So I got into the "Rouge" Ford plant in Dearborn

Mar 12, 2025, 2:29 PM

A couple months back, a client of mine was looking to pitch some edge servers for latency reduction to Ford; their modern cars literally generate terabytes of data each day and their cloud is apparently chugging hard right now. He knew I was a big future-tech guy so he invited me along, and after a meeting with some of Ford's IT guys we did the walking tour at their "Rouge" plant in Dearborn, where their F-150's are made.

And what I saw scared the crap out of me. The plant is mostly 90's tech and some of it was even older than that; at one workstation I still literally saw one of those old dot-matrix printers with the perforated tear-off holes on the side. The plant used what's called a "skillet" conveyor system that basically put each vehicle on its own little rectangular platform and moved it all around the factory to each workstation, which was kind of neat to watch, but the workstations were still largely staffed by human workers and the only true robots I saw were doing the electrical wiring...and there were something like 2,000 employees on the floor. There were only a handful of servers around the plant monitoring process, and nobody was going to confuse them with an AI superfarm; Ford's were about the size of vending machines. And again, those few servers I did see were linked to a whole lot of workstations with computers straight out of the 90's and early 2000's.

The difference between that and, say, one of Elon's automated Tesla factories, which basically are built as software platforms first that then add robots in like peripherals around that software, was...stark. I guess my concern showed on my face, because our guide hurriedly explained how Ford was implementing an "incremental" upgrade process that "combined legacy tech while integrating modern automation processes"...which I suppose was even true, if by "increments" you mean, it'll be 2050 or so before they finish upgrading their manufacturing to modern standards, at which point they'll be even further behind. Whatever...I walked away with a distinct feeling of dread in my stomach and a suspicion that Ford might be in very big trouble. The future's here...and over in China, BYD is cranking out full-on electric cars for $10K in factories very similar to Tesla's. Ford has just one - repeat (1)! - vehicle under $20K, that being their little Fiesta that starts at $19,995.

I did some digging, and discovered Ford is building a state-of-the-art assembly complex in Stanton, Tennessee and a battery plant in Kentucky, and I did find out even the Rouge plant had a far more modern line for their F-150 Lightnings that we didn't see because it's deliberately closed off from the tour. Apparently their CEO also went over to China about six months back, drove some of their cars, and absolutely freaked out when he saw their product and process...so at least Ford's aware of the danger and has urgency on their side now. But in far too many of their plants, Ford is still carrying a massive tech debt and is very much playing catch-up and is at least a decade (or often more) more behind the cutting edge of its competitors. And apparently union contracts have seriously hampered Ford's ability to just tear down their old plants, along with the fact that capital costs have risen steeply since 2015, when debt was dirt-cheap. So Ford not only should have started with this "incremental upgrade" a decade ago, it would have been a whole lot cheaper then too.

Apparently GM is ahead of Ford in terms of modernizing, so all is not lost for the Big Three, but if Ford is in at least moderate hot water, Stellantis is apparently all but cooked already. Stellantis is burdened by an unwieldy collection of 14 brands with exactly zero clear ideas how they're supposed to be marketed, their manufacturing costs and lot prices are skyrocketing, and their plant upgrades are apparently far behind even Ford's. Stellantis was also by a bunch the guiltiest of prioritizing sales profits over volume, and decided it was just fine and dandy to lose market share if they could sell fewer cars for more money. Which means in a year or at most two, Stellantis is almost certainly going to come crawling back to the government for a bailout. I wouldn't give them one, personally, rewarding short-sighted stupidity and greed on the taxpayer's dime is not going to save the American auto industry. Somebody needs to be the example and Stellantis is volunteering really loudly right now.

Regardless, I can tell you firsthand - the American auto industry - and Detroit in particular, where many of the legacy plants are - is playing serious catch-up. And the last thing they need is a trade war jacking up prices that were already far too high...or an uncertain political environment where investors with the capital that Ford and certainly Stellantis are absolutely going to need to stay competitive will be a lot harder to come by.

This is 100% not what Detroit needs.
https://www.wsj.com/business/autos/trump-metal-tariffs-auto-industry-c964a59a

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Actually, they really don't. The lines they sprung from might have been old and clunky, but give Ford their due...those F-150's are purty and I'd love to have one myself. Problem is, they start at $38,810 for the base model - which I think includes doors, I'd have to check - but they get up to $50K+ really fast, too. Which is a problem all American manufacturers are having. I don't haul enough stuff to justify that, at all.

Their little mid-sized Mavericks that would suit my needs better start at a much more reasonable $24K...or rather, they did yesterday, anyhow. Problem is they're made in Mexico...and your wait time is going to be something like a year minimum to get it.

(Insert Debbie Downer noise here.)

So I got into the "Rouge" Ford plant in Dearborn

probabaly working under the , if it ain't broke

Yeah, but...like you said.

Re: So I got into the "Rouge" Ford plant in Dearborn

Re: So I got into the "Rouge" Ford plant in Dearborn

Re: So I got into the "Rouge" Ford plant in Dearborn

Re: So I got into the "Rouge" Ford plant in Dearborn

Re: So I got into the "Rouge" Ford plant in Dearborn

Re: So I got into the "Rouge" Ford plant in Dearborn

Where would you put the Unions level of influence on this?***

Re: Where would you put the Unions level of influence on this?***

They are moving to TN to have non UAW workers,

You misspelled Mexico****

yup, if we ALL take pay cuts

So they are building in TN to increase costs?***

of course not

Re: So I got into the "Rouge" Ford plant in Dearborn

I toured the BMW plant near Greenville

Re: So I got into the "Rouge" Ford plant in Dearborn

When you copy and paste an article

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