What 'chips' are the MMEs waiting for anyway?

[DYohn]

Okay Forget about Ford here as they are in the same boat as many manufactures in ~2020

TSMC are the only ones in the game and when they are at full capacity there is no more to give. Thus the global backlog, if Ford forecasted correctly (or gambled) they would have keep parts on order based on prior trends or new releases. Ford uses a "just in time manufacturing" model like most of the world.

Car Customer Orders = Parts orders, have a slow down in car orders you have a slow down in parts orders. It's not something I am making up here.

The modern auto industry is the extreme of JIT manufacturing. Ordering ahead of time and maintaining stock levels is unheard of. The global pandemic has disrupted all suply chains and the theory of JIT is being rethought in many sectors, not just the semiconductor industry (which is, by the way, where I still work. tsmc is one of our customers.)

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[HuntingPudel]

I would argue against JIT practices being a major player in this delay because there are so many of us who have had reservations and orders for quite a long time. Forecasting off of those reservations and orders should have secured the supply of all components necessary to satisfy the production/delivery schedules, since that is partially what JIT is about. Unless someone in Ford Procurement had a legendary failure, this delay has got to be more attributable to the supplier side than to Ford’s side.

 

[DYohn]

When supply chain lead times jump from 4 weeks to 26 weeks, to 60 weeks all bets are off for any and all manufacturing velocity planning. And that is not what happened to only the auto industry but to almost the entier electronics supply chain. Customers just need to relax and be patient. It's difficult, I know.

 

[machefan]

Ford actually did really well with rolling out the MME despite COVID. Production rolled when the rest of the world came to a halt. The delays now are minor in the grand scheme of things.

There are a ton of threads on this subject already so I won’t go into more details.

 

[blue92lx]

When supply chain lead times jump from 4 weeks to 26 weeks, to 60 weeks all bets are off for any and all manufacturing velocity planning. And that is not what happened to only the auto industry but to almost the entier electronics supply chain. Customers just need to relax and be patient. It's difficult, I know.

Come on DYohn, but which single chip specifically are we waiting on?

Lol people going crazy over the shortage. I get it, it's hard to get anything. As a cyclist bike shops were bare bone dry for bikes for months. I ordered a mountain bike and it took 4 months to deliver, that's a direct to consumer brand too without a store front. In May 2020 I ordered an ebike and literally got it two days ago.

As an IT professional there may be things available, maybe they aren't.

It's like people forget what's going on in the world as if this is Ford's fault. Really? How many manufacturers does Ford rely on to get parts just for the MME? All of those manufacturers are individually waiting on back logged parts.

And let's not assume "well then Ford should inhouse everything and that would fix it". On top of that being impossible to inhouse every single part, then the problem would be Ford would be waiting on the same supplies the manufacturers are waiting for right now.

Also, this isn't an issue with "ford should've ordered parts ahead of time". That's not a work around for COVID, a global pandemic no one saw coming.

I ordered my GT in June, I was hoping for end of 2021 but I totally understand the fact it may be 2022. You just have to sit back and say ok well that's how the world works right now. There's no reason to complain or ask which specific part, it's not one specific part.

Life sucks right now around the world for buying things, just be happy you have the luxury of actually ordering it at all.

 

[DYohn]

Come on DYohn, but which single chip specifically are we waiting on?

I don't work for Ford but I believe it's part number BR-549. Either that or OU812.

 

[JRinOAK]

Life sucks right now around the world for buying things, just be happy you have the luxury of actually ordering it at all.

I ordered a fridge from GE on 12/1/20 and still don't have a delivery date. Today is the two-month mark from dealer accepting my MME Premium order and no additional info has been provided.

Le sigh...

 

[fightinag]

I ordered a fridge from GE on 12/1/20 and still don't have a delivery date. Today is the two-month mark from dealer accepting my MME Premium order and no additional info has been provided.

Le sigh...

I ordered a fridge from GE on 12/1/20 and still don't have a delivery date. Today is the two-month mark from dealer accepting my MME Premium order and no additional info has been provided.

Le sigh...

I passed three months last week and have heard absolutely nothing from FORD.
Since I ordered in March I didnt get the dreaded "Further Delay" message from Ford.......yet !
At least Its not a Hard Top Bronco which may be held up 2 years till they redesign the hardtop

 

[trutolife27]

chips are in short supply just like Gatorade. Did you all know there is a massive shortage of Gatorade right now also. Heads up spices are going to strain for this upcoming holiday season also. So if there are certain spices you need for aunt Willams's special recipe, better get it.

 

[SyNRG]

You can add various school supplies to the list (shortage/delays) as well!!

 

[QUIN350]

[/QUOTE]Hey Ford, have any GT's shipped with the chips installed?
[/QUOTE]

My MME GT reached 'built' status on 8/9 and shipped with a dealer due date between 9/11 and 9/17.

 

[Pushrods&Capacitors]

To answer the OP’s question, I read that the MME modules in question are the TK421, THX 1138, and LUH 3417. Take that info. with a grain of salt. And popcorn perhaps.

 

[EELinneman]

So apparently Tesla suppliers can get chips?

Perhaps not
https://www.autonews.com/automakers...esas-and-bosch-over-problematic-chip-supplies

Then again, maybe they are willing to pay ADM!

 

[EELinneman]

It's not Ford's fault the chips are holding it up. It's Ford's lack of info that would make us at least try to feel a bit better about the wait that is bothersome. I could care less about $30 worth of extra free charging. I'd pay $30 to find out exactly what state my car is in and not some rumor based half information.

Hey Ford, have any GT's shipped with the chips installed?
Why is it so hard to tell if your order has chips or not?
What do the current ETA's actually mean? Real, or add 6 weeks, or what?

The email states a minimum of 6 weeks. It could be 6 months. One thing that Ford is absolutely horrible at is communication. This will be something that business schools use as an example.

 

[RetiredDP]

To answer the OP’s question, I read that the MME modules in question are the TK421, THX 1138, and LUH 3417. Take that info. with a grain of salt. And popcorn perhaps.

The THX-1138 module is the problem. Ford found out, under high-speed testing, that cars would get bad sensor readings in concrete tunnels, causing dramatic crashes. But I suspect that it's the Phase IV chips...they've been bug-filled from the start (Saul Bass was the designer, if you haven't heard of those chips).

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