ANN ARBOR— The Advanced Engineering Lab at Ford Motor Company recently consulted with student entrepreneurs in Professors William Lovejoy (business) and Shaun Jackson’s (art and design) Integrated Product Development (IPD) course at U-M to examine the utilization of recycled materials in their unique class project that combines the best of business with humanitarian benefits.

IPD is a cross-disciplinary course that puts teams of students representing business, engineering and art/architecture together in a competitive product-development environment. Last year, Lovejoy and Jackson added a humanitarian element to IPD by partnering with Cass Community Social Services (CCSS) of Detroit which provides skill-building programs for adults with developmental disabilities and job training/placement for the unemployed.

 The team behind the concept and design of The Hope Garden, a tabletop garden made from glass and 100% reclaimed wood sourced from abandoned homes slated for demolition in Detroit, is happy to see their design take life. The project was the team’s final exam last fall and recently Ford’s engineers refined their manufacturing process by designing a tool that will make things easier for some special workers to create this inspirational product.

Ford Supervisor Terry Ceccarelli met with the Hope Garden IPD team at CCSS, and after a brief discussion, was able to sketch out a concept for a drill fixture that was not part of the initial manufacturing process. Once back at the Advanced Engineering Lab, Ceccarelli went over the concept with Unit Supervisor Jim Grieve who assigned wood model makers Rob Evoe and Warren Stobbe to the project. Both began to think through the process in the mind of the worker. “Typically, engineers provide the designers a drawing to work from. In this case, we had to apply reverse engineering”, said Rob Eveo, Experimental Parts Program Coordinator. 

Evoe and Stobbe knew that the CCSS workers have limited work experience and job skills, most come from poverty, and all are looking for a fresh start. The Hope Garden team recognized the great potential in human and material resources and wanted their project to provide an opportunity for the underprivileged to gain manufacturing and business skills, and also utilize and transform materials that would have otherwise been dumped in a landfill. “We had to ask how we are going to drive the manufacturing process that applies for this workforce,” said Evoe.

Stobbe, CAD/CAM N/C Methods Analyst, said “They didn’t come to us with instructions; we had to ask ourselves ‘How can we give them what they want from what little we know.’ The drill fixture we made eliminates errors and standardizes the hole drilling process.”

 “It is basic to engineering that you have to have a repeatable part,” said Evoe.”This is something we are sure the CCSS workers will appreciate. Their end result is a drill fixture that allows for little error and provides manufacturing skills critical for employment.”

The Hope Garden is targeted for production in August 2012 by CCSS workers. For more information about the Integrated Product Development course hosted by the Tauber Institute for Global Operations, visit the website at: http://www.Tauber.umich.edu.

About Tauber Institute for Global Operations
The Tauber Institute for Global Operations is a joint venture between the University of Michigan’s Stephen M. Ross School of Business and the College of Engineering, and many industry partners to facilitate cross-disciplinary education in global operations management. In addition to broad array of core and elective courses, the innovative LeadershipAdvantageSM Program provides students with the tools to ascend to major operations leadership roles. Well-designed and managed team projects form the cornerstone of the Tauber Institute experience and allow students to apply their knowledge to real world settings. http://www.tauber.umich.edu

Contact: Tauber Institute for Global Operations Marketing Manager: Theresa Ceccarelli, 734-647-0308

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