Micro chip hold causing delivery delays

[Seatmandan]

Your dealer is wrong. FORD already stated in the early stages of production that they purchased enough chips to meet the production of the reservations role out. The delays have been Covid -19 related and MIC issues but chips are not one of them.

Funny- I can see the EXACT information the Dealer sees, which is Vehicle Visibility, and for every dealer order bank I look at, the far right column under ETA Disposition, it says "Microchip At Plant On Hold". These are Broncos built in mid december and early January. Also, I seem to remember the press release last summer referring to the Launch of the Bronco not being affected.

EDIT: I want to be clear that it's not all Broncos, only some of them.

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[John Auer]

There is a world wide shortage of chips that is affecting every industry. The bad news is that it probably won’t end this year. Computer chip factories take a couple years to build, so maybe we’ll see improvement in ‘23. The good news is, this too shall pass. In the mean time, have a beer and chill out.

 

[Moose84]

My Bronco has been "In Production" since 12/14. So, while it's understandable, it's still frustrating.

 

[Herbie]

Funny- I can see the EXACT information the Dealer sees, which is Vehicle Visibility, and for every dealer order bank I look at, the far right column under ETA Disposition, it says "Microchip At Plant On Hold". These are Broncos built in mid december and early January. Also, I seem to remember the press release last summer referring to the Launch of the Bronco not being affected.

EDIT: I want to be clear that it's not all Broncos, only some of them.

Just those builds with the Tow On them? Sorry, too soon?

 

[GravyTrain]

Your dealer is wrong. FORD already stated in the early stages of production that they purchased enough chips to meet the production of the reservations role out. The delays have been Covid -19 related and MIC issues but chips are not one of them.

Nope. It’s chips:

 

[JohnnyX]

There is a world wide shortage of chips that is affecting every industry. The bad news is that it probably won’t end this year. Computer chip factories take a couple years to build, so maybe we’ll see improvement in ‘23. The good news is, this too shall pass. In the mean time, have a beer and chill out.

I've spent my entire career in automotive electronics going back to the days when the Big 3 owned their own semiconductor fab plants in the 80s. At that time, it was believed that Gallium Arsenide was the only way to meet under hood temperature requirements. Silicon wasn't good enough. Had to have your own fabs.

A LOT has changed since then. I believe this is the 4th major semiconductor shortage that I've seen. What makes this one unique is that usually when the market tanks, it tanks across the board. Industries go down together and then ramp up again together. This time the ramp down in auto occurred while there was a spike in consumer electronics. This was caused by unprecedented demand for consumer electronics stemming from remote work and school... A lot of the WIP was allocated and consumed... none of it sitting around waiting for auto industry to recover this time.

Lead time from "sand to chip" is 30-40 weeks, more in some cases. And chip fabrication is very capital intensive making it difficult to add capacity quickly. And for good reason, the automotive industry does not always use "bleeding edge" semiconductor processes which restricts usable capacity.

I think it is good that we will be bringing capacity and know how back to the US, but the real change has to be how the OEMs manage their supply chain. OEMs have never been that great at forecasting demand. And now... the JIT model has been turned upside down while retail model is migrating to "build to order". OEMs are not rushing to overstock dealer lots again. Bye-bye push model with heavy incentives...

Those of us who bought Broncos got to live through Ford's B2O learning curve amid the worst semiconductor supply chain disruptions the industry has ever seen. Hey, I got a photo of my Bronco coming off the line at MAP. That is actually progress for Ford. But clearly they have a long way to go. I was a day one reservation holder and that was NO Amazon Prime Day experience -- I think it took over a half a dozen attempts and 3 or 4 hours to make my reservation.

I'm not big Tesla / Rivian fan, but Elon and RJ have lit a fire under some butts in Detroit, Munich, and Tokyo. That's a good thing in my view as it will create much needed humility, hunger, and customer-centricity with the captains of this industry.

In the meantime, we chill.

 

[dbeyers]

I've spent my entire career in automotive electronics going back to the days when the Big 3 owned their own semiconductor fab plants in the 80s. At that time, it was believed that Gallium Arsenide was the only way to meet under hood temperature requirements. Silicon wasn't good enough. Had to have your own fabs.

A LOT has changed since then. I believe this is the 4th major semiconductor shortage that I've seen. What makes this one unique is that usually when the market tanks, it tanks across the board. Industries go down together and then ramp up again together. This time the ramp down in auto occurred while there was a spike in consumer electronics. This was caused by unprecedented demand for consumer electronics stemming from remote work and school... A lot of the WIP was allocated and consumed... none of it sitting around waiting for auto industry to recover this time.

Lead time from "sand to chip" is 30-40 weeks, more in some cases. And chip fabrication is very capital intensive making it difficult to add capacity quickly. And for good reason, the automotive industry does not always use "bleeding edge" semiconductor processes which restricts usable capacity.

I think it is good that we will be bringing capacity and know how back to the US, but the real change has to be how the OEMs manage their supply chain. OEMs have never been that great at forecasting demand. And now... the JIT model has been turned upside down while retail model is migrating to "build to order". OEMs are not rushing to overstock dealer lots again. Bye-bye push model with heavy incentives...

Those of us who bought Broncos got to live through Ford's B2O learning curve amid the worst semiconductor supply chain disruptions the industry has ever seen. Hey, I got a photo of my Bronco coming off the line at MAP. That is actually progress for Ford. But clearly they have a long way to go. I was a day one reservation holder and that was NO Amazon Prime Day experience -- I think it took over a half a dozen attempts and 3 or 4 hours to make my reservation.

I'm not big Tesla / Rivian fan, but Elon and RJ have lit a fire under some butts in Detroit, Munich, and Tokyo. That's a good thing in my view as it will create much needed humility, hunger, and customer-centricity with the captains of this industry.

In the meantime, we chill.

Let's try to draw a distinction between long-term supply trends and short term supply hiccups, which this may be. Ford made a big point of highlighting their relative Bronco insensitivity to the overall shortage. Hopefully this is a blip (seemingly limited to the charmingly named ASS chips - automated stop/start). But none of us have all the facts ...

 

[Fixajet]

Going the optimistic route, maybe when this chip shortage subsides, all Broncos being delivered will have temp indicators on the knobs, displays work correctly, stereos without issue, and full functioning electrical systems. LOL, just a dream and trying to stay positive.

 

[markpilip]

Hopefully this is a blip (seemingly limited to the charmingly named ASS chips - automated stop/start). But none of us have all the facts ...

Ford can feel free to ship my OBX without ASS. I won't complain at all.

 

[JohnnyX]

Let's try to draw a distinction between long-term supply trends and short term supply hiccups, which this may be. Ford made a big point of highlighting their relative Bronco insensitivity to the overall shortage. Hopefully this is a blip (seemingly limited to the charmingly named ASS chips - automated stop/start). But none of us have all the facts ...

Ford and other manufacturers are clearly trying to optimize and steer chips toward the profit making models like Bronco. It's in their own interest. But it's tricky. OEMs don't buy chips. They buy parts that have chips in them. They do not know precisely which chips are in each of parts that they buy or what the supply status might be for each of those chips... They are trying to manage with information they are getting from the Tier Ones which is changing on them. OEMs are trying very hard to avoid "blips", but sometimes it's inevitable. They are playing with content mixes, plant labor, and constantly revising release schedules to supplier to optimize what they can build. It is a VERY manual process. Yes, surprising in this era of "one day" deliveries. Not easy to turn big ships.

 

[dbeyers]

Ford can feel free to ship my OBX without ASS. I won't complain at all.

I wonder if the ass chip is integral to fuel economy and therefore shipping assless is a big no no?

 

[dbeyers]

Ford and other manufacturers are clearly trying to optimize and steer chips toward the profit making models like Bronco. It's in their own interest. But it's tricky. OEMs don't buy chips. They buy parts that have chips in them. They do not know precisely which chips are in each of parts that they buy or what the supply status might be for each of those chips... They are trying to manage with information they are getting from the Tier Ones which is changing on them. OEMs are trying very hard to avoid "blips", but sometimes it's inevitable. They are playing with content mixes, plant labor, and constantly revising release schedules to supplier to optimize what they can build. It is a VERY manual process. Yes, surprising in this era of "one day" deliveries. Not easy to turn big ships.

Thanks for the input ... would Ford step beyond their "things with chips suppliers" and contract up for supply to those intermediate suppliers?

 

[markpilip]

I wonder if the ass chip is integral to fuel economy and therefore shipping assless is a big no no?

Yeah, maybe it's required so that Ford can hit the CAFE standards?

 

[LSBronco13]

Nope. It’s chips:

My dealers better than your dealer. They have no problem with chips and their client Bronco orders. Broncos are being built.

 

[John Auer]

I've spent my entire career in automotive electronics going back to the days when the Big 3 owned their own semiconductor fab plants in the 80s. At that time, it was believed that Gallium Arsenide was the only way to meet under hood temperature requirements. Silicon wasn't good enough. Had to have your own fabs.

A LOT has changed since then. I believe this is the 4th major semiconductor shortage that I've seen. What makes this one unique is that usually when the market tanks, it tanks across the board. Industries go down together and then ramp up again together. This time the ramp down in auto occurred while there was a spike in consumer electronics. This was caused by unprecedented demand for consumer electronics stemming from remote work and school... A lot of the WIP was allocated and consumed... none of it sitting around waiting for auto industry to recover this time.

Lead time from "sand to chip" is 30-40 weeks, more in some cases. And chip fabrication is very capital intensive making it difficult to add capacity quickly. And for good reason, the automotive industry does not always use "bleeding edge" semiconductor processes which restricts usable capacity.

I think it is good that we will be bringing capacity and know how back to the US, but the real change has to be how the OEMs manage their supply chain. OEMs have never been that great at forecasting demand. And now... the JIT model has been turned upside down while retail model is migrating to "build to order". OEMs are not rushing to overstock dealer lots again. Bye-bye push model with heavy incentives...

Those of us who bought Broncos got to live through Ford's B2O learning curve amid the worst semiconductor supply chain disruptions the industry has ever seen. Hey, I got a photo of my Bronco coming off the line at MAP. That is actually progress for Ford. But clearly they have a long way to go. I was a day one reservation holder and that was NO Amazon Prime Day experience -- I think it took over a half a dozen attempts and 3 or 4 hours to make my reservation.

I'm not big Tesla / Rivian fan, but Elon and RJ have lit a fire under some butts in Detroit, Munich, and Tokyo. That's a good thing in my view as it will create much needed humility, hunger, and customer-centricity with the captains of this industry.

In the meantime, we chill.

Old Henry believed in making what he sold. Ford was vertically integrated right down to the steel mills. Those days are long gone since the advent of just in time procurement and out sourcing. Both of which are great until your suppliers can’t produce. I’m not a fan of Tesla’s cars, but you have to admire how vertically integrated that company is. Companies have announced their intentions to increase capacity, but like you’ve said, those fabs ain’t cheap and take a couple years to build. We’ll survive .

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