Rahma Hassan Completes 8 Greenbelt Projects Since Joining Ford Last April

When engineering specialist Rahma Hassan joined Ford in April of last year, she landed in Livonia Transmission Plant’s clean room, an area that produces small components for transmissions. She had finally turned her dream into reality.

“I used to work at a tier one supplier just two miles away from Livonia,” said Hassan. “For the last three years before joining Ford, I had this passion to be here. I completed all the certificates and trainings that I possibly could to be prepared to apply here.”?

One of her certifications is the Council for Six Sigma Certification (CSSC) Certified Lean Six Sigma Green Belt, indicating that Hassan possesses thorough and enhanced problem-solving skills, with an emphasis on Ford’s DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control) model.

Last spring, the clean room was working through a bit of a rough patch but since Hassan joined things have been improving. Hassan has completed 8 Green Belt projects since joining Ford less than a year ago.?

Most of those projects have helped to improve the quality of parts that the clean room produces and the speed at which they are produced. “My initial idea wasn’t to complete Green Belts. I wanted to deal with issues,” Hassan said.?

As Hassan got to know her new area and the issues she was tasked with fixing, she took notes. Those notes turned into power point decks, which helped her tackle issues that arose.?

In Ford’s manufacturing system, rejected parts are sent to operators who work at regress stations. Those operators identify part issues and make repairs or scrap the part in question if it’s completely defective.?

Last spring, the area was sending hundreds of rejects to its regress station daily and no one really knew why. After all, when operators looked at the parts, they turned out to be fine. These false rejects were slowing down the clean room’s efficiency and plant leadership was thinking about extending the assembly line to speed things up. That move could have cost thousands of dollars.??

“That was our biggest hitter – station rejects on a daily basis. So, I started looking into it and optimizing the camera settings and eventually, within two months, it got reduced,” Hassan said.?

Then there was the laser etcher. Before parts are packed and shipped out to the main control assembly line, they must be marked with two serial numbers. The first is visible to the human eye and the second is a 2D matrix that allows machines to identify each part. Unfortunately for the clean room, the etcher wasn’t marking each part thoroughly enough, which was causing issues. Hassan investigated, noting issues with the laser and power source. Eventually she replaced the laser and changed some of the machine’s settings, fixing the issue.??

“This is my happy place, coming to work solving issues – it gets stressful, of course, it’s not always a piece of cake. But when I accomplish something, that is an achievement in itself for me”

Hassan continues to fix issues and rack up Green Belt projects. She says that even when things get hectic, she reminds herself that she’s wanted to work in the auto industry since she was a child growing up in Pakistan, visiting the U.S. in the summer.?

“Ford has been an inspiration for me since my childhood,” said Hassan, reflecting on the legacy of Henry Ford. “The revolutionary moving assembly lines for mass production changed the automotive manufacturing world for the better. I will be using my aspirations and dreams to keep making efficiency improvements.”?