Ford F150-I'm Done.

[Red Horse]

Aside from local tax incentives, our current administration pushed $9B into our domestic auto industry in order to make products more fuel efficient. Ford was best positioned to take advantage of those monies since, at the time, it was redesigned its entire model line and developing new manufacturing processes and drivetrains.

The F150 had the highest American parts assembly in the USA back in 2014. The Most All-American Car Makers? Toyota and Honda - Corporate Intelligence - WSJ

Now the highest domestic parts assembly is the Toyota Camry. The 216 Cars.com American-Made Index

Trouble is that the parts on many of these products are manufactured elsewhere while domestic workers are simple parts assemblers.

I've a friend who wanted to bring foundry work he has been doing back from Taiwan to Minnesota and the regulations made it so cost prohibitive that it just didn't make any sense for him to do so. Too bad as it would have created some good jobs in our little community.

The casting-foundry -business has to be one of the ones most impacted by US regs. Perhaps the new administration will do something to bring about a bit more realistic approach to environmental standards. Hopefully we can get some industry back here. Amazing when you see such conditions in China and India that people are walking around with masks on. Perhaps a fraction of our environmental standards would help these people out.

 

[94BULLITT]

Another downfall of the industry is the fact folk still think parts assemblers can be a future career. Assembling parts into sandwiches is what kids do at McDonalds. There is no skilled labor involved in assembly line work. Engineers engineer the work out of the jobs so it's as near impossible to mess up as possible.

McDonald's is talking about going automated. Someway a machine will automatically dump the fries.

I'm sure you have seen their drink setup in the drive thru.

 

[Sysop]

Yep, and all other assembly lines are going the same way. Anyone who feels assembly line work is the "future of the American worker" is mistaken. Most assembly line work will be a minimum wage gig, or should be, within about 10 years. We need to be training engineers to create and maintain these lines.

 

[dodge man]

I have never worked in a factory, but been in them a few days through my job as a land surveyor. Just from what I have observed, there is a lot more work involved in making products than most people think. People think cars just put them selves together on some robot assembley line. There is a lot more skill and labor involved than most people envision.

 

[dragoneggs]

I have never worked in a factory, but been in them a few days through my job as a land surveyor. Just from what I have observed, there is a lot more work involved in making products than most people think. People think cars just put them selves together on some robot assembley line. There is a lot more skill and labor involved than most people envision.

Most of the skill/labor in well running factories is machine/tool design, build, maintenance, etc.

 

[ProjectKing]

I have never worked in a factory, but been in them a few days through my job as a land surveyor. Just from what I have observed, there is a lot more work involved in making products than most people think. People think cars just put them selves together on some robot assembley line. There is a lot more skill and labor involved than most people envision.

You are absolutely correct. Making quality trouble free automobiles is a real challenge. The workers that assemble them are highly trained and high skilled.

 

[ProjectKing]

Most of the skill/labor in well running factories is machine/tool design, build, maintenance, etc.

Much more than that in automotive plants.

 

[sld]

I know for sure that aircraft mechanics are very highly skilled. Amazing what they can do pretty much error free all the time.

But, I have seen a few bad ones too.

 

[dragoneggs]

Much more than that in automotive plants.

True enough... I am thinking more of true manufacturing vs. assembly.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

I live in central Texas. The train tracks that go through my town go north and south. They come back full of vehicles from Mexico. The brand I see most often is Dodge and Jeep, but many others.

I saw that the new small Buick SUV is going to be totally made in China and shipped here. I wonder what a new one costs here vs. on a Chinese showroom floor?