Touring The Ford F-150 Lightning Factory

In the last two weeks, I was wondering what was happening with the Ford F-150 Lightning because in November to January production was temporarily paused. Then, there was a flurry of news activity about the pause, but not so much lately about the resumption of production. Zach may have read my mind, because he wrote an article about Lightning sales without any communication from me.

Now, there is a YouTube video with a tour of the Ford Lightning factory. There were many interesting details, but what stood out was when the tour guide, Rob, explained that Ford takes customer feedback and sincerely considers it when making adjustments to the Lightning. Kyle from “Out of Spec Reviews” compliments Ford about taking Lighting feedback from Lightning customers and using it on the electric trucks. While the tour details are engaging, particularly how well-orchestrated all the various robot vehicles and technologies collaborate, the simple and very effective practice of taking feedback and applying it may be a more human key practice. While this practice may sound of little consequence, just consider if you have purchased a product or service where your feedback was ignored or dismissed. 

One, dismissing customer feedback frustrates and/or angers customers who may then tell their family members or friends. They also may post their comments in online reviews or on social media. Two, ignoring customer feedback means it can not be utilized effectively to improve products or services. Customers can and do make comments that can be considered and used appropriately. The comments are often made in earnest and they are free.

In her book, Thinking in Bets, Annie Duke described a poker player named Nic the Greek who had one strategy. He would stick to that regardless of the poker hands he played and their results. In other words, he was not taking in the feedback from his poker playing and continually updating his mental model. Consequently, he didn’t learn much from playing poker.

Some individuals go through life like this, not observing, learning and make adjustments. Some companies also do not take feedback and update their products, strategies, plans, knowledge, skills, and competencies. It’s great to see Ford is doing that with the Lightning.

The Lighting tour is pretty fascinating — but that one comment about customer feedback, and one might say, customer collaboration, is an astute one that is a key part of why Ford may be on the money.

Another highlight was learning that the assembly process, in some parts, is fitted to the ergonomics of the operators in the factories — the employees who build the electric trucks — so that they can do their jobs effectively and safely. The operators also provide feedback on their parts of the truck-building processes and that feedback, like the customer feedback, is also used.

Before watching Kyle’s Lightning video, I was already partial to the Lightning. This may be  because one of my senior relatives had an old Ford pickup truck on a farm that lasted for decades. It was simple, tough, and effective. Conventional electric pickups such as the Lightning, Silverado EV, and Rivians that look like traditional trucks may have greater mass market appeal. The Cybertruck may have less interest, or much less, following Mr. Musk’s foray into politics and government operations. Let’s see where the market goes.