In an effort to contribute to environmental conservation, Ford Motors is beginning to incorporate the use of soy –based materials into its vehicles. Ford has been known to dabble in soy – based car materials as early as 1907 with its Model T vehicles. The Model T contained “60 pounds of soybeans in its paint and molded plastic parts”. In 2003, Ford showcased yet another soy infused vehicle in the form of the Model U. This vehicle had “soy – based seat cushions and soy based resin composite tailgates”. But the first large – scale soy – based seat foams are yet to debut in the 2008 Ford Mustang, Ford F-150, Expedition and Lincoln Navigator and the 2009 Ford Escape.

The production of soy – based seat foams is a joint undertaking between Ford, John Deere, a leading manufacturer of agricultural equipment and seat supplier Sears Manufacturing. Ford believes that forging a partnership with these companies will surely bring about environmental benefits. Gerhardt Schmidt, vice president, Ford Research and Advanced Engineering says, “As all of industry faces daunting sustainability challenges, Ford is pioneering renewable solutions and forging strategic partnerships to extend our capabilities and our ability to innovate. We are pleased to collaborate with John Deere to continue the development of soy-based foam and research other technologies to benefit both our industries”. Klaus Hoehn, vice president for advanced technology and engineering of John Deere, shares Ford’s sentiment. He says, “John Deere’s agreement with Ford builds on our shared core values of quality and innovation and our commitment to deliver outstanding products for our customer. Working together will advance our ability to develop far-reaching solutions for a more sustainable future.”

The development of the soy-based car seat technology is spearheaded by the Ford’s Plastics Research team. The team aims to replace around “40 percent of the standard petroleum-based polyol used in seating materials with a soy-derived material”. Soy based material has only one – quarter of the environmental impact that petroleum-based products have. According to Debbie Mielewski, technical leader, Ford Plastics Research, “As we continue to migrate this green technology across many vehicle platforms, we’re improving our environmental footprint by conserving limited resources and reducing carbon dioxide emissions”.

Ford will be patenting their current soy based technology under Ford Global Technologies, LLC. The technology will also be available to non – Ford applications through John Deere.

Source: Ford licensing its soy-foam seat technology

Ford Motor Company is taking on a business tie-up with big-time computer technology company Microsoft Corporation.  This business enterprise is established with the aim of boosting the sales performance of Ford and enhancing the features of every Ford model to increase customer satisfaction.

The 2009 line up of Ford models, from Lincoln to Mercury, will be equipped with an innovative entertainment and communications system.  With the help of Microsoft, Ford vehicles will be capable of accommodating technologically advanced gadgets such as mobile phones and handy digital music players.  Sync, a comprehensive system based on flash memory, makes it possible for drivers and passengers to carry onboard their favorite digital gadgets.  It is operated by a Microsoft Auto system, which consists of 64 MB of DRAM, ARM 11 processor, and 256 MB of flash memory.  This new system features button controls and voice commands on the navigation console or on the steering wheel.  These commands aim to make motorists’ onboard entertainment more convenient. 

According to Ford engineers, Sync has an extensive array of technical capabilities.  One of these is its capacity to play songs from motorists’ music players using voice commands.  USB devices, iPods, Microsoft Zune, and other musical gadgets can merely be plugged into the Ford vehicle’s USB port.  Personalized voice controls can be utilized by simply setting up a command for each track on the play list.  An alternative system of command is the Sync’s set of control buttons.  A single click can easily make the motorists enjoy the kind of music they want.  Formats supported by the Sync system are AAC, MP3, PCM, WAV, and WMA.

Aside from the audio entertainment, Sync provides other forms of convenience.  Another feature of this Ford-Microsoft system is its communications capacity. One of these system’s advancements is its read-aloud feature of text messages.  Mobile phones should be linked to the vehicle’s Bluetooth connection to enable the Sync system to read out loud the text messages that arrive.  Moreover, Sync system allows motorists to make a call without clicking on number buttons.  This easy call access is possible through Sync’s voice recognition feature, which places a call simply through a voice command. 

The most impressive feature of the advanced Ford vehicles would probably be the built-in computer of the Sync system.  This computer has Windows CE software that can be upgraded once in a while for more advanced services.  Possible improvements of this computer feature include PDA-downloads and other custom applications. What makes the Sync system extremely convenient is that it can handle almost any kind of computer.

In previous years, Ford Motor Company was reported to experience a significant decline in sales, even forcing some amount of the commercial fund to drain off so as to sustain the business.  The whole concept of Ford’s vehicle innovation takes root on the company’s determination to prop up its brands and enable them to make big sales on the market.  On the other hand, this improvement, which started out merely as a pioneering way of marketing the vehicles, turned out to be a series that would initiate innovation in the automotive industry.