Local auto plants trying to make up for lost production due to the Ambassador Bridge blockade are being hampered by parts shortages caused by COVID-19 related supply chain issues.
Stellantis’s Windsor Assembly Plant has been able to run as normal this week, but Ford’s Essex Engine Plant will only have been operational Monday and Tuesday this week. Next week Essex is scheduled to be down Monday and Friday.
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Ford’s Annex Engine Plant has been idle the entire week and will remain shuttered next week.
“Stellantis continues to work closely with our suppliers to mitigate the manufacturing impacts caused by the various supply chain issues facing our industry,” said Stellantis Head of Communications-Canada LouAnn Gosselin.
“Saturday production is scheduled at the Windsor Assembly Plant for both shifts. Production is scheduled for next week at this time.”
Gosselin has previously said the company will try to make up for production losses at plants affected by the Ambassador Bridge blockade over time as parts and microchips are available.
Unifor Local 200 President John D’Agnolo said the scheduled work at Windsor Assembly is good news for its many local feeder plants.
“When that plant runs, all the feeder plants run,” said D’Agnolo, whose local represents workers at the STM feeder plant along with the over 1,800 Unifor members at Ford’s engine plants.
“STM makes headliners for Chrysler, so when they’re going, STM was up and running again right away.”
D’Agnolo said the just-in-time delivery system has been restored to normal, but Ford continues to face parts and microchip shortages caused by COVID-19-related issues. However, the shortage of engine racks that developed during the bridge blockade is no longer an issue with border traffic flowing again.
“The Kentucky, Kansas City, Michigan plants and Ohio are running on two shifts instead of three or one instead of two,” D’Agnolo said.
“Essex supplies engines for Flat Rock Michigan (for the Mustang) and that plant is down for a model changeover.”
While a lack of certain parts has hampered production, D’Agnolo said it’s the microchip shortage that really continues to plague all automakers. He said he’s seen little or no improvement in the microchip supply.
“Detroit Chassis and Ohio Assembly run until they run out of microchips, so it’s unpredictable,” D’Agnolo said.
“We’re really working day to day. They’ve told us this issue is going to run well into this year.”
D’Agnolo said Ford is investing $20 billion in building its own microchip factory in partnership with Intel in Arizona. However, that provides no short-term solutions.
“They’ve given us no timetable on getting a domestic supply of chips,” D’Agnolo said. “Once we have those chips, we’ll be really busy.”
Despite the setbacks of the bridge blockade, D’Agnolo said the Windsor plants remain attractive to Ford because of their quality and productivity.
“We rank at the top of all their engine plants globally,” D’Agnolo said. “We have a meeting every three weeks with the Director of Powertrains and the stats usually have us on top for productivity and quality.
“That’s why we keep getting investments.”
Those latest investments are the introduction of the new 6.8-litre engine and the addition of a third shift at the Annex Plant.
Production of the 6.8-litre engine is scheduled to begin in the fall. D’Agnolo said by the end of the month about 50 new employees will have been hired.
“There’s more (hiring) coming, but we don’t have an exact number,” D’Agnolo said. “That number, which is fluctuating all the time, won’t come until closer to the fall.”
Ford currently has about 1,850 employees locally evenly split between its two plants. They turn out about 700 engines daily at the Annex and 956 daily at Essex Engine.
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