Wall Street Journal
Wall Street Journal
| Situation | Ford is planning on debuting their 2015 F-150 to its consumers. Ford is really excited about their new material aluminum body and model release. Ford has developed a factory to fully optimize the use of aluminum as the body parts for their production run instead of steel. Aluminum is a very desirable metal because it is more malleable and elastic than steel. Aluminum can go places and create shapes that steel cannot, often forming deeper edges. The scraps of aluminum can be used to mold new parts as it is not degradable as compared to steel. The use of aluminum will mean that the truck will weighs 700 pounds less, it will be as much as 20% more fuel-efficient, and it can tow up to 11% more weight than its predecessor. The new F-150, which has been the best-selling truck in the U.S. since 1977 will accept preorder of trucks in September.
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| Idea | The idea is to produce an F-150 truck in a short time frame from aluminum that will enable the truck to be a light weight, ensures it is fuel efficient and it will be able to attract or target a new and broader market. |
| How It Works | So there are two different production plants. The Dearborn truck plant will start to make productions for these trucks and it will be stored in the warehouses until the release date. Employees are willing to work 7 days a week and a full 12 hour shift to help Ford hit the launch date. The plant can produce about 60 cars an hour by the end of the year. A second truck plant near Kansas City will begin to make the trucks early next year after installing new equipment to handle the aluminum construction. The excess sheets from the aluminum will be sent to be recycled. This process is termed as ‘fully closed loop’ recycling system.’ It will help reduce the cost of manufacturing. Aluminum companies pay 50% more per pound for separated alloys, which can be worth as much as 90% of the price of the original metal.
After production it will take about 15 days for our trucks to hit the dealerships. About 1200 miles by train before a car hauler takes it for another 150 miles to its destination. The new 2015 Ford F-150 will be priced $1000 higher than its other predecessors because of its technological improvement with its light weight and it ability to save gas by being 20% fuel efficient. $600 million is the estimated annual sales.
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| Reinforce Key Benefits | To touch back on basis on the selling of the Ford F-150, The truck will be made in a lighter material which will reduce the use of gas, it will also be able to pull 11 pounds more than its predecessors, and its production will also be easy with better logistics and organizational business process.
Aside the top benefits our customers will also be able to enjoy the improvement of the new incorporated technology in the trucks, hence they are also anticipating upon the release.
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| Suggest Easy Next Steps | The next step is inventory control and sales of the trucks. The dealership have promised customers a released date on which the trucks will be available and so the Ford company will ensure that the desired launched date will be reached with all the trucks ready for sale.
Customers who preordered should be granted their trucks and then commence with the marketing of the product on a global scale. Another step is Ford will ensure that all the information and car specifications such as MPG are well tested and is presented to the customer to better ourselves and maintain as number one in the truck industry. To move forward we will ensure that all our trucks are well inspected and tested to avoid recalls.
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