A state of the art truck engine will be built at the Ford Annex in Windsor.

To facilitate the work, the facility is getting a total revamp and work to retool the facility is well underway and on schedule as the company prepares for a seamless launch of the all-new 7X engine.

Union officials confirm it will be a 7-X engine to replace the 6.8 litre engine currently used in its large truck models.

Windsor will be the only Ford plant producing this size engine.

“Right now the skilled trades team and engineering team is laying out our strategy for installation, so it’s exciting,” said Tony Savoni, the site manager for Ford operations in Windsor.

Right now, the plant is sitting nearly empty with a fresh coat of paint on the floor. But next month Ford will begin installing the machinery to begin manufacturing the new product. Test engines will be made before the end of 2018 and the assembly line will be fully functional by May of 2019.

Tony Savoni says the computer controlled metal machining equipment that will be installed will give the plant lots of flexibility.

“The good news is with company investing in CNCs,” said Savoni. “It’s fantastic for us. It does allow us to quickly retool or upgrade for future product.”

In 2016 the company announced a $600 million investment in its Windsor operations, with federal and provincial governments kicking in roughly $205 million.