LaunchCentral
Digitized Ford's paper-based manufacturing trial approval process — replacing printed Excel checklists and manual scanning with a real-time web app used by launch teams across a full assembly plant.
The Problem
Ford's launch engineers spent time they couldn't afford on a paper ritual: print a multi-page Excel checklist, walk it to the assembly machine, check off items by hand during trials, then scan the completed sheet and upload it to a shared drive. There was no real-time view of what was done, what was pending, or which engineering discipline owned the next step.
My Approach
- 1Identified the problem from personal experience running launches myself, and designed an initial concept for a digital replacement before any funding existed.
- 2Pitched the solution to Ford executives at Dearborn HQ through a Design Thinking initiative called Catalyst, securing funding and intern headcount to build it.
- 3Directed 2 interns through full product development — defining a layered navigation (Plant → Department → Assembly Line → Station) that matched how engineers already organized their mental model of the floor.
- 4Mapped the production floor's color-coded safety gate system — White, Pink, Yellow, and Green 'Protag' documents — directly into the digital workflow.
- 5Built cross-discipline handoff notifications so Manufacturing, Safety, and Ergonomics engineers each knew exactly when it was their turn to sign off.
Key Decisions & Trade-offs
The most important design requirement was adherence to the Protag system — an access protocol tied to safety standards and Union agreements. We still kept PDF export for compliance of uploading to other systems.
Outcome & Impact
- Tested at Flat Rock Assembly Mustang manufacturing facilities
- Potential savings of $4.8M with elimination of paper-based validation checklist printing, filling, and scanning
- Real-time visibility into pending checks and FTT pass rates by build phase (EPT, TT, PP, MP1, MP2)
- Multi-discipline workflow coordination for Manufacturing, Safety, and Ergonomics engineers
Reflection
LaunchCentral was the first time I went from 'I have this problem' to 'I have a funded team building the solution.' The Design Thinking pitch to Ford executives was a simulation of how a product leader would discover pain points, imagine a solution and pitch it to the decision makers.