Mark Fields, president of Ford Motor Company's North American operations and architect of the automaker's turnaround plan called 'the way forward' is betting on innovations to pull the company out of decline.

"Our goal is not just to compete, but to change the basis of competition by coming out with great innovations - the kind that are so relevant to the lives of their users that they bring new customers to a market," Fields said.

Ford, now pushed down to the No.3 position in global rankings by Japan's Toyota, in an internal memo recently conceded that it expected to lose its second place in US sales to Toyota in 2007. Analysts also expect GM, for long the world's largest automaker to also lose its global dominance to Toyota shortly.

In a bid to reverse the slide, Ford has stepped up its encouragement to employees who generate ideas that the company could use. Over 6,000 ideas generated internally went directly to Bill Ford Jr. The ideas ranged from speed locks for teenage drivers to converting waste engine heat into electrical energy.

In appreciation, the company recently presented 60 company researchers, engineers and scientists, from 13 technology teams, with the annual 'Henry Ford Technology Awards'.

Over the last 26 years, Ford has accorded recognition to around 1,200 individuals from 445 technology teams in the areas of research, manufacturing and product development with these awards, its highest honour for technical achievement.

Speaking at the awards ceremony, Fields told the assembled employees, "Small innovations sustain our competitiveness. Big innovations change the game. Big innovations are the key to turning around Ford Motor Company."

Fields is equally emphatic that customers must be the sole impulse for every innovation in the company. "We believe these ideas can help as we work to keep up with our customers' rising expectations," Fields said. He also stressed that rather than focus on the competition, it is better to come up with products that draw users to the market.

Ford's 'innovation leadership council', a cross-functional team of engineers, designers and marketing professionals, is meeting regularly to analyse customer needs, and to figure out what the company can do to meet them. Plans are underway for a new Web site that will make it easier for employees to collaborate globally on ideas, Fields said.

"We're going to author innovations on a par with those that made Ford great originally," Fields said. "That is what brought us success in the past, and that is the standard we're reaching for in the future."

The Henry Ford Technology Awards for 2006 were presented for several innovations such as:

• Collision warning and mitigation by braking, developed in Ford Research and applied by engineers on the new Volvo S80 and Ford S-MAX sold in Europe. The technology uses sensors to detect an impending collision and then warns the driver and applies the brakes to reduce the severity of an impeding crash.
• An e-coat paint process perfected by Mazda that reduces the paint waste and environmental impact by allowing a more uniform and consistent quality coating of paint to be applied to parts. This paint process uses electric energy to attract paint particles to a part, minimizing waste.
• Development of the strong, lightweight aluminium space frame and super formed aluminium body-in-white for the Ford GT super car that enabled the car to be brought to market in record time.

The award is a hand-sculpted and polished stainless steel flame mounted on a black acrylic base. The flame is symbolic of professional excellence, and superior accomplishment.