The inaugural Richard Parry-Jones Memorial Medal was launched at the IMechE’s headquarters at Birdcage Walk in Westminster on Friday (16 June). The event, featuring speakers including new IMechE president Giles Hartill and Tim Slatter, recent chairman of Ford in Britain, set out the aims of the new award and remembered the important work of its namesake.
Richard Parry-Jones CBE, who died in 2021, was a fellow of both the IMechE and the Royal Academy of Engineering. He is best remembered for bringing a much higher standard of vehicle dynamics to Ford’s European cars, including the Mondeo in 1993 and the Focus in 1998, which redefined the industry for vehicles of its class.
In 1999, Parry-Jones – often known as RPJ to friends and colleagues – was appointed Ford's global head of product development. In 2001 he became chief technical officer, giving him global leadership over 30,000 engineers at Ford and the company’s other brands at the time, including Aston Martin, Jaguar Land Rover, Volvo and Mazda.
Automotive DNA
Tony Pixton, a former executive director at Ford and long-time colleague of Parry-Jones, gave more detail on his career at the event. He also shared some memories, including “more exciting drives than I can remember, and some pretty hairy ones as well.”
Development of the Focus, which was led by Parry-Jones, “pioneered a new approach to vehicle design and product development,” Pixton said. “It's not just that it was a very successful product. It also changed the way we develop cars in Europe, and then progressively throughout the whole world.”
Parry-Jones’ approach was informed by knowledge of statistical control of product and process variability, Pixton said, which he learned while working as operations manager for Ford’s Cologne assembly plant in Germany.
His methodology and vision for automotive engineering “went far beyond simply developing outstanding products. He also championed new methodologies to deliver high levels of quality, reliability and durability, as well as defining real customer-focused personality for the products, what is termed generally now as the ‘DNA’ of the car. That was very much one of his ideas and concepts, all cars from a brand should feel like the brand wants them to feel, and they should all have uniformity,” said Pixton.
“He introduced techniques such as systems engineering, reliability and robustness evaluation using statistical methods, and tools such as the Kano model for customer satisfaction. They were embedded into the product development process and to training engineers of the future.
“His data-driven approach fundamentally changed the product development process, not just at Ford, but in the wider industry, who observed the results as each new Ford product was launched.”
A former Ford colleague of Pixton’s, who had gone on to work extensively in India, China and Korea, recently told him that the “RPJ architectural mindset” is now found everywhere in the industry.
“The sad part is that many, many of the engineers in the industry do not know where these concepts came from. They don't know the origins of them. Hopefully today we can start to address that,” he said.
‘Shared delight’
Parry-Jones’ methodology and mindset, which also included the ‘50 metre test’ – in which he encouraged engineers to evaluate a car in the first 50m of the drive, to learn more about its operating characteristics – were not the only remarkable aspects to his career.
Pixton also praised his “passion, enthusiasm, and shared delight developing products like this, which spread throughout my team, and also the whole product development organisation.”
His career even stretched beyond the automotive industry. He became a consultant on local government economic development, developed a strategic plan for automotive’s transition to a low-carbon future, and played a key role in the formation of the UK Automotive Council, the Advanced Propulsion Centre, and the Faraday Challenge. He was also chairman of Network Rail and Yorkshire Water.
Recognising expertise
The new medal is a rededication of the automobile division’s premier medal, which was formerly known as the Crompton Lanchester medal and was first awarded in 1948, said chairman Andrew Fraser, who was also a colleague of Parry-Jones.
The event on Friday was “all about recognition,” said Hartill. “It's such a core part of what we do at the IMechE, about recognising the expertise of our members… making sure we then use that expertise for the benefit of society.”
He added: “Awarding medals such as this and having these types of awards and prizes is a key part of what we do as an organisation. Long may it continue and grow.”
Parry-Jones was himself awarded the 2014 James Watt International Gold Medal for his outstanding contribution to the automotive industry.
The Richard Parry-Jones Memorial Medal will be awarded each year for excellence in automotive engineering, with the first one planned for later this year.
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