Wayne Stamping & Assembly
Encyclopedia
The Wayne Stamping and Assembly Plant is a Ford
manufacturing plant in Wayne, Michigan
, United States
producing Ford Focus vehicles. Past products have included Galaxie
, Mercury
, Edsel
, Maverick
, Lincoln
, Escort/Lynx/EXP, Granada/Monarch
and Versailles
. Many of its more than 3,000 employees are represented by UAW Local 900
.
(with and without robots
) and sealing of sheet metal body components, metal finishing (sanding and surface preparation), phosphate coating, painting, and final assembly.
The facility is now part of the Michigan Assembly Plant, which currently builds the next-generation Focus.
and Wayne allows landfill gas
from Woodland Meadows Landfill to be collected, compressed, and sent through underground piping to the plant. The boilers burn a combination of natural gas
and landfill gas
to create steam for use in the plant. The landfill
gas also powers three engine generators, which produce approximately 2.4 megawatts of electricity. The electricity is sent to Detroit Edison's grid system
using a step-up transformer. Flaring of the landfill gas is minimized in turn reducing emissions from the landfill. Exhaust from the engines is recycled via ducts to the boilers' fireboxes; the combustion in the boilers acts as a re-burn cycle to further reduce the emissions from the engines. The 2 MMBTU per hour of recovered heat from the engines means less gas in the boilers, reducing energy consumption and emissions. The partnership of Ford and Detroit Edison gives the utility company an electricity source from garbage that displaces coal-fired power.
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
manufacturing plant in Wayne, Michigan
Wayne, Michigan
Wayne is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan, southwest of Detroit. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 17,593...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
producing Ford Focus vehicles. Past products have included Galaxie
Ford Galaxie
The Ford Galaxie was a full-size car built in the United States by the Ford Motor Company for model years 1959 through 1974. The name was used for the top models in Ford’s full-size range from 1959 until 1961, in a marketing attempt to appeal to the excitement surrounding the Space Race...
, Mercury
Mercury (automobile)
Mercury was an automobile marque of the Ford Motor Company launched in 1938 by Edsel Ford, son of Henry Ford, to market entry-level luxury cars slotted between Ford-branded regular models and Lincoln-branded luxury vehicles, similar to General Motors' Buick brand, and Chrysler's namesake brand...
, Edsel
Edsel
The Edsel was an automobile manufactured by the Ford Motor Company during the 1958, 1959, and 1960 model years. The Edsel never gained popularity with contemporary American car buyers and sold poorly. Consequently, the Ford Motor Company lost millions of dollars on the Edsel's development,...
, Maverick
Ford Maverick (North America)
The Ford Maverick was a compact car manufactured from April 1969-1977 in the United States, Canada, Mexico and from 1973-1979 in Brazil — employing a rear wheel drive platform dating to the original 1960 Falcon...
, Lincoln
Lincoln (automobile)
Lincoln is an American luxury vehicle brand of the Ford Motor Company. Lincoln vehicles are sold mostly in North America.-History:The company was founded in August 1915 by Henry M. Leland, one of the founders of Cadillac . During World War I, he left Cadillac which was sold to General Motors...
, Escort/Lynx/EXP, Granada/Monarch
Ford Granada (North America)
The Ford Granada was a mid-size car built and marketed by Ford Motor Company in North America from 1975–1982, along with its sister models, the Mercury Monarch, and Lincoln Versailles. The Granada was touted by Ford as a rival to the similarly sized Mercedes-Benz 280 of the time. The Granada and...
and Versailles
Lincoln Versailles
This is about the Lincoln vehicle produced using the Versailles nameplate. For the Ford vehicles sold under the same nameplate, see Ford Versailles...
. Many of its more than 3,000 employees are represented by UAW Local 900
United Auto Workers
The International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, better known as the United Auto Workers , is a labor union which represents workers in the United States and Puerto Rico, and formerly in Canada. Founded as part of the Congress of Industrial...
.
Facility description
The 3500000 square feet (325,160.6 m²) plant opened in 1952 on 229 acre (0.92673094 km²), and integrates both stamping and assembly operations. Assembled body units and stamped body components are transferred from the stamping/body area of one building to the paint and assembly area of the adjacent building via an overpass bridge. The assembly process includes weldingWelding
Welding is a fabrication or sculptural process that joins materials, usually metals or thermoplastics, by causing coalescence. This is often done by melting the workpieces and adding a filler material to form a pool of molten material that cools to become a strong joint, with pressure sometimes...
(with and without robots
Robot welding
Robot welding is the use of mechanized programmable tools , which completely automate a welding process by both performing the weld and handling the part. Processes such as gas metal arc welding, while often automated, are not necessarily equivalent to robot welding, since a human operator...
) and sealing of sheet metal body components, metal finishing (sanding and surface preparation), phosphate coating, painting, and final assembly.
The facility is now part of the Michigan Assembly Plant, which currently builds the next-generation Focus.
Environmental issues
A long-term agreement between Detroit EdisonDetroit Edison
The Detroit Edison Company, founded in 1903, is an investor-owned electric utility which serves most of Southeast Michigan. Its parent company, DTE Energy , provides energy services to a variety of clients beyond Detroit Edison's service area.- History :...
and Wayne allows landfill gas
Landfill gas
Landfill gas is a complex mix of different gases created by the action of microorganisms within a landfill.-Production:Landfill gas production results from chemical reactions and microbes acting upon the waste as the putrescible materials begins to break down in the landfill...
from Woodland Meadows Landfill to be collected, compressed, and sent through underground piping to the plant. The boilers burn a combination of natural gas
Natural gas
Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...
and landfill gas
Landfill gas
Landfill gas is a complex mix of different gases created by the action of microorganisms within a landfill.-Production:Landfill gas production results from chemical reactions and microbes acting upon the waste as the putrescible materials begins to break down in the landfill...
to create steam for use in the plant. The landfill
Landfill
A landfill site , is a site for the disposal of waste materials by burial and is the oldest form of waste treatment...
gas also powers three engine generators, which produce approximately 2.4 megawatts of electricity. The electricity is sent to Detroit Edison's grid system
Electric power transmission
Electric-power transmission is the bulk transfer of electrical energy, from generating power plants to Electrical substations located near demand centers...
using a step-up transformer. Flaring of the landfill gas is minimized in turn reducing emissions from the landfill. Exhaust from the engines is recycled via ducts to the boilers' fireboxes; the combustion in the boilers acts as a re-burn cycle to further reduce the emissions from the engines. The 2 MMBTU per hour of recovered heat from the engines means less gas in the boilers, reducing energy consumption and emissions. The partnership of Ford and Detroit Edison gives the utility company an electricity source from garbage that displaces coal-fired power.