Immensely-scaled scrap removal projects have become rather ordinary for Ferrous Processing & Trading (FPT) over the past few months. In a well-orchestrated replay of the work completed for Ford Motor Company in its 2014 overhaul of the Dearborn Truck Plant, FPT recently assisted in the $1.1 billion conversion of its Kansas City Assembly plant. In five days, the Ferrous team removed 5,400 tons of equipment and tooling at the automaker’s Missouri manufacturing facility.
From December 26 through December 31, FPT coordinated with local service provider, Midwest Scrap, to put 20 trucks and one crane into constant motion. Operating 24 hours a day, the team removed more than 400 truckloads of scrap from the work site. Ford Land Development’s Asset Scrap Manager Chris Heil remarked that “FPT now has the blueprint to do these massive interior demo projects.”
The revamped plant now joins Dearborn Truck in building the all new, aluminum-bodied F-150. Combined, Kansas City Assembly and Dearborn Truck facilities will have capacity to produce more than 700,000 Ford F-150 pickups per year.
“Our expertise in these large scale events continues to grow and puts us at the forefront of the industry,” noted Kevin Hopps, Account Executive at FPT. “We spend approximately two to three weeks planning for an event that only lasts five days. Our strategy must be well-formulated and detailed for the execution to be precise and impeccable.”
That expertise was once again on display at Fiat Chrysler’s 4.4 million-square-foot Windsor assembly plant. Beginning in mid-February, the plant had 15 weeks to remove equipment and replace it with new machinery that will produce the next generation minivan and potentially make way for future crossover vehicles. The project is the largest retooling for the Windsor Assembly Plant since the 1980s and FPT won the scrap removal contract as part of the company’s $2 billion investment in the Canadian facility.
“This rivals one of the largest changeovers that Windsor has experienced,” Windsor Assembly general assembly center manager Jon Desjardins told the Detroit News. Michael Brieda, Windsor Assembly plant manager, said production of pilot vehicles of the new minivan are expected to begin in mid-2015.
“During the preparation meetings, some of the contractors and sub-contractors questioned our ability to keep up with the fast pace tear out at Chrysler,” noted FPT Account Executive Caleb Mellanby. “Our team at FPT viewed that as a challenge, and worked long hours to make sure the job was carried out flawlessly.”
That team, including Mellanby, Rachael Gualtieri, Michael Spadotto, Michael Desjardins, Kevin Hopps and Tony Coraci, kept personnel onsite 24 hours per day for three weeks to coordinate the demolition and haul away effort. Approximately 10,000 tons of scrap metal – representing over 1,000 truckloads – has been transported from the Chrysler plant to FPT’s Zalev yard in Windsor.
What’s up next for the demolition experts at Ferrous? Account Executive Hopps says more large scale projects are in the works with the region’s automakers.