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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Thursday, November 7, 2013 | 4 Quality is Job 1 at Oakville Assembly Complex by David Lea Oakville Beaver Staff Spotlight "Connected to your Community" I Ford vehicles through the years: from top to bottom, the 1955 Mercury Montclair hardtop; the 1958 Edsel Ranger two-door sedan; the 1964 Falcon; and the 1972 Gran Torino two-door hardtop. | photos courtesy Ford of Canada t has been 60 years since the rst car (a Ford Custom) rolled off the line at Ford Motor Company of Canada, Limited's Oakville Assembly Complex (OAC). Since that time, the local landmark, which makes its home with Ford Canada's headquarters on The Canadian Road, has seen no shortage of change. Exactly how far the plant has come, and where it is going, was discussed recently when the complex opened its doors to give the Oakville Beaver a tour of the facility, which produced its one millionth Ford Edge in June of this year. To the untrained eye, the beehive of activity that is the interior of the assembly plant can appear chaotic, especially in the body shop area, where eets of forklifts and other vehicles are almost constantly on the move, transporting vehicle parts to various destinations. Upon closer examination, however, it soon becomes clear there is order in the chaos. Launch Planning & Workforce Readiness Leader Alan Cervoni compares the production to a symphony orchestra. "The right parts have to go in the right car at the right time," he said. Sixty years ago, in 1953, Ford's Oakville Assembly Plant opened to much fanfare and excitement -- a time remembered fondly by Doug McDonald, 82, who landed a job preparing material for the assembly line that year. McDonald said the Ford plant and the jobs it brought completely changed the local landscape. "Most of the people didn't live in Oakville when the plant opened because Oakville was so small," recalled McDonald. "A lot of them bought houses. Most of the foremen were from places like Windsor when I started." McDonald would go on to work in a variety of jobs at the plant, including forklift driver and product inspector, until his retirement in 1992. During his years with Ford, McDonald witnessed the rise of automation and the launch of many different vehicle models -- from the Meteor and Windstar to the Gran Torino and Tempo. McDonald said he is pleased to see the plant reach its 60th anniversary. "I hope it lasts another 100 years," he said. "We need Ford." Much like the ongoing hum of the assembly line, the changes kept rolling at Ford after McDonald's retirement. The facility became a exible manufacturing site in 2004 following a $1-billion investment by Ford of Canada. This in ux of cash enabled the introduction of re-programmable and quick-change tooling, which allows the complex to build multiple vehicle models so it can change the mix, volume and options of products more readily in response to consumer demand. The results have been positive. see The on p.6 Ford vehicles through the years: from top to bottom, the 1984 Tempo fourdoor; the 1998 Windstar; the 2004 Freestar; and the 2013 Flex. | photos courtesy Ford of Canada Volume 51 | Number 133 467 Speers Road, Oakville ON (905) 845-3824 Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council. The council is located at 80 Gould St., Suite 206, Toronto, Ont., M5B 2M7. Phone (416) 340-1981. Advertising is accepted on the condition that, in the event of a typographical error, that portion of advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate. The publisher reserves the right to categorize advertisements or decline. Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. NEIL OLIVER Vice ­President and Group Publisher DAVID HARVEY Regional General Manager JILL DAVIS Halton Region Editor in Chief Editorial Department: (905) 632-0588 Advertising Department (905) 845-3824 Classi ed Advertising: (905) 632-4444 Circulation: 5300 Harvester Rd., Burlington (905) 631-6095 DANIEL BAIRD Director of Advertising ANGELA BLACKBURN Managing Editor