New engines, distributor structure highlights renewed focus on growth; 50-year-old division looking to the future
There is an old story about how when word spread that Mark Twain had supposedly died, the author himself informed friends of the mistake with a telegram saying "news of my demise has been greatly exaggerated."
These days, Ford Power Products Division (PPD) is sending the same message. Despite whispers around the industry to the contrary, rumors of Ford's demise - or more specifically that the company was pondering getting out of the industrial and marine engine business - have been greatly exaggerated, according to the Southfield, Mich., company.
If anything the company, in its 50th year in 1997, has set about charting a new course aimed at growing its business in a variety of new niches, while maintaining its presence in its traditional industrial and marine applications.
And spearheading that growth effort is:
* The announcement of the first of a new generation of electronically controlled, spark-ignited engines suitable for a variety of mobile and stationary equipment applications.
* The establishment of a new master distributor structure.
* The completion of ISO 9001 and most recently, Ford Q1 quality certification.
"I guess if we were going out of business, we certainly wouldn't have spent every ounce of additional time, money and resources we have on getting ISO and Ford Q1 certification," said Jack Damron, vice president of PPD. "The reality of it is, we're in business to stay. Last year, we had the biggest year in the 50-year history of the division. This year, we're going to have the biggest year we've ever had again, so our growth trends are all going up.
"Revenues and profits are up considerably over the past five years. So I guess if people want to come up and say they heard we were going out of business, our response is that they might want to go back and check their source."
What fueled all the talk about PPD - aside from the usual industry scuttlebutt - were the many changes wrought over the last five years or so. During that time, the parent Ford operation essentially severed its direct connections with PPD, which markets engines, transmissions and other components to nonautomotive sectors, making it a part of the Geometric Results operation. Geometric Results is a subsidiary company that competes in what are considered "non-core" businesses for Ford - essentially anything not directly related to automotive operations.
"Ford looked at us and obviously, industrial engines are not core," said Damron. "But when they checked, they said gosh, it's a nice business, it has a good revenue stream, it makes a tidy profit and there are some good people working there." Ultimately, the parent company brought the options for PPD down to four: keep it, sell it, close it or spin it off as part of Geometric Results, "a young growing entrepreneurial company that doesn't have the head count and budget constraints, where they can take the business and grow it."
What also fueled the gossip was a decision to approach the marine business, which accounts for approximately 8 percent of the company's total engine sales, in a more subtle fashion. While not changing its commitment to its marine customers, Damron said the company opted to do fewer high profile marine shows. "We decided not to fly the flags as often and do things in a quieter way," he said. "But in terms of the market, we will continue to sell marine engines for as long as the market will bear - and we anticipate that will be a long time."
Finally, it became known that several engine products - notably the 4.9 and 5.8 L engines - were scheduled to end production at Ford. As the parent company manufactures all of PPD's engines, it appeared to leave PPD and its customers in the lurch.
But appearances were deceiving. Ford built and warehoused a substantial supply of those engines, enough to satisfy expected PPD customer demands. More importantly, before the supply of existing engines is exhausted, PPD customers will have access to a new range of engines, which include two new multifuel-capable models that incorporate PPD's own electronic engine control system.
"If you decide to take an engine out of the lineup, obviously you have to have something to replace it," said Damron. "We have a transition plan that will allow us and our customers to move from the old engines to the new engines."
The new engines planned for production in 1997 and 1998 are 2.5 L and 4.2 L units, both of which are derivations of existing engines, yet are smaller, lighter and have greater power density. The new 2.5 L engine is a stroked version of the current 2.3 L product and is rated 78 bhp at 2800 hp with 146 ft.lb, of torque in its truck engine configuration. It will be available in carbureted and electronic fuel injection (EFI) versions.
The 4.2 L, successor to the current 4.9 L engine, is a 90 [degrees], V-6 engine with an intermittent rating of 135 hp at 2800 rpm. Intermittent gross torque is 216 ft.lb. Both engines incorporate PPD's electronic engine management system (EEMS) which is designed to monitor key engine functions, provide programmable governing and speed control, engine warning and shutdown capabilities and include a distributorless ignition system function. (The new engines and controllers will be detailed in an upcoming issue of Diesel Progress.)
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