Order Scheduled for Production Date

[SnBGC]

A point of clarification. It is a $7,500 tax credit, not a $7,500 deduction against income.

....and it is "up to $7500". Some may not qualify for the full amount.

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[MJMachForum]

Here’s an article from 2016 that details Ford’s shipping strategy.

https://www.automotivelogistics.med...g-the-pace-of-vehicle-logistics/15951.article

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

THANKS!!!! I kind of thought geography would have an impact. Do you think all of the cars will be trucked from Mexico to dealers???

this going to be an off the rails SELFISH question. On the 11/30 date which is all CA can you break it down by SoCal/NorCal??

I am finding the delivery aspect fascinating. Not so much what day is my car going to be here but rather the thought pattern into why these cars first.

it appears that Ford is trying to get cars to all parts of the US. This makes sense as SYNC 4 said it would use data from ALL cars to make adjustments for temp, weather etc so that the range that you have is as accurate as possible. Having data from every climate in the US will give first impression data. Various trim
Levels and engine sizes also makes sense as it provides a different kind of specific data.

please keep us informed as much as possible.

do you know of in these deliveries are they mixed between dealership test cars and customer cars???

My bet would be the MMEs are moved via truck or train to a central distribution center (or hub) where they’re then moved to regional distribution centers and finall trucked to dealers. As convoluted as that might sound. It’s actually reasonably efficient and cost effective.

 

[timbop]

Here’s an article from 2016 that details Ford’s shipping strategy.

https://www.automotivelogistics.med...g-the-pace-of-vehicle-logistics/15951.article

Thanks for posting. That article suggest that rail IS the largest conduit to the US, which is different than what we initially were told.

 

[Jim_I]

Thanks for posting. That article suggest that rail IS the largest conduit to the US, which is different than what we initially were told.

That article is also 4 years old......

Things change!

Jim

 

[Jimrpa]

Interesting, when I plug my VIN in there it says my order is still just "confirmed" (even though I have a build date) and the order # shown (4272) is different from any number on my order I've seen before.

Oh and if I plug my VIN into the window sticker URL it errors out with "the window sticker hasn't been released yet" or some such thing.

What is the window sticker URL please?

 

[agoldman]

If the theory of geographical is right, then why is it so haphazard within that? Many cars in some of those same states are not assigned yet, when the timeline quickly moved to December and even later. It doesn't really make sense.

Could it be first by order date, then by production line type, then geographical? To me it would seem more logical to have the production line setup be the overriding factor, and then the place in line. What that does to the FE, seems to just make it another trim level, and not a "first out" selection. And the FE "Drops" seem to be more or less either scattered in or completely missing so far (as is mine which would lend itself to the time of order placed theory). I wish someone in the know could comment on how they are actually going about this. You would think they must have some reason in the otherwise seemingly randomness.

 

[ChasingCoral]

If the theory of geographical is right, then why is it so haphazard within that? Many cars in some of those same states are not assigned yet, when the timeline quickly moved to December and even later. It doesn't really make sense.

Could it be first by order date, then by production line type, then geographical? To me it would seem more logical to have the production line setup be the overriding factor, and then the place in line. What that does to the FE, seems to just make it another trim level, and not a "first out" selection. And the FE "Drops" seem to be more or less either scattered in or completely missing so far (as is mine which would lend itself to the time of order placed theory). I wish someone in the know could comment on how they are actually going about this. You would think they must have some reason in the otherwise seemingly randomness.

Let's assume they are trucking out the cars. Batching enough orders to fill a truck or two or three to a given destination is efficient. Batching all the cars going to the same destination means you have partial trucks -- not efficient. All trucks don't go to all places. Some transport companies work regionally, so you may contract with one company for CA and another for NY. I'm confident Ford's logistics team is involved to keep this efficient.

Feel free to look at the entries yourself and see if you can find any support for your hypothesis. That's not what I saw when I pulled them up.
https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/submitted-orders-tracking-list-and-stats-enter-yours.924/

Your comment about FEs assumes they will dribble FEs out throughout the year. If the FEs are all produced in the first few months but done in a way to keep early production efficient, they are still coming out at the start, just not the absolute first.

Read posts by @trutolife27 and others on assembly line efficiency. Running all the same exact models together is less efficient than mixing and matching models to balance time spent in various build stations.

 

[agoldman]

I get all that you are saying, but it still seems haphazard to me. Maybe this will all become apparent soon. On the other hand, isn't it possible that the production line just starts filling up the parking lot for later batch shipment scheduling? When I have had custom new model Ford orders in prior years, that seems to be what they normally do.

 

[ChasingCoral]

I get all that you are saying, but it still seems haphazard to me. Maybe this will all become apparent soon. On the other hand, isn't it possible that the production line just starts filling up the parking lot for later batch shipment scheduling? When I have had custom new model Ford orders in prior years, that seems to be what they normally do.

Sure. If that were the case then they would just be looking to maximize line efficiency.

 

[dbsb3233]

If the theory of geographical is right, then why is it so haphazard within that? Many cars in some of those same states are not assigned yet, when the timeline quickly moved to December and even later. It doesn't really make sense.

Could it be first by order date, then by production line type, then geographical? To me it would seem more logical to have the production line setup be the overriding factor, and then the place in line. What that does to the FE, seems to just make it another trim level, and not a "first out" selection. And the FE "Drops" seem to be more or less either scattered in or completely missing so far (as is mine which would lend itself to the time of order placed theory). I wish someone in the know could comment on how they are actually going about this. You would think they must have some reason in the otherwise seemingly randomness.

I've about given up on trying to figure out delivery timing (especially the Machdrops). It's just a exercise in frustration now.

 

[JellyBelly]

I've about given up on trying to figure out delivery timing (especially the Machdrops). It's just a exercise in frustration now.

The original theory was that some number of unconverted cars or some additional ones (? if true) were given owner names under the MachDrop - that was teh understanding/premise and made sense at that time because the going theory was that the cars were anyway going to be made. The MachDrop makes no sense to me now knowing that they are not first delivered (still dont know that but very likely not delivered in first batch) and no production dates yet -

Off all the production dates seen so far, the FEs strategy seems confusing to me - not all early reservations of FEs have dates nor first build dates, so other than red calipers and blue color what exactly is the value Ford is assigning to this model is not clear to me.

 

[dbsb3233]

Off all the production dates seen so far, the FEs strategy seems confusing to me - not all early reservations of FEs have dates nor first build dates, so other than red calipers and blue color what exactly is the value Ford is assigning to this model is not clear to me.

To make an extra $3600 for a little paint, apparently.

 

[timbop]

I get all that you are saying, but it still seems haphazard to me.

It seems haphazard to us because we have 1% of the information that goes into the scheduling. I guarantee there are a large number of variables that go into the scheduling, and there is zero chance that Ford is doing it randomly. Suppliers, carriers, regulations, inspections, and a hundred other factors have to be juggled.

 

[highland58]

So far we have 58 orders in the tracking database (out of 345) that have build dates. Based on that what I see is a start of a geographic pattern but that breaks down fairly quickly:
2020
11/11(?) WA-1
11/20(?) Netherlands-1
11/23 CA-2 & OH-2
11/30 CA-10
12/1(?) CA-1
12/7 MI-3 IA-1 IL-1 TX-1
12/14 AZ-2 FL-3 GA-1 IL-1 MD-2 MN-1 NJ-1 TX-1 WA-3
12/21 AZ-1 CA-2 CO-1 IL-1 MA-1 MD-3 MI-1 MN-2 NC-1 SC-1 TX-1 VA-2 WA-2
2021
2/1(?) PA-1
@makooy has indicated lots of November build dates for Dutch cars (not on our sheet)

Each production week is mostly ER with some SR
Most weeks have both AWD and RWD
Most weeks are a mix of Premiums and FEs, with a few CA Route 1s tossed in
I see no selects so far
Order numbers seem to follow no pattern across these weeks.
Color seems to follow no pattern.

So, either build timing is totally random (highly doubtful) or they are somewhat ordered geographically with a mix of build types for line balancing.

As we really don't know details about shipping other than my source indicating they no longer load on trains at Cuautitlan, they may be batching localities for shipment efficiency. Also, build order may not determine shipping order. However, adding the complexity of re-locating cars in a parking lot to pull them out of order seems unlikely.

The 11/11 was my wishful thinking, not valid. I have requested that record (line 266) be removed. If and when I get an FE scheduled with a VIN, I will have a line added back.

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