Ford teams with suppliers, sharing best practices and learnings to drive efficiency

DEARBORN, MI., – Ford Motor Co. has introduced important new programs recently to share best practices and partner with suppliers to eliminate waste throughout the value chain and help suppliers become more efficient and effective.

Through its Total Cost Management (TCM) Center, Ford has been conducting workshops and commodity reviews and offering training that help optimize consumer value on its vehicles. A recent move of the Center to a newer, larger facility in Dearborn from Livonia has expanded the sharing and learning capabilities for Ford and its suppliers.

"Ford views its suppliers as teammates in a quest to make the best vehicles for our customers," said Carlos Mazzorin, group vice president of Purchasing and Ford of Mexico. "We're transforming our company and we want to help suppliers transform their practices to keep up with the fast-changing consumer marketplace."

Among the many additions in the new facility, the Center will have a garage with hoists that will allow Ford and its suppliers to review vehicles from all perspectives. In addition, the Center will be co-located with key management of the cross-functional plant vehicle teams, which will speed communication, facilitate problem-resolution and share best practices with these plant-based teams.

The TCM Center offers more than a dozen types of programs to suppliers, including:

· The Value Web, the newest phase of TCM. Value Web is a secure web-based workshop management system that allows for complete automation of TCM workshops to improve their effectiveness and give participants access to project status and assignments.
· Site- and commodity-focused lean deployment training sessions that enhance suppliers' knowledge of lean manufacturing principles and methods;
· Commodity reviews involving competitive analysis and cost modeling to lower the cost of a commodity across several vehicle lines in current production and in future program plans;
· Target Achievement Plan (TAP) workshops with cross-functional Ford and supplier teams to identify and eliminate waste in the value chain to achieve cost targets; and
· Value Analysis (VA) workshops that use benchmarking data and other analyses to identify design-related opportunities for current production components.

Programs can take from one month to one year, occur over two to ten sessions and involve a wide range and number of participants from Ford and suppliers.

"Ford is a leader in the auto industry in teaming with its suppliers to share best practices and instill new knowledge," said Andy Benedict, director of the TCM Center. "We believe this is an unique facility offering innovative opportunities that suppliers can use to achieve world-class performance."

For example, the Ford Supplier Learning Institute (FSLI) and the Lean Resource Center (LRC) offer training courses designed to advance the skills and expertise of suppliers to help them become more efficient and effective.

FSLI offers hundreds of courses through the Fairlane Training and Development Center. Through Ford's exclusive web site for suppliers – the Ford Supplier Network (FSN) – a supplier can search and view the course catalog and register for courses. A unique aspect of the online site is a diagnostic tool that allows suppliers to answer a series of tailored questions to help them determine the best courses to fill gaps in their knowledge base.

The Lean Resource Center is available to suppliers to share the principles and best practices of lean manufacturing in an effort to improve the overall capabilities of the supply base.

The Lean Resource Center will offer general courses and workshops in a practical approach to improve the lean capability of the supply base. The Center is supported by an advisory board of prominent industry and academic experts and consultants.

The Lean Resource Center will use benchmarking, supplier focus groups, on-site meetings, selective training and tailored workshops to address specific supplier issues. It will contain an extensive library with general reference items, and world-class manufacturing and plant-floor materials. Literature searches will be available at suppliers' request. In addition, audio books, cassettes, videos, CD-ROMs, interactive learning reports and papers will also be available.