating event into a shining example of teamwork,” said Hau Thai-Tang, Ford’s executive vice president of Product Development and Purchasing. “Thanks to their heroic efforts, we are resuming production of some of our most important vehicles ahead of our original targets.”