How Tiny Window Trim Streamlines Ford’s Supply Chain

Like most large companies, Ford Motor takes a microscopic approach towards reducing inefficiencies within its supply chain to cut costs, reduce fuel consumption and tackle those pesky carbon emissions. In a partnership with BASF, the latest tinkering in Ford’s supply chain involves the trim around the window switch in the company’s 2013 Fusion. This step is similar to moves Ford has taken in recent years to reduce its reliance on conventional plastics and find more sustainable materials for its automobiles’ interiors.

So how does a little piece of polymer make a difference?

Ford’s engineers worked with BASF to change the way these little parts are designed. Generally those plastic pieces in your car’s interior and on the dashboard are molded and then finished with a high-glass paint. But BASF created a resin that skips the painting step.

The result is a 50 percent cost reduction in that part’s price. But the new window switch trim also eliminates another step in Ford’s complex supply chain. Previously the part’s manufacturer in Kalamazoo, Michigan would ship these parts to a plant in Grand Rapids, where the switches were then painted and finished. Eliminating the painting process first reduces the amount of VOCs emitted into the atmosphere. But slashing those 128-mile round trip deliveries and pick-ups reduces the amount of diesel trucks required for those hauls. The amount may be small: 2700 gallons of diesel a year. But the end game for the environment is the reduction in a minimum of 59,000 pounds of CO2 from the Ford Fusion’s manufacturing annually.

“We need to leave no stone unturned in our continuous quest to make auto manufacturing as environmentally friendly as possible,” said Robert Bedard, a Ford Motor engineer. “This improved resin saves Ford significant dollars, but it also helps eliminate VOC from being released into the atmosphere, since the application of clear-coat paint is no longer required.”

What initially appears to be a tiny and insignificant process, however, can actually lead to large savings when replicated across a company’s supply chain. As companies turn over rocks to find savings everywhere they can while their customers demand more environmentally products--even in cars--even the tiniest park can score a brand new makeover.

Leon Kaye, based in Fresno, California, is a sustainability consultant and the editor of GreenGoPost.com. He also contributes to Guardian Sustainable Business, Inhabitat and Earth911. You can follow Leon and ask him questions on Twitter or Instagram (greengopost).

Image credit: Ford Motor.