Ford transforms vehicle production programme

A significant change in
manufacturing at the Ford
Motor Company of South
Africa (FMCSA)’s Silverton
assembly plant in Pretoria
has positively impacted
shipping volumes, says
Dave Everett, Safmarine’s
Ford global key account
owner,
“Last year FMCSA
transformed its vehicle
production programme
at its Silverton assembly
plant when the company
went from a multi-model
manufacturing platform
(building five different
models) to manufacturing
exclusively the new
Ford Ranger pickup and
Mazda BT-50. The
SA-manufactured units are
exported to Europe and
Africa.”
FMCSA has also
commenced production of
the Duratorq TDCi diesel
engine (which is used to
power the new Ranger) at
its Struandale engine plant
near Port Elizabeth. “And
in addition to supplying
these engines to the
Silverton assembly plant,
FMCSA will also export
machined components for
engine kits to other new
Ranger production plants in
Thailand and Argentina,”
said Everett.
Safmarine provides
Ford with weekly shipping
services on core trades to
South Africa, an on-site
container yard service at the
assembly plant in Pretoria
(to manage the arrival and
dispatching of containers
to and from the Ford rail
siding) and, where required,
assists FMCSA in exporting
vehicles in containers.
A primary ocean carrier
of Ford component imports
for more than 20 years,
Safmarine also moves Ford
engine components to Port
Elizabeth and provides
carriage of engine blocks
and crank cases from Port
Elizabeth for export.
In November last year,
Safmarine won three Ford
Motor Company of South
Africa service excellence
awards. Safmarine’s
on-site customer services
agent, Ammie Holmes,
received a 2011 Ford
Ambassador Award for
his dedicated service to
Ford, while Safmarine also
received a gold certificate
of recognition in the
Excellence in Service
Provision category, and the
silver trophy in the same
category (for overall second
place).