Karl Anton

Mr. Karl Anton, Director Vehicle Operations Ford of Europe, spoke on the topic ""Lean" is the prerequisite for efficient vehicle production".

Ford of Europe (FoE) is responsible for the production and distribution of Ford brand vehicles and related services in 50 individual markets. The company is headquartered in Cologne. The company employs around 53,000 people at its European locations and a further 67,000 via joint ventures and non-consolidated companies. FoE has 23 production sites. Of these, 15 belong to 1001TP3 subsidiaries or consolidated joint ventures and 8 to non-consolidated joint ventures. In 2014, 1.4 million vehicles were produced, 1.1 million of which in Ford-owned plants. The vehicle-building joint ventures include Ford Sollers in Russia and Ford Otosan in Turkey. The Cologne plant produces the Ford Fiesta, while the Focus, C-Max and Grand C-Max roll off the production line in Saarlouis. The Valencia plant, 350 km south of Barcelona on the Spanish Mediterranean coast, produces the largest variety of vehicles with the Kuga, S-MAX, Galaxy and Mondeo, Transit Connect and Tourneo Connect model series.

Mr. Karl Anton is responsible for vehicle production at the German Ford sites in Cologne and Saarlouis as well as for the supervision of vehicle and engine production at Ford's joint venture partner Sollers in Russia. He started his career at Ford in 1983 as an electrical engineer for robotics and automation. Between 1983 and 1997, Karl Anton held various positions in Germany and England. From 1997 onwards, he held management positions in other areas such as product development, quality, logistics and then again in production. After numerous new vehicle start-ups in several European Ford plants, he was appointed Director of Model Start-ups and Manufacturing Quality for Vehicles and Powertrains in Europe. His core competencies include the topics of "production systems", "vehicle start-ups" and "restructuring of European production facilities".

Status: Beginning of 2016