Ford Reaches ISO 14001 Milestone: All Plants Certified

Ford Motor Co., Dearborn, Mich., has announced that it is the first automotive company to certify all of its plants under ISO 14001. ISO 14001 is an environmental standard under which independent auditors evaluate environmental processes and system performance. Ford's 140 plants in 26 countries have been certified. Recent implementation of certified environmental management systems is paying big dividends for Ford. For example, it has reduced the amount of disposable packaging coming into plants by 163 million lb in the last two years. At its Michigan Truck facility in Wayne, Mich., Ford recently reduced its water consumption by a million gallons a day. By replacing 1,975 fluorescent bulbs with metal halide bulbs, the Wayne plant also is saving $66,000 a year in energy costs. "Being ISO 14001 certified means that experts outside of Ford agree that we are world class in terms of environmental management," says Bob Transou, Ford's group vice president of manufacturing. "Achieving ISO certification also highlights Ford's philosophy that environmental excellence is an element of both good business and corporate citizenship." Not only is Ford the first automotive company to certify its manufacturing facilities to ISO 14001 on a global basis, it also has more individual facilities in the world certified under the standard than any other company.