Ford’s On a Roll
The Ford Fathom is nearly upon us, and the Blue Oval’s been hard at work making sure that the first batch is up to scratch. Whenever stories like these come out, it also sheds a light on how complex car manufacturing, plus how cool Ford’s unicasting method is, and the lengths the brand is going to ensure that it is perfect.
We can expect the unicasting method to become the new standard for Ford for its next generation models. The Fathom is one of the planned cars to adopt the method first, followed by the F-150. Ford Fathom production is already underway, and Ford has made 5,000 Unicastings and counting as per its last press release, all of which are not actually destined for the final production model.
Unicasting is Ford’s Future
The Shelbyville Technical Center is home to the Unicasting method. For now, the Unicastings are getting sent to the Louisville Assembly Plant ahead of the 2027 Fathom’s launch for process testing and prototype assembly—not for final production models, not yet at least.
Ford’s architecture for the Fathom pickup truck involve two large pieces. These structures reduce mass and improve overall energy efficiency. Ford states that the unicasting metho reduces the 146 structural parts of the chassis into just two. This is a drastic simplification in vehicle production, and it’s going to be a part of Ford’s new Universal Production System.
The Blue Oval’s engineering team has also touted that unicasted parts have modular repairability in mind. Apart from that, the innovation also brings simplicity and innovation to Ford’s production process. The Universal Production System splits the “traditional assembly line into three main branches, which allows vehicle sections to be built in parallel simultaneously before they’re even assembled into a vehicle,” said Ford in its press release.
The Process
Breaking things down one by one, it starts with aluminum in a furnace, which then gets injected into a mold for the front or rear structure of the vehicle. After the molten metal has solidified, a robot then quenches it to harden and cool.
From there, the part is inspected and stringently checked for any defects. Visual inspections reveal obvious cracks, while x-rays check for pores and voids. Optical scanners then do the work that human eyes can’t, checking the surface for any other imperfections. Following that, tensile testing and other alloy testing happens.
Of the 5,000 unicastings that Ford has done, none of them are headed to production. All of the castings are made to assemble Ford Fathom prototypes as the automaker heads into the endgame of its pre-launch teasting.
About the author
Earl Lee
News Editor