Ford Australia overhauled Broadmeadows design studio

Bossxr8 · 25-02-2021, 03:15 PM

https://www.caradvice.com.au/928525/...lion-overhaul/

The Ford Australia design studio that was the birthplace for most Falcons – as well as the Territory, and current Ranger and Everest – has been given a long overdue overhaul.

Ford Australia’s design centre has been given a new lease on life with a $12 million renovation that secures its future for at least another decade.

The top secret styling studio in Broadmeadows on the northern outskirts of Melbourne was the birthplace for every Ford Falcon since the 1970s, and later models such as the Ford Territory SUV and the current generation Ford Ranger ute and Everest four-wheel-drive.

Since Ford closed its Australian manufacturing operations in October 2016, the company has increased its design and engineering workforce, however the 2500 employees now develop global vehicles, primarily for China, India and South America, with input into some US models.

Former Holden designer, Max Wolff, who was head-hunted by Ford USA after being appointed the design director at General Motors’ Cadillac brand in 2010, returned to Australia with Ford five years ago.

Mr Wolff is now the design director for Ford international markets and China, based at the Broadmeadows facility.

Although the design studio has been in operation since the early 1970s, the facility had a mild makeover in 2012.

“This time around, the whole building has been redesigned,” said Mr Wolff, in a media statement. “It has been structured around supporting our design process and our team, enabling them to work in a modern, creative environment.”

Ford says it has installed 100 new workstations and extended the clay modelling workshop where full-scale models are made. The new “five-axis gantry milling centre” is part of a 2,300m2 expansion.

“The studio’s team of 40 clay modelers can now use cutting-edge digital technologies to speed up the design process,” said Mr Wolff.

While initial car design starts on computer, “the new five-axis gantry mill is an interface between the physical and digital worlds, taking information from the computer and quickly and accurately translating it into the physical with a greater level of detail,” Mr Wolff said.

Meanwhile, the secure outside court yard has been expanded, to assemble more vehicles and assess their design in natural light.

The Ford Australia design centre continues to create a path for aspiring young designers to get a job in the automotive world, with design graduates regularly sourced from Australian universities.

Former Ford Australia designers who are now working throughout the Ford world include Todd Willing and Nima Nourian (Detroit) and Simon Brook, who is running the Ford China Studio in Shanghai.

Ford says it has invested more than $AU1.9 billion in its research and development centres in Australia between 2016 and 2019. In 2020, Ford invested more than $AU500 million in R&D and the company says it is on track to spend a similar amount in 2021.

hawke · 25-02-2021, 05:58 PM

I caught up with Todd Willing at Road America, when we both raced in the 50th Anniversary of Formula Ford. He said that after he had done the exterior design of the Ford GT, he was now in charge of Ford Trucks and SUV’s world wide. He’s done well for himself, much to the surprise of many Americans.

If my memory is correct, he came 2nd at Road America, and considering we had up to 90 cars in every race, was a good result. I qualified 60th.

Sprintey · 25-02-2021, 07:30 PM

"the new five-axis gantry mill"

ooooh nice

(goes in on weekend and carves a clay XA coupe for the man cave)

Bossxr8 · 26-02-2021, 11:16 AM

Probably should edit the thread title. The overhaul has been completed.

**FoxtrotGolfXray 5.0** · 26-02-2021, 11:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sprintey

"the new five-axis gantry mill"

ooooh nice

(goes in on weekend and carves a clay XA coupe for the man cave)

If anyone else, like me, was wondering what a 5-axis gantry mill is, this might be helpful.

Bossxr8 · 26-02-2021, 11:55 AM

This was in another article. I'm assuming this is it?

**GasoLane** · 26-02-2021, 11:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bossxr8

Probably should edit the thread title. The overhaul has been completed.

Fixed

Dr Smith · 26-02-2021, 01:47 PM

Lot's of great work and no real outside knowledge of the projects apart from Ranger.

A certain no longer existing competitor would have publicised they designed the grommet in the firewall just to stay front and centre in public and government minds especially when it came to asking for grants...oh well.

CyberWasp · 26-02-2021, 06:48 PM

I think it looks great. Money well spent.

Dr Smith · 26-02-2021, 07:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CyberWasp

I think it looks great. Money well spent.

image

Somehow I think the tooling creators are going to have a heart attack getting that into production...

Bossxr8 · 26-02-2021, 07:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CyberWasp

I think it looks great. Money well spent.

image

At least they got the ride height right.

Franco Cozzo · 27-02-2021, 09:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr Smith

Lot's of great work and no real outside knowledge of the projects apart from Ranger.

A certain no longer existing competitor would have publicised they designed the grommet in the firewall just to stay front and centre in public and government minds especially when it came to asking for grants...oh well.

I didn't even know it existed until this thread

XD 351 Ute · 27-02-2021, 09:49 AM

Wow, my days on the old Colchester lathe, the milling machine and the shaper seem like a million years ago.... This new 5 axis mill is incredible!

Ed

Bossxr8 · 27-02-2021, 07:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Franco Cozzo

I didn't even know it existed until this thread

1 of only 5 ford design centres. Dearborn, california, uk, china and melbourne. I think the chinese studio is in it’s infancy though.

The interesting part is they all work together and submit design proposals for pretty much all the cars. And they select which they think is best, and then the home studio takes it to production. So it’s very collaborative between them all.

And work gets farmed out between studios to manage the peaks and troughs of workload. So broady doesn’t just do ranger and everest. They do other ford projects too. Also vw sent some designers over here to work with the ford guys, to do the next amarok.

Dr Smith · 27-02-2021, 09:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bossxr8

1 of only 5 ford design centres. Dearborn, california, uk, china and melbourne. I think the chinese studio is in it’s infancy though.

The interesting part is they all work together and submit design proposals for pretty much all the cars. And they select which they think is best, and then the home studio takes it to production. So it’s very collaborative between them all.

And work gets farmed out between studios to manage the peaks and troughs of workload. So broady doesn’t just do ranger and everest. They do other ford projects too. Also vw sent some designers over here to work with the ford guys, to do the next amarok.

And just to add.....with time zones around the world, the different centres can have team members collaborating on the same project, even linking back to Dearborn's supercomputer and in effect it's almost a 24/5 work rate.

**Charliewool** · 28-02-2021, 12:29 AM

Wife’s nephew did his time at Ford Broady as a clay modeller... After 9 years there, he went to BMW in Germany. In 2010 he was poached by Musk himself to work for Tesla in clay design... He is still with Tesla in California and on a motza!
He says it is all due to his time at Ford Australia, such was the respect they commanded on the world design stage....