Ford Motor Company of South Africa (FMCSA) has added a third production team to its assembly line manufacturing 1.3- and 1.6-litre RoCam engines for export to Europe and Asia, writes Dave Cumming.
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This will increase assembly to about 600 engines a day and the factory in Port Elizabeth has set itself a target of 240 000 engines for this year.
A staggered shift system has enabled the company to run the line for 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
When peak production is reached next year, the plant will produce 1 000 engines a day.
The factory is the sole world supplier of 1.3-litre RoCam engines and its establishment has been accompanied by considerable additional investment by component suppliers including Visteon (fuel charge assemblies), Atlantis Forge, Kolbenco, Bell Essex, Smiths Industries and Federal Mogul.
The factory employs 500 skilled workers and local content of the engines is now more than 80%.
