Ford's color, materials team broadens its palette

DETROIT — Even as Ford Motor Co.'s factory workers begin going back on the job this week, thousands of salaried employees might remain homebound into July.

Among them is a team of a half-dozen color and materials designers who continue to make the paints, leathers, vinyls and carpeting match on everything from the EcoSport to the Expedition, even from their basements and living rooms.

Continuing work while locked out of their normal studio space has been a challenge.

The designers are coordinating near-daily deliveries of color swatches and material patterns from dozens of suppliers to their homes. They have ad-libbed validation tests by using special handheld color-correction lights and jeweler lenses to inspect samples.

Red shirts are a no-no; bright colors could reflect off the swatches and make testing difficult. They're also instructed to work in parts of their home with neutral tones.

Still, the makeshift setup — common for workers throughout the auto industry in the age of COVID-19 — allows Ford's designers to keep operating near full capacity, ensuring both prototype and production vehicle programs remain on track.

"We've gotten a lot of positive feedback," Allen Brown, Ford's color and materials design manager, told Automotive News. "I got a sense that it was almost a sense of relief [from suppliers] that we were still operating at capacity, engaging them and requiring them to do stuff. It takes a little longer, but it's still moving, getting the suppliers what they need to get the parts to go into the vehicle."

The early days of the work-from-home experiment were rocky, Brown said, as Ford attempted to redirect supplier deliveries to workers' homes.

Ford also had to scramble to order and expedite delivery of $150 handheld lights, which they had previously experimented with in-studio.

But after the initial stretch, which Brown described as a "shock to the system," workers got in a groove.

The designers spend most days validating samples, making sure the color on a Mustang's headliner, for example, matches the color on the pillars.

They're also working with suppliers on vehicles further out in Ford's product pipeline, creating new hues to sell alongside the Grabber Blue, Twister Orange and Race Red offered today.

Brown said his team is still evaluating when it might safely return to the office.

"We're 80 percent functioning, but that 20 percent is needed," he said. "The team wants to get back to do those things."

Still, the experience since mid-March has him confident that they can continue to work effectively should the arrangement last into the summer.

For now, the workers will continue to adapt to their new normal. Some, Brown said, have had to explain to neighbors why FedEx and UPS trucks were pulling into their driveways multiple times a day.

"I think we've all become a little closer with our delivery people," he said.