1
Blind Student
Tak Top
. Writing Honor
Perseverance is th key to ucce
for University of Oklahoma graduate
tudent Kebbi Barr, a blind woman
who placed in the top 100 in a hort
tory cont t sponsored .by Wri ter'
Dig t.
"Blindnc bas made me a better
person," y Barr, who lost her sight
at age 25. "I would have gone day to
day without ever taking a chance. I
wanted more for myself than I did as
a ighted person. I'll always want
more - I'll never be sati fled."
Iraq: An Ethiopia
In the Making?
Hundreds of Iraqi children are
dying each month, and the world will
witness � tragedy like that which oc
curred in Ethiopia unless Iraq's
friends and enemies provide emer
gency support, says a University of
Oklahoma doctoral student who has
$tudied the region.
Iraq has the highest mortality rate
among its peer countries. Food is
extremely rare, and there is only one
doctor per 5,000 people in Iraq, said
AF. Alhajji. These conditions were
not caused by the Persian Gulf War,
but by Saddam Hussein's deliberate
cutbacks in health care, education
and agriculture, Alhajji says.
Look Before
You Leap 'Into
Older Home
I
Potential buyers of older homes
have many things to think about
before signing on the dotted line,
says historic preservationist Am
Henderson, a University of Ok
lahoma professor of architecture.
Before succumbing to the charms
of an older home, buyers hould
check the building's foundation,
wiring and the absence or presence
of central heating and air condition
ing. The buyer also must decide in
advance how much they are willing
to spend on renovation, Henderson
says.
"There is a que tion of livability.
what a person can tolerate." he says.
fRlfNOS DON'l lH fRlfNOS
DRIVf DRUNK.
us oI�
-About
d ncy 0 Loc I
Un on ofOp r
1b m dicallh pi tal i uran
for the 00 Operating Enginee for
the Bo rd co t over $2 million
annually veraging $4,100 each
operator.
Phil Schloop, Loc I 547
po man, said the ra quoted on
the Board' fact beet were "totally
erroneous. "
CLE TI D IC ,
Director of the Board' Housing
Phy ical Plant Management, id
engi ee hired by
, 357 live in Detroit, but
151 live in other pi in IOOin ·
<la.
en
am
n
-Twenty-nine
$40, and $4 •
- inety-three or over 23
percent m betw n 50, and
$71,
UNIO represents 550
engineers nd at least 125
supervi ors who manage
transportation, food and clerical
erives.
A 1990-91 fact beet provided
by the Board secretary' office
tates the following:
o P BLY, the
m imum nnual lary for
elementary and middle chool
principal w 59,580.
Ate cb rwith m ter' d gree
and ten year eniority wa
$45,082.
A teacher wi th Ie than a
Master's degree with ten years
eniority wa $39,289.
o I nd County - 40
comb County -
yn Cou - 7
Uv n ton County - 2
Huron County - 1
Can d -2 0 ro -357
Hermosillo is a process called Ouality
Deployment System (ODS), designed to
improve quality through extensive employee
involvement.
Ina recently published book called, The
Machine That Changed The Wor1d, M.I.T.,
one of the foremost engineering schools in
the U.S., reported that in a wor1d-wide survey
·-cGfWHd bet111WM111\f �� a 111N'1ftI�"1 '1t'B�
Ford MotOr Co.'s Stamping and Assembly in I
Hermosillo, Mexico, to be the highest quality
builder among 80 volume-producing plants,
including Japanese,
Technician Own Their Work
. ODS allows technicians "ownership" of
the jobs they perform. Supervisors give
assembly technicians basic goals and
objectives and
other key
information, such
as quality,
employee safety,
maintenance, basic
process and design
intent. Then, plant
management lets
the technician
determine and .
recommend the
best way to do the
job.
The employee
partiCipates directly
in developing the
process, safety and
maintenance
requirements of the
product.
By increasing
the ability to repeat
the job perfectly
each time, ODS
has proven to have .
a significan t effect
on plant quality.
Additionally,
Hermosillo officials
delegate a great
deal of authority to departmental work
groups, coroprised of assembly technicians,
regarding management of their
groups. The groups
elect team
leaders
employees underwent an extensive 700-hour
training program that, in addition to teaching
basic skills like welding, instructed them on
finer points of statistical analysis and
language HIs. .' �.
A number were sent to Mazda in Japan
for further training, and some even leamed
Japanese as a supplement to their English.
Although they were already among
Ford's best trained employees, the
technicians underwent another intensive
round of training to prepare for the all-new
1991 Mercury Tracer during the five month
changeover.
In addition to pre-launch
training, at any given
time, six percent of
Solid performance is provided by
Tracer's 1.9 liter engine featuring sequential
multi-port electronic fuel injection teamed .
with manual five-speed overdrive and
transaxte.
The L TS has a dual-overhead cam 1.8
liter engine with 16 valves that turns out an .
impressive 127 horsepower.
. Other L TS equipment includes a sport
handling suspension, power four-wheel disc
brakes, cast aluminum wheels, and 14-inch
low profile tires. An optional 4-speed .
. electronic overdrive transaxle is available 'on
all models.
the plant's 2,400 member workforce is
rotating through on-going training.
'We're always focusing on giving
people greater capability to control their
wor1d," said Felix Guillen, Hermosillo plant
manager.
Technology and automation also help
contribute to the overall quality of Mercury
Tracers built at Hermosillo. For example,
optical scanners make sure. that body parts
line up proper1y. If not, the scanner
automatically stops the line so any problem
can be corrected.
And, with the stamping plant attached
to the assembly plant, potential problems are
detected and remedied much eariier in the
cycle, thus preventing rework and waste.
Robots perform more than 80 percent
of the welding. As a result, the body
assemblies are accurate and
consistenny sound.
Hermosillo also boasts a
robotic painting system
and ·clean room" spray
booths, which help eliminate
dust in the paint area.
Robotic painters help
do away with paint surface
imperfections like runs, drips
and thin coverage. This resuns
in paint finishes that are
glossy, smooth and
durable.
"The mindset at
Hermosillo is that we
want to be the best we
can be, best-in-class,"
Guillen said.
Among Tracer's standard features are
four-wheel independent suspension, tinted
glass, AMlFM stereo radio, two speed
windshield wipers with fixed intermittent
feature, digital clock, center console, backlit
analog gauges, split fold rear seats, reclining
front seats and rear seat heat ducts .:
Options include power side windows,
power door locks, air condHioning, premium
sound system, power moonroof, speed
control and tilt steering column ..
The Tracer wagon offers almost 70
cubic feet of cargo space. Front drive and 4-
wheel independent suspension provide good
traction and handling, as well as a smooth
ride. Other standard wagon features include
power steering and brakes, dual electric
remote control mirrors, AMlF_M stereo
radio with digital clock, and defroster
and wiperlwasher for the rear window.
The 1992 Tracer interior features
an ergonomically-designed, wrap
around instrument panel. The roomy
interior provides 91 cubic feet of space
and five-passenger seating capacity.
It is equipped with a motorized shoulder
Th 1992 rcury Trac r
The 1992 Tracer produced at the
Hermosillo plant for Mercury comes in
three models: the four-door notchback
sedan, the performance-tuned L TS and
the versatile wagon.
The Tracer ItItJon wagon
belt restraint system with manual lap
belts in the front seats and manual three
point safety belts in the rear outboard
seats, with a center lap belt.
Technology Ind lutomatlon contribute to the
oy r II qU111ty of Trlcers built It Hermosillo.
In addition, among 105 plants, including
lUXUry car producers, the Hermosillo plant
ranked second only to Mercedes.
The plant, opened in November, 1986,
produces the Mercury Tracer.
The report did not come as a big
surprise to the proud Hermosillo plant
employees. As a matter of fact, the plant's
Stamping and Assembly served as a test
bed for manufacturing and quality techniques
that are now being transfused into the
worid-wide Ford manufacturing system.
Maintaining Th High Standard
Ford is unflagging in its efforts to try to
maintain the high standard that the
HermosUlo PI�nt has set f9r itself.
For example, to prepare for the launch
of the all new 1991 Mercury Tracer, the
company invested more than $300 million on
the plant's facilities and tooling, including an
expansion of �s stamping operations. It also
continued to enhance the quality-related
employee' programs that have been crucial to
the plant's success.
"Clearty," said Ford executives, "the
most important resource at Hermosillo is,
and has always been, its workforce."
Among the employee-oriented
programs Ford has implemented at
and participate in daily'decision-making
processes concerning job aSSignments and
job rotation of team members.
In addition to designing his own job, a
Hermosillo technician troubleshoots and
maintains his own. equipment, using his
training in such disciplines as electrical,
mechanical and pneumatic systems and
welding. In fact,during the retooling to produce
the current Mercury Tracer, Hermosillo
assembly technicians actually installed and
debugged the planfs new equipment.
Employee training remains high on the
agenda. Before their first day on the line: the
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