An investigation into the main causes for poor OEE at the Struandale Engine Plant of Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa

The Struandale Engine Plant (SEP) was set up in 1924 and was the 16th Ford plant outside North America. The plant has since produced a variety of different components ranging from wheel hubs, to engine components such as crank shafts and cylinder blocks, to the assembly of engines. Manufacturing at this plant has predominantly been via the job-shop method, where mass production techniques were used. The RoCam programme preparation started in 1999. In 2001, SEP experienced a very steep ramp-up due to an unexpected surge in volume requirements. This forced the plant’s Human Resources team to embark on an “emergency” recruitment drive to cover the required human resources to support the programme. Due to this action being taken by the Human Resources department, the educational level of the employees was at a very basic level and had an adverse effect on productivity. The SEP operating committee made a decision in 2004 to focus on the implementation and maintenance of the Ford Production System (FPS). This initiative was important because ageing equipment needed to be maintained at predetermined intervals through continuous improvement techniques that form part of the FPS programme. If these techniques are not in place, the Overall Equipment Efficiency (OEE) suffers. This programme comprises a number of critical elements such as FTPM that requires a certain education and skill level in effort to completely comprehend the system. Evidently, education was an issue and an effort had to be made to upgrade the workforce skill’s level, specifically the team leaders. On the 30th January 2008, Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa (FMCSA) had announced plans to invest more than R1.5-billion to expand its operations in South Africa for the production of Ford's next-generation compact pick-up truck iv and Puma diesel engine. In an effort to secure and retain the Puma contract at SEP, the plant had to prove that it could compete globally; hence it had to improve OEE levels to the world-class standard. The Puma engine contract had been contracted to South America, Turkey, Thailand, and South Africa. This was a strategic move in order to retain flexibility within the supply chain i.e. if one supplier / plant cannot deliver, demand can be shifted to one of three alternative suppliers. The problem statement which will be addressed by this research is: What are the main causes for the poor Overall Equipment Efficiency level (OEE) at the Struandale Engine Plant of Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa? The Primary Objective of this research is to: Identify the main causes for the poor Overall Equipment Efficiency level (OEE) at the Struandale Engine Plant of Ford Motor Company of Southern Afric