Ford Motor Co. celebrates 'miraculous' effort to restart production after Meridian fire

Imagine if a multi-billion dollar company like Nike or Coca-Cola was forced to stop production for more than a week.

That was the reality for Ford Motor Co., after a May 2 fire severely damaged the main plant at the Meridian Magnesium Products of America factory in Eaton Rapids, Mich.

During the2018 APMA Annual Conference and Exhibition on Wednesday, the company reflected on resumingproduction of their most popular vehicle theF-150.

Restoring order

Fordwas forced to pull the plug on production of its most profitable truck one week after the fire.

The Windsor Engine plant saw shortened shifts and the Essex Engine plant saw shifts completely cut. In total, production of the F-series was completely halted for nine days.

"The F-seriesalone is a Fortune 100 company. So it's a big deal. We looked at the revenue of the F-series and it's bigger than Coca-Cola or Nike, so when you shut that business down for seven to nine days, it gets a lot of attention," saidJoeHinrichs, Ford's VP of global operations.

The company called it a "global effort," scouring the world for magnesium to help build parts while the Meridian plant was out of service.

Ford Motor Co. even moved "87,000-pound" moulding machines, called dyes, from Michigan to the U.K with the help of Antanovssome of the world's largest airplanes.

"Frankly, it was a miraculous recovery,"Hinrichs said.

Elephant in the room

The conference was focused oninnovation in the manufacturing of partsbut there was a different topic on everybody's mind tariffs.

Peter Hall,Export Development Canada's chief economist and the conference's keynote speaker, said some companies will be looking at taking "riskless" moves which could mean cost-cutting and job losses.

"What does an average guy do when they think their job might be in jeopardy? They hold back. They save more. They try to get more prudent," Hall said.

"They are preparing for an anticipated rainy day that's coming up."

That rainy day will come July1.

That's the day customers will notice prices rise because of the retaliatorytariffs Canada has placed on U.S. products like yogurt, coffee and whiskey.