Ford’s manufacturing facilities in Thailand are about to receive a modernization update. The company has made a US$900 million (THB 28 billion) investment in supplying the facility with new technology and systems. This is the largest investment Ford has made in Thailand to date, and brings the total investments that the company has made in Thailand over the last 25 years to US$3.4 billion (THB 100 billion).
Ford has also added a second shift at the Ford Thailand Manufacturing facility. This addition has created 1,250 new jobs, bringing Ford’s total employment in the area up to over 9,000 employees.
On top of the primary investment, Ford also invested more than US$400 million (THB 13 billion) in the local supply chain network in an effort to improve the quality and accessibility of vehicle parts and design related tools. This investment has created an estimated 250 incremental jobs.
The number of robots at both Ford Thailand Manufacturing and Auto Alliance Thailand will be doubling, and 356 state-of-the-art robots are also being added specifically at the body shop and paint shop. These additions will bring the automation levels at the body shop at Ford Thailand Manufacturing up to 80% and Auto Alliance Thailand up to 69%. On top of this, Ford is becoming the first automaker to utilize ScanBox technology in Southeast Asia. This cutting-edge surface scan capability measures the vehicle as a whole with incredible accuracy and speed. Because measuring needs to happen five times at different stages across the assembly process, this provides a huge amount of efficiency to Ford’s manufacturing and improves quality control as well. Both facilities are also making significant efforts to reduce their CO2 emissions, work towards sending zero waste to landfills, and utilize renewable energy sources.
All of these efforts are a part of Ford’s modernization program in Thailand, intending to cement both the Ford Thailand Manufacturing facility and the joint-venture AutoAlliance Thailand (AAT) truck plant as a center of global production for Ford and an export base. Ford is committed to delivering world class quality vehicles to customers in Thailand and around the world, while also increasing opportunities for local industry growth. These changes and investments help to support both of these goals.
“This is an important milestone to build on our quarter-century of commitment to producing vehicles [in] Thailand, enabling us to further modernize and upgrade our local operations, and support production for the exciting upcoming launch of the next-gen Ranger, one of Ford’s highest volume and most successful vehicles anywhere in the world, and the next-gen Everest SUV,” said Yukontorn ‘Vickie’ Wisadkosin, president of Ford ASEAN and Asia Pacific Distributors Markets.