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Automobile industry

Logica Assists Ford in Implementing Global Purchasing System

Strategic Insights

— 1 min read

Logica, a leading international computer consulting and software company, has collaborated with the Ford Motor Company to create a global purchasing system, Ford Worldwide Integrated Purchasing System (WIPS). This system enables Ford to streamline its purchasing operations, reducing costs and improving productivity by analyzing each component from design to manufacturing, and scrutinizing Ford activities during this process. The WIPS system utilizes workflow techniques to provide a workload management system, featuring sourcing, a purchasing decision support system, and the ability to apply "what if" scenarios.

Key Takeaways:

  • Ford's high-volume purchasing activities, representing the annual procurement of more than 100,000 separate parts worth $40-billion, are now "live" on WIPS in Europe and in the first phase of the US roll-out.
  • The WIPS project has been a complex undertaking, involving a team of 140 specialists from Ford and Logica across three countries, with functional design completed in Detroit, project programming in Basildon, UK, and computer operations in Cologne, Germany.
  • Ford's global purchasing strategy is supported by WIPS, which forms part of the company's Ford 2000 program aimed at preparing for future growth and moving to a single set of worldwide processes and systems.
  • The WIPS team spent eight consecutive weekends running trial conversions of data prior to the US software launch, with 245 US buyers linked to WIPS in a single weekend.
  • Logica provided strategic consulting on project management, a central "Project Office" group, and staff at all levels of the development and technical support teams.

Statistics:

  • Ford's annual procurement of more than 100,000 separate parts worth $40-billion are now "live" on WIPS in Europe and in the first phase of the US roll-out.
  • The WIPS project has involved a team of 140 specialists from Ford and Logica over two years.
  • Ford's WIPS system has the capability to handle up to 70,000 "what if" scenarios and transactions per day.
  • Logica is a $350-million organization with 3,400 staff across 17 countries, having completed over 10,000 projects in over 50 countries worldwide.

Sources:

  • Business Wire, May 9, 1995
  • Ford Motor Company
  • Logica plc

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