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Rightsizing and Management of Prototype Vehicle Testing at Ford Motor Company

Author

Listed:
  • Kenneth Chelst

    (Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, Wayne State University 4815 Fourth Street, Detroit, Michigan 48202)

  • John Sidelko

    (Amazon Platform, Ford Motor Company 17425 Federal Drive, Allen Park, Michigan 48101)

  • Alex Przebienda

    (Product Development Process Leadership, Ford Motor Company, 20901 Oakwood, PO Box 2053, Dearborn, Michigan 48121-2053)

  • Jeffrey Lockledge

    (Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, Wayne State University)

  • Dimitrios Mihailidis

    (Technological Education Institute of Crete Estavromenos, 71500, Heraklion, Crete)

Abstract

The prototype vehicles that Ford Motor Company uses to verify new designs are a major annual investment. A team of engineering managers studying for master's degrees in a Wayne State University program taught at Ford adapted a classroom set-covering example to begin development of the prototype optimization model (POM). Ford uses the POM and its related expert systems to budget, plan, and manage prototype test fleets and to maintain testing integrity, reducing annual prototype costs by more than $250 million. POM's first use on the European Transit vehicle reduced costs by an estimated $12 million. The model dramatically shortened the planning process, established global procedures, and created a common structure for dialogue between budgeting and engineering.

Suggested Citation

  • Kenneth Chelst & John Sidelko & Alex Przebienda & Jeffrey Lockledge & Dimitrios Mihailidis, 2001. "Rightsizing and Management of Prototype Vehicle Testing at Ford Motor Company," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 31(1), pages 91-107, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:orinte:v:31:y:2001:i:1:p:91-107
    DOI: 10.1287/inte.31.1.91.9687
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Daniel Reich & Yuhui Shi & Marina Epelman & Amy Cohn & Ellen Barnes & Kirk Arthurs & Erica Klampfl, 2016. "Scheduling Crash Tests at Ford Motor Company," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 46(5), pages 409-423, October.
    2. Nepal, Bimal & Lassan, Gregg & Drow, Baba & Chelst, Kenneth, 2009. "A set-covering model for optimizing selection of portfolio of microcontrollers in an automotive supplier company," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 193(1), pages 272-281, February.
    3. Shi, Yuhui & Reich, Daniel & Epelman, Marina & Klampfl, Erica & Cohn, Amy, 2017. "An analytical approach to prototype vehicle test scheduling," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 168-176.
    4. Christian Weckenborg & Karsten Kieckhäfer & Thomas S. Spengler & Patricia Bernstein, 2020. "The Volkswagen Pre-Production Center Applies Operations Research to Optimize Capacity Scheduling," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 50(2), pages 119-136, March.
    5. Bartels, J.-H. & Zimmermann, J., 2009. "Scheduling tests in automotive R&D projects," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 193(3), pages 805-819, March.

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