MRigney
05-17-03, 06:29 PM
- Flexible manufacturing system to be installed for machining 3-valve cylinder heads
- Investment of $192 million at Romeo plant in tooling and equipment
- Production capacity of 200,000 4.6-liter 3-valve engines per year
ROMEO, Mich., May 15, 2003 ? Ford Motor Company today announced an investment of $192 million in its Romeo Engine Plant as part of its plan to introduce more powerful, yet cleaner and more fuel-efficient versions, of its award-winning Modular V-8 engines.
With this investment, Ford continues its move to a new global flexible manufacturing system to build engines and transmissions. At the Romeo plant, Ford will install a new cylinder-head line and convert an existing engine assembly line to produce a new 4.6-liter 3-valve per cylinder V-8 engine.
?We are building a network of flexible powertrain plants that can respond quickly to changing market needs, while improving quality and manufacturing efficiency,? said Roman Krygier, group vice president, Global Manufacturing and Quality, Ford Motor Company. ?The launch of this new 4.6-liter 3-valve V-8 will continue our push into flexible manufacturing and gives the Romeo Engine Plant a strong future.?
The new 4.6-liter, 3-valve V-8 engine will power a variety of future Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles, including sport-utility vehicles (SUVs) and passenger cars. Production will begin at Romeo by the end of 2005.
Ford?s new 4.6-liter V-8 engine will have two intake valves and one exhaust valve per cylinder ?for 24-valves in total ? to provide more efficient combustion. This results in reduced emissions, improved fuel economy and better performance.
As a part of the investment at Romeo, Ford is converting its current high-volume 2-valve 4.6-liter engine assembly line to a ?flex line? to build the 4.6-liter in both 2-valve and 3-valve variants.
In addition to the flex line, Ford is installing a new 400,000 capacity cylinder-head machining line with new flexible computer-numerically controlled (CNC) machines. The line uses the same type of flexible machining equipment installed at Ford?s Windsor Engine Plant early last year. The Romeo 3-valve cylinder head will be the same design as the one built in Windsor.
?The new 3-valve 4.6-liter engine ensures a strong future for the Romeo plant and the future of our workforce,? said Dale Paruch, plant manager of Romeo Engine. ?We have a world-class workforce, dedicated to producing award-winning overhead-cam engines. Last year alone, we built more than 680,000 engines, or an average of 3,000 engines per day, and later this year we will build our 7-millionth V-8 engine.?
David Weston, chairman, UAW Local 400, added: ?This is a big day for Romeo, UAW Local 400 and all of our employees. I was here when we started producing the first Modular V-8 in the early ?90s, and this program is not only important to Ford Motor Company, but it is important to the families of all of our workers. Engines are our product and Ford assembly plants are our customer, and we look forward to a bright future of providing them with this great new V-8.?
The first Ford vehicle in North America to offer 3-valves per cylinder will be the new 2004 Ford F-150 with its 5.4-liter Triton V-8 engine, which is built at Ford?s Windsor and Essex engine plants in Windsor, Ontario.
The Windsor plants were reconfigured last year to build 3-valve V-8 engines. As part of that investment, the Windsor plants also will build 4.6-liter 3-valve V-8 engines for a transitional period of time with production beginning by the end of 2004. The new 3-valve cylinder head to be built at Romeo is the same compact design as the cylinder head built at Windsor Engine, giving Ford?s engine plants the ability to cross-ship cylinder heads and other components between plants, maximizing flexibility and the ability to react to changing market demand.
- Investment of $192 million at Romeo plant in tooling and equipment
- Production capacity of 200,000 4.6-liter 3-valve engines per year
ROMEO, Mich., May 15, 2003 ? Ford Motor Company today announced an investment of $192 million in its Romeo Engine Plant as part of its plan to introduce more powerful, yet cleaner and more fuel-efficient versions, of its award-winning Modular V-8 engines.
With this investment, Ford continues its move to a new global flexible manufacturing system to build engines and transmissions. At the Romeo plant, Ford will install a new cylinder-head line and convert an existing engine assembly line to produce a new 4.6-liter 3-valve per cylinder V-8 engine.
?We are building a network of flexible powertrain plants that can respond quickly to changing market needs, while improving quality and manufacturing efficiency,? said Roman Krygier, group vice president, Global Manufacturing and Quality, Ford Motor Company. ?The launch of this new 4.6-liter 3-valve V-8 will continue our push into flexible manufacturing and gives the Romeo Engine Plant a strong future.?
The new 4.6-liter, 3-valve V-8 engine will power a variety of future Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles, including sport-utility vehicles (SUVs) and passenger cars. Production will begin at Romeo by the end of 2005.
Ford?s new 4.6-liter V-8 engine will have two intake valves and one exhaust valve per cylinder ?for 24-valves in total ? to provide more efficient combustion. This results in reduced emissions, improved fuel economy and better performance.
As a part of the investment at Romeo, Ford is converting its current high-volume 2-valve 4.6-liter engine assembly line to a ?flex line? to build the 4.6-liter in both 2-valve and 3-valve variants.
In addition to the flex line, Ford is installing a new 400,000 capacity cylinder-head machining line with new flexible computer-numerically controlled (CNC) machines. The line uses the same type of flexible machining equipment installed at Ford?s Windsor Engine Plant early last year. The Romeo 3-valve cylinder head will be the same design as the one built in Windsor.
?The new 3-valve 4.6-liter engine ensures a strong future for the Romeo plant and the future of our workforce,? said Dale Paruch, plant manager of Romeo Engine. ?We have a world-class workforce, dedicated to producing award-winning overhead-cam engines. Last year alone, we built more than 680,000 engines, or an average of 3,000 engines per day, and later this year we will build our 7-millionth V-8 engine.?
David Weston, chairman, UAW Local 400, added: ?This is a big day for Romeo, UAW Local 400 and all of our employees. I was here when we started producing the first Modular V-8 in the early ?90s, and this program is not only important to Ford Motor Company, but it is important to the families of all of our workers. Engines are our product and Ford assembly plants are our customer, and we look forward to a bright future of providing them with this great new V-8.?
The first Ford vehicle in North America to offer 3-valves per cylinder will be the new 2004 Ford F-150 with its 5.4-liter Triton V-8 engine, which is built at Ford?s Windsor and Essex engine plants in Windsor, Ontario.
The Windsor plants were reconfigured last year to build 3-valve V-8 engines. As part of that investment, the Windsor plants also will build 4.6-liter 3-valve V-8 engines for a transitional period of time with production beginning by the end of 2004. The new 3-valve cylinder head to be built at Romeo is the same compact design as the cylinder head built at Windsor Engine, giving Ford?s engine plants the ability to cross-ship cylinder heads and other components between plants, maximizing flexibility and the ability to react to changing market demand.