Sandy Munro, a former Ford engineer and owner of engineering consulting firm Monro & Associates, Inc., has solidified his stance on some of Ford's fastener and material practices.

With years of expertise under his belt, Munro gives a detailed overview of some of the fasteners required within the voltage system of a Ford Mustang Mach-E. He counts 13 fasteners — none of which can be used in place of another — and discloses the frustration that he faced during his time at Ford Motors.

When choosing fasteners, it is imperative to keep the material's versatility and behavior in mind. If an assembly had a single missing fastener, then substituting with a part that will self-destruct is not a viable option. "It's especially important not to cross-thread in aluminum componentry," Munro said. "Cross-threading in aluminum tears it to pieces." If a high number of fasteners are required but cannot be interchanged, then engineers are forced into a single point of failure because the closest alternative may do more damage than good. This raises cost and labor, which Munro deems as unnecessary and avoidable.

Munro also compares the Ford components to that of a Tesla to prove that more unique parts might not equate to higher quality. In the demonstration, Tesla uses one fastener in the entire voltage system shown. For Tesla, this means lower cost in parts and required tooling, a quicker assembly and virtually no threat of not having the right part on hand.

Ironically, he shared a quote from a training book that came from Ford itself: "If you want poor quality, add more screws."

Learn more about fastener and assembly options and best practices.