Winners Named in 2018 Global Manufacturing Technical Excellence Awards
The top Global Manufacturing Technical Excellence Award was presented to Paul Bojanowski, Bob Lorenz, Thomas Dionne, Dennis Hartzel, and Autis for their Weld Inspection Using 2D Profile Lasers project
Ford named the team behind “Weld Inspection Using 2D Profile Lasers” the overall winner in its 2018 Global Manufacturing Technical Excellence Awards. The team — consisting of Paul Bojanowski, Bob Lorenz, Thomas Dionne, Dennis Hartzel, and Autis — was the chosen winner out of four finalists, pared down from a field of 311 teams. The awards were handed out at a special ceremony held at Ford World Headquarters.
“Innovation is vital to Ford’s winning vision for manufacturing,” said Gary Johnson, group vice president, Manufacturing and Labor Affairs. “To win in this space, we must remain open in our pursuit of solutions by engaging people from a variety of backgrounds and across our organizations to ensure we are as cost-effective, as fast and ultimately as effective as possible.”
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In all, a record 1,244 Global Powertrain employees took part in this year’s Global Manufacturing Technical Excellence Awards challenge. The teams put together projects meant to innovate the way Ford does business, be it in terms of efficiency, quality, flexibility, or improving costs. Of the 311 teams, 62 were recognized for their achievements in regional ceremonies held in Europe, Asia Pacific, South America, and Mexico. Of that field, 12 teams were pushed through to the semifinals, which was then pared down to four teams.
Per Ford, the objective of the Weld Inspection Using 2D Profile Lasers team is as follows:
Prior to this project, axle tube welds were 100 percent manually inspected. Manual inspection is not completely reliable and cannot be used to show trends in quality. This technology application uses a 2D laser to provide variable distance data that can be stitched together to create a 3D image of the weld for various measurements and defects. Weld inspection results with the laser have provided greater defect detection and historical data availability.
Neat, huh?
This project won out over the teams “Crankshaft Laser Heat Process and Machine,” “The Utilization of Drones for Maintenance,” and “Rates & Routes Analytic Platform,” all of which sound like great band names.
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