POWER OUTAGE FORCES MANUFACTURERS TO SCRAP VEHICLES
DETROIT—More than 1,000 new vehicles and parts that were moving down production lines when the power went out at more than 50 North American car plants in August have been scrapped due to quality concerns resulting from the process stopping in midstream.
According to an August 22, article in the Detroit Free Press, cars and trucks were left half painted, in some cases soaking in chemicals, robotic welding arms left some joints only partially joined, engines being sculpted by precision laser tools were left incomplete and many parts were simply dropped on the floor when the vacuum-powered suction arms that lift and move them lost their hold, the paper said.