[bell-cot]

> Still, part of the problem for the shortage of manufacturing jobs is the lack of education and training, according to Farley. He noted, for example, learning to take a diesel engine out of a Ford Super Duty truck takes at least five years. The current system is not meeting the standard, he added.

Sounds like Ford's #1 problem is failure to train its engineers, in how to design reasonably maintainable vehicles.

[mring33621]

Many modern cars are not designed to be easily worked on. I think the priority is ease/cost of initial assembly, only.

My 2010 Mercedes had headlight bulbs that died frequently. But there was no way for a human to reach in and replace them, without either some special tool or disassembling a bunch of stuff at the front of the car. Just one example. You can find many similar complaints elsewhere.

[AngryData]

I had friends that bought a pair of Malibus, those require you to take off the entire front bumper to replace, and even worse they regularly burnt out bulbs and eventually melted the bulb connectors. I was so glad when they got rid of those PoS.

[doubled112]

My father in law had once of those

Step one, remove car from bulb. Step two, replace bulb. Step three, assemble in reverse order.

[robinwassen]

Last maintenance I did on my Volvo was to replace the battery which should be quick for a non-mechanic as myself.

I spent more time building a make shift tool to detach/attach the battery than I did actual work. This due to them placing a bolt really bad so you can't access it with a normal wrench.

Not offering a paid upgrade to a 4G modem for the app features when they kill the 3G network in Sweden is also a bummer (they do in the US though, guess they are afraid of law suits).

I like the car in general, but they do some bad decisions that make me look at other brands when considering a new car.

[bell-cot]

Sounds like my 2002 VW's headlights. And several of its other systems...

I replaced that VW with a Honda in 2010, and will never buy another "German Engineering" car.

[WarOnPrivacy]

>> Still, part of the problem for the shortage of manufacturing jobs is the lack of education and training, according to Farley.

>> He noted, for example, learning to take a diesel engine out of a Ford Super Duty truck takes at least five years.

>> The current system is not meeting the standard, he added.

I fully agree with your opinion .... but this guy's quote is bizarre.

What system is failing to meet the 5-years-to-learn-how-to-remove-one-particular-engine standard?

High school trades? Community college? Private $xx,000 high-debt mechanic school?

None of these are remotely capable of teaching Ford's hyper-narrow specialization. Trying to would be a disaster.

[bell-cot]

> What system is failing to meet...

Not Applicable. If it somehow took an engineering degree to toast a Pop-Tart, the "failing to meet" would have nothing whatsoever to do with any education system for engineers.

EDIT: On another read...I'd say the bizarre quote is just Farley desperately trying to throw the blame somewhere, somewhere far away from where it belongs - with him and Ford.

[toomuchtodo]

The solution is simple, right? Ford should be offering paid training and a talent pipeline, to build this talent pool that they supposedly need. Why don't they? Are they willing to spend the investment required? These are the root causes of the system failure imho, everyone (current state, US specific) wants the best talent possible at the cheapest possible cost, on demand with as little long term economic obligation or liability possible.

[jleyank]

Is the way the Ford engine is installed standard in some way, or does it take 5 years for a Ford engine, 5 for a GMC, ...? Cuz if it's unique to Ford, it's a Ford problem, not a trade school problem.

[bogomipblips]

Looking for book time, etc, ford doesn't seem likely to be as high complexity as similar large diesel.. I think the issue is similar to workstation repair vs PC repair.. 5 years learning this is instead of making a similar hourly rate on higher volumes of cars, risking that others are trying to close that gap too and wondering how long that skill as it is stays stably useful.