Home » Ford suspends Super Duty production in Louisville due to fire at out of state supplier

Ford suspends Super Duty production in Louisville due to fire at out of state supplier

DEARBORN, Mich. (May 9, 2018) – Due to a fire at a supplier in Michigan, Ford Motor Co. suspended F-Series Super Duty production at Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville. Ford expects Super Duty production to continue at Ohio Assembly Plant in Avon Lake.

Kentucky Truck Plant employs nearly 7,600 full-time hourly workers, having added 2,000 for Super Duty production in conjunction with a 2017 investment of $900 million.

Ford is working with its supply base to offset impacts of a fire that occurred at one of the company’s suppliers last week and is affecting the production of certain vehicles, due to a shortage of die-cast components, according to a news release posted on its website.

Parts shortages resulting from the fire at Meridian Magnesium Products of America’s plant supply issue is currently impacting F-150 and Super Duty production at Ford’s Kansas City Assembly, Dearborn Truck and Kentucky Truck plants.

“This is a fluid situation, but we are working closely with our supplier partners to do everything we can to limit the impact on our production,” said Joe Hinrichs, executive vice president and president of Global Operations. “It’s a full team effort and we’re confident that any impacts will be short term. The good news is we have strong inventories of our best-selling F-Series pickups and other vehicles, and customers won’t have a problem finding the model they want.”

Other impacts from the supply shortage, included suspension of F-150 production at Kansas City (Mo.) Assembly Plant and at the Dearborn (Mich) Truck Plant.

While the production shortage is expected to have an adverse impact on the company’s near term results, the company’s guidance of delivering an adjusted EPS in the range of $1.45 to $1.701 for the full year is unchanged.

Louisville’s Kentucky Truck Plant and Louisville Assembly Plant are it largest concentration of operations away from it home base in Dearborn, Mich. Ford designs, manufactures, markets and services a full line of Ford cars, trucks, SUVs, electrified vehicles and Lincoln luxury vehicles, provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company and is pursuing leadership positions in electrification, autonomous vehicles and mobility solutions. Ford employs approximately 202,000 people worldwide.

Ford in February announced a new $25 million investment at KTP for advanced manufacturing upgrades that include 400 new robots, enhanced data analytics to help the plant operate more efficiently and a new 3D printer that enables workers to make parts and tools more quickly and cheaper.