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Pressure, that's what I felt when I was told I'd be 'joining' the assembly line at Ford's Struandale engine facility in Port Elizabeth.
It was a daunting prospect and with 110 assembly stations that are over 300 metres long manned by 96 operators per shift.
Read Sean Parker's personal experience of building an engine later this week.
Currently, workers assemble the Ranger Raptor's bi-turbo 157kW and the 132kW single turbo engine that powers the Ranger and Everest models.
It's a well-oiled machine that's able to produce 320 engines per day during two shifts over five days. That totals to 120 000 engines per year or one engine every 134 seconds, remarkable.
These engines are transported to Ford's Silverton Plant in Pretoria where it is fitted to the models its destined for, all made possible by an investment of R3-billion in the Struandale Engine Plant, and the Silverton Assembly Plant in Pretoria.
Struandale Plant Manager Shaun Govender says: "The new assembly line incorporates Ford’s latest, state-of-the-art manufacturing processes that guarantee the highest standards of workmanship, product quality and performance."
Ford has also been producing (albeit in component machining and engine assembly) since 2011 the 2.2 and 3.2-litre Duratorq TDCi engines that are used in selected Ranger and Everest models. More than that, they are exported to various countries and supplied to customer plants around the world.
Incredibly, this Easter Cape plant has such a significant impact on other factories and vehicles around the world.
Compiled by Sean Parker
