Ford has recently rehired 350 senior hardware engineers after its performance in artificial intelligence and automated quality control systems fell short of expectations. These so-called "gray-beard engineers" include former Ford employees and supplier technical experts, marking the traditional automotive giant's shift back toward balancing traditional engineering expertise with cutting-edge automation technology after over-relying on AI-driven quality control.
Previously, Ford's Chief Operating Officer Kumar Galhotra revealed that the company had high hopes for its automated quality control system, but the actual results were disappointing. Charles Pan, Ford's Vice President of Hardware Engineering, admitted that the company had mistakenly believed that simply introducing AI and incorporating existing design requirements would ensure product quality. Currently, Ford has not completely abandoned its AI plans but has reshaped its strategy: using the rich experience of these senior engineers to precisely identify potential fault points before components enter the production line, while also having them train younger employees and reprogram AI tools.
This strategic adjustment has already shown promising results. Ford's CEO Jim Farley noted that this move has significantly reduced vehicle warranty and recall costs, saving the company hundreds of millions of dollars. Additionally, Ford ranked first among mainstream brands in the latest J.D. Power new car quality survey released this week. Ford's major personnel and technological adjustments serve as a warning to the current industrial manufacturing sector, which is blindly pursuing full-scale AI integration, indicating that human expert experience still holds irreplaceable core value in data training and fundamental quality control within complex manufacturing processes.
