While the all-electric Ford F-150 Lightning has made headlines around the world, few people know of the mother-daughter team inside the Rouge factory that builds the popular pickup truck — women who carry on a family tradition that reflects generations of hard work on the production floor.

"It's important when you do have generations working at the plant that you set the example. That you be the worker you want your children to be, and they'll follow," Suzie Roksandich-McDermott, 53, of Taylor, told the Detroit Free Press.

Her father worked at the old Ford steel plant. Her grandfather helped build the Rouge industrial complex in Dearborn. Now her daughter, Amanda McDermott, 32, of Romulus, is on the production floor, too.

"You’ll see husbands and wives. There's lots of sons at work, and even mothers and sons. But not a lot of them work in the same building. And I don't know of any mothers and daughters," Suzie said. "It was important for me that this is what she wanted. This is what I’ve always wanted."

The mother and daughter are among 950 workers at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center who will do a final production push over the next month before a six-week summer shutdown to change over plant logistics for a massive increase that will nearly double the production run rate of trucks to 150,000 vehicles annually. Where parking lots initially existed near the plant, that's all gone now, eaten up by the massive building expansion.

The Lightning began production in a 503,000-square-foot plant that'll grow to 783,000 — bigger than 13 football fields, spokeswoman Kayla Brown told the Free Press.

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Not far away sits the Dearborn Truck Plant, which builds the bestselling Ford F-150 gasoline-powered pickup.

Suzie and Amanda used to work there together, too. These days, Suzie works in pre-delivery as an inspector on the Lightning assembly line. She focuses on quality review, checking for dents, dings, paint, anything that might be amiss on the new Lightning. She tests the electronics.

'Let me tell you'

"We're the last to see it before it goes to the dealership," said Suzie who has worked at Ford 23 years. "I'm a floater. I do the job of whoever is not there. I do anything from testing the electronics to ... taking it through water to make sure there’s no leaks."

She spent seven years at a plant in Saline working on dashboards for the Mustang and F-150 before working on the engine line at Dearborn Truck. "I was tag relief. We gave everybody their breaks. That way the (factory) line doesn't have to stop. We give eight people breaks and that happens all day, whether they're putting in the alternator, ac pump, hoses. It was all about building onto the engine."

These are the words of a woman who describes her heritage as "Ford family." Suzie's mother even worked on the assembly line in Saline, building dashboards for the Ford Escort. And working in the factory taught Suzie as a child that factory work paid her parents a wage that provided a comfortable, happy life.

"They had the financial means — when I was raised, there was really nothing I wanted that couldn’t be achieved. So it was important for me to do that for my kids," Suzie said. "The other thing was, I wanted my parents to be proud. So when I started at Saline, my mom and stepdad worked there and my uncle. Let me tell you, my uncle and stepdad weren’t that happy about me coming to the plant. I think it's because they didn't know how I would work. I can promise you, I’ve made them very proud."

'I don't know'

Meanwhile, Amanda didn't plan to work in the factory. She enrolled in college to study criminal justice but left before finishing her degree because she just changed her mind.

Now she's a production floor associate who takes random jobs. She works on the truck frame. She screws in nuts and bolts with handguns and makes sure everything is fastened properly and secured before going to the next station. Three years have passed since she started at Ford. She and her mother are UAW members.

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Amanda worked eight years as a security guard at an automotive supplier in Saline, and then she decided she really wanted to work in the factory. But Suzie was apprehensive, wanting to be certain it was the right life decision rather than following in family footsteps.

"She was like, 'I don't know, Amanda,' " the daughter said. "Then I started working in the plant and making F-150 doors and thought, 'I really like this.' "

The mother, worried her daughter wouldn't have a Plan B if production work didn't pan out, realized that she wanted her daughter to work in a Ford factory if factory work was the plan.

"I think she wanted me to finish my degree. Production is not for everyone. What if I don't succeed?" Amanda said.

But she did.

Savoring 30 minutes together

Now, mom makes her grown kid lunch every day. Why? Amanda said eating made her sleepy and didn't bring food to work, but Suzie didn't want her daughter working a 10-hour shift, four days a week that starts at 5:30 a.m. and ends at 4 p.m. to go without eating. Now they leave their work stations at opposite ends of the enormous plant and spend their 30 minutes together, often with friends in the plant.

"I pack turkey wrap sandwiches, little cookies, Pringles, string cheese," Suzie said, laughing. Her daughter never took lunch to school growing up because the cafeteria offered meals on-site, she said. So this is new.

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Suzie has another daughter and adopted a niece and nephew as youngsters. At 17, her nephew is looking at factory work but Suzie hopes to guide him into skilled trades, which offers flexibility. Amanda doesn't have children, so discussion about factory life is not in the cards.

"I don’t want anyone to shy away from working with their mom," Amanda said. "I'll admit, I still get tired eating lunch. But it's OK to work with your parents. You can joke with people, 'I'm going to tell mom.' "

Suzie added, "This is kinda normal to me. I worked with my mom in the plant, and now my daughter. It is fun."

(Built Ford) proud

Corey Williams, plant manager at the Dearborn Truck and Rouge Eclectic Vehicle Center, said Suzie and Amanda are the only mother-daughter team on the Lightning assembly line and working with them makes people feel good.

“It is amazing just how many families work together at Ford," he said in a statement to the Free Press. “This site is a family legacy, starting way back when, with Henry Ford building the Model T ... and that is evident when you see a mother and daughter working side by side.”

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Contact Phoebe Wall Howard: 313-618-1034 or phoward@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @phoebesaid.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Mother, daughter build Ford F-150 Lightning as plant prepares overhaul