The newly launched – today – Ford Certified Glass Network (FCGN) Ford “offers industry-leading process coaching to help ensure every Ford and Lincoln vehicle glass installation is completed to the highest quality standards using original equipment procedures and parts.”
Ford has apparently discovered the latest bugs in computerized vehicles. They are not the ones that smear your windshield. The adverse effects of a poor installation on driving assistance technology happen when an aftermarket windshield cannot duplicate the precise location of the camera attachment brackets on a windshield which often distorts the optical quality of the camera.
“Original equipment windshields and glass are built and tested to function as part of a system, providing structural support in an accident and promoting clear, undistorted vision for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) such as Lane-Keeping, Pre-Collision Assist with Automatic Braking, Evasive Steering Assist and Auto High-Beam Headlamps,” Ford said today. No mention of any thorny anti-trust issues that are part of the thriving automotive aftermarket.
Potential Issues
Head Up Display (HUD) uses digital light projection technology to display driving information such as speed, driver assist features and navigation onto the windshield. HUD windshields are specifically designed to eliminate secondary HUD images. Aftermarket glass often does not meet the same specifications as genuine glass, Ford said.
SoundScreen® acoustic windshield and side glass are engineered with acoustic dampening (sic – it’s damping -Autocrat) technology within the glass layers to help reduce road, wind, and other exterior noise to maintain the quiet interior ride of the vehicle. The use of this technology goes above and beyond SAE standards and not using this will result in increased interior noise.
Other requirements of certification are to have ongoing communication with customers during glass installation and a follow up customer satisfaction survey.
Certified installers must also provide a limited lifetime warranty that warrants the repairs done by the Ford Certified Glass Installer against defects in materials and workmanship for as long as the customer that owns the vehicle at the time of repair continues to own the vehicle. The limited lifetime warranty is between the Installer and the customer.
“The Ford Certified Glass Network supports glass replacement companies who seek to be differentiated in the market by achieving our certification requirements. It is an exciting opportunity for us to work closely with the auto glass repair and replacement industry,” claimed Jennifer Boyer, Director of Strategy and Business, Ford Customer Service Division.
To help confirm that Ford Certified Glass Installers are prepared to meet requirements for quality glass installation, FCGN will require certification that an installer has the glass calibration capabilities to do the work.
Benefits to the certified installer include access to technical repair procedures, calibration coaching and technical hotline support. Ford also offers process coaching for the installation.
“We are excited that the Ford Certified Glass Network will provide a premium solution for the most safety conscious Ford and Lincoln owner,” says Curt Wormington, Carlex Aftermarket Replacement Glass (ARG) Vice President.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
Computer Bugs – Ford Launches New Certified Glass Network
The newly launched – today – Ford Certified Glass Network (FCGN) Ford “offers industry-leading process coaching to help ensure every Ford and Lincoln vehicle glass installation is completed to the highest quality standards using original equipment procedures and parts.”
Ford has apparently discovered the latest bugs in computerized vehicles. They are not the ones that smear your windshield. The adverse effects of a poor installation on driving assistance technology happen when an aftermarket windshield cannot duplicate the precise location of the camera attachment brackets on a windshield which often distorts the optical quality of the camera.
“Original equipment windshields and glass are built and tested to function as part of a system, providing structural support in an accident and promoting clear, undistorted vision for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) such as Lane-Keeping, Pre-Collision Assist with Automatic Braking, Evasive Steering Assist and Auto High-Beam Headlamps,” Ford said today. No mention of any thorny anti-trust issues that are part of the thriving automotive aftermarket.
Potential Issues
Head Up Display (HUD) uses digital light projection technology to display driving information such as speed, driver assist features and navigation onto the windshield. HUD windshields are specifically designed to eliminate secondary HUD images. Aftermarket glass often does not meet the same specifications as genuine glass, Ford said.
SoundScreen® acoustic windshield and side glass are engineered with acoustic dampening (sic – it’s damping -Autocrat) technology within the glass layers to help reduce road, wind, and other exterior noise to maintain the quiet interior ride of the vehicle. The use of this technology goes above and beyond SAE standards and not using this will result in increased interior noise.
Other requirements of certification are to have ongoing communication with customers during glass installation and a follow up customer satisfaction survey.
Certified installers must also provide a limited lifetime warranty that warrants the repairs done by the Ford Certified Glass Installer against defects in materials and workmanship for as long as the customer that owns the vehicle at the time of repair continues to own the vehicle. The limited lifetime warranty is between the Installer and the customer.
“The Ford Certified Glass Network supports glass replacement companies who seek to be differentiated in the market by achieving our certification requirements. It is an exciting opportunity for us to work closely with the auto glass repair and replacement industry,” claimed Jennifer Boyer, Director of Strategy and Business, Ford Customer Service Division.
To help confirm that Ford Certified Glass Installers are prepared to meet requirements for quality glass installation, FCGN will require certification that an installer has the glass calibration capabilities to do the work.
Benefits to the certified installer include access to technical repair procedures, calibration coaching and technical hotline support. Ford also offers process coaching for the installation.
“We are excited that the Ford Certified Glass Network will provide a premium solution for the most safety conscious Ford and Lincoln owner,” says Curt Wormington, Carlex Aftermarket Replacement Glass (ARG) Vice President.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn. He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe. Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap. AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks. Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.