Ford Sharonville Transmission plant
What: Makes five-gear transmissions, gear sets and convertors
Where: 3000 E. Sharon Road, Sharonville
Opened: 1958
Employees: nearly 1,700
A local area auto supply plant has added upwards of 200 jobs this year, in response to rising U.S. auto sales.
During the summer, Ford Motor Co. added approximately 180 jobs at the East Sharon Road plant for nearly 1,700 total workers, said spokesman Todd Nissen.
Employees there make five-gear transmissions that go into the Super Duty versions of the F-Series pickup truck often used on construction sites. They also produce gear sets and transmissions. Hiring is done for now, Nissen said.
“It comes down to increased demand for our vehicles. So when we see higher or when we expect to sell a higher number of vehicles, cars, SUVs and pickup trucks, we also have more demand to make parts to go into those,” Nissen said.
Ford’s auto assembly plants added capacity this year to make 400,000 more vehicles than before, he said.
U.S. auto sales rose 13 percent in September to 1,188,865 vehicles, according to Autodata Corp. Reuters reported that the pace of sales was the best in more than four years, with vehicles selling at an annualized rate of 14.94 million a year.
The Sharonville plant opened in 1958, according to Ford. It is one of three U.S. transmission plants operated by the big-three automaker.
Rick Lawwill, president of UAW Local 863, the union that represents workers of the Sharonville plant, said this is the first major hiring in 12 years.
In 2008, a Ford transmission plant in nearby Batavia closed.
“We’re starting to be able to bring some of that work back into the states because we’re more productive. The auto workers of the United States are actually more productive,” Lawwill said.
The additional jobs benefits the community because Ford Sharonville employees are heavily involved in community action programs, he said.
Within Ford, the Sharonville plant was a pioneer in its division for introducing a team work concept in 1984. All employees are cross-trained in multiple jobs.
“We have one of the most progressive work forces in the Ford system,” he added. “It makes you much more universal and adaptable to adverse situations. It made a world of difference in our production, quality, scrap.”
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