Ford has begun deliveries of its new F-Series Super Duty models across all trim levels, and the Blue Oval emphasized the increased quality control that this crucial product has undergone to ensure high customer satisfaction.
It goes without saying that many F-250, F-350, and F-450 pickups will live hard lives and need to deliver reliable service both on the road and for some commercial purposes, such as mining services. Earlier this month, a powertrain engineer by the name of Paul Murray said that this is "the very first time we've looked at every inch of the truck and had all these engineers look at it with a fine tooth comb."
Slowly but surely, Ford is addressing years of quality issues, and the Super Duty pickups will be a test of the changes it has made. CEO Jim Farley has announced additional measures to improve quality, though.
At the Capital Markets Day event that was held by the Blue Oval earlier this week at its Dearborn headquarters, Farley explained in more detail how the manufacturer will be cutting costs and raising quality. One of these measures will be to reduce the number of parts in its vehicles. As per the Associated Press, an updated version of the F-150 pickup coming out this year will have 2,400 fewer parts than the current version. Specifically how this will be achieved is unknown, but it could mean that the pickup will be offered with fewer options than it is now. The stability of parts supply companies will also be evaluated closely.
"We have some chronically inefficient tier one and tier two suppliers," said Kumar Galhotra, president of Ford Blue, the company's business unit that focuses on internal combustion models.
Farley added that Ford allowed complexity to "overrun our business as we tried to be all things to all people."
As for the Super Duty pickups, Ford conducted many high-mileage, real-world tests to make sure they're ready for customers. Ford tripled the number of trucks used for trailer tow testing and almost quadrupled the number for Built Ford Tough durability tests relative to previous models.
At both the Kentucky Truck and Ohio Assembly plants, a new Zero-Defect Launch Process was implemented that increases the number of quality checks while the trucks are being assembled. Nothing is left to chance even after the vehicle is completed, with a 25-mile test of each pickup completed by a Ford employee to identify any final problems ahead of delivery.
"Never before have I seen teams come together like they have for this Super Duty launch," said Andrew Kernahan, Super Duty chief engineer. "We are looking to exceed our customers' expectations with Super Duty, and that requires making sure every employee feels empowered to speak up when there are issues."
One example of this meticulous approach to quality control related to the hood fits on an initial batch of trucks. Although the fit was in line with specifications, Jake Klug, Super Duty Body team manager, noticed that the fit may not satisfy customer expectations. He then assembled a small team to work nights and weekends to rectify the issue.
The new Ford Super Duty starts at $43,970 for the F-250 XL Regular Cab and goes all the way up to over $100,000 for the F-450 Limited.