Ford giving Woodlawn stamping plant a $60 million vote of confidence

Ford Motor Co. will invest $60 million in its Woodlawn stamping plant, according to a United Auto Workers summary of a newly ratified contract.To get more news about Stamping steel parts, you can visit tenral.com official website.

The Route 5 plant, which has about 1,000 hourly and salaried workers, makes stamped metal parts for a variety of Ford vehicles. Under the new labor agreement that was ratified by union members last week, the mix of work done at the Hamburg plant will be changing.

The UAW contract summary says the Woodlawn plant will continue to stamp parts for the current models of the Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX, as well as add stampings for the new Edge. But the plant's production of parts for the F-150 and Super Duty will be transferred to other U.S. facilities.

The new investment represents a vote of confidence by Ford in the Woodlawn facility. Automakers' stamping plants are typically located near their assembly operations, to promote efficiency. The Woodlawn site, which opened in 1950, functions as a standalone operation. The plant ships stamped parts to a variety of Ford assembly facilities, including one in Oakville, Ont., just outside of Toronto. That distance, and the shipping costs, puts the Woodlawn plant at a natural disadvantage to sister plants that are closer to the assembly plants they supply.

The Detroit Three automakers often announce decisions about where to invest — and where not — at the time new labor contracts are negotiated. The new investments offer reassurance to plants that they figure into the automaker's production plans.Ford recently revealed it will close an engine plant in Romeo, Mich. GM's contract negotiations with the UAW were contentious in part because of the automaker's decision to close three of its U.S. plants; a fourth GM plant considered at risk of closing will instead survive, making all-electric pickup trucks.

The UAW in its summary of the four-year deal with Ford told members that its negotiators "pushed the company on the future of the Buffalo stamping plant."

"The company agreed that (the Buffalo stamping plant) is an important part of the business and will support Oakville [Ont.] and Ohio assembly plants during the 2019 agreement," the summary said. "The union and company will partner together to explore further opportunities for the Buffalo stamping plant."

The UAW contract summary didn't specify how the $60 million would be spent, and Kelli Felker, a Ford spokeswoman, declined to elaborate on Ford's planned investment in the Woodlawn plant.