You can also blame AIAG for hype. I wonder, what they hcan gain by hyping it up. Bottom line is the information industry has started to recognise the probelm and it is becoming a news, don't blame me for that. You can very well disagree with all that.
SOUTHFIELD, Mich., May 27 /PRNewswire/ -- To help the automotive industry
avoid computer and manufacturing system gridlock resulting from the Year 2000
glitch, AIAG will dedicate a full day to the issue at the annual AUTO-TECH
Conference and Exposition slated for August 25-28 at Detroit's Cobo Center.
AIAG is dedicating Tuesday, August 26 to help suppliers understand
the seriousness of the Year 2000 problems and provide assistance in assessing the
level of compliance. The day's activities will include an Executive Briefing
Luncheon featuring Ralph J. Szygenda, vice president and chief information
officer (CIO) for General Motors Corporation; an OEM Town Meeting with
Chrysler, Ford and General Motors executives discussing their Year 2000
strategies; and exhibit floor space dedicated to Year 2000 solution
providers.
The Year 2000 focus on Tuesday, August 26 includes:
* Executive Briefing Luncheon with Ralph Szygenda -- 12:30 p.m. to
1:45 p.m.
* OEM Town Meeting with the Big Three -- 2:45 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
* AUTO-TECH Exhibitor Solutions -- 1:45 p.m. to 6:15 p.m.
Computer systems currently process dates as six digits: two digits
each
for the day, the month and the year (i.e. today's date is 052797). Since the
computer will read the year 2000 as "00", the computer will assume the year
is
1900, which can wreak havoc on date-sensitive programs. This two-digit
glitch
can affect numerous systems both in the office and on the manufacturing
floor.
"Computer problems generated by the Year 2000 glitch affect
virtually all
aspects of business operations," said Donald Blair, Associate Director for
the
AIAG on loan from Dana Corporation. "We've worked hard at the AIAG to
develop
Tuesday of AUTO-TECH as a 'one-stop shop' for information, education and
solutions for automotive industry suppliers."
Szygenda of General Motors will address more than 1,200 attendees
at the
executive briefing luncheon, providing valuable insight into the history,
present and future of the Year 2000 glitch.
A 25-year information technology (IT) veteran, Szygenda is
responsible for
developing and implementing GM's global IT strategy and for managing all
information technology efforts within the company. He joined General Motors
in June 1996.
Prior to joining GM, he was vice president and CIO for Arlington,
Va.-
based Bell Atlantic Corp. since June 1993. There he was responsible for re-
engineering corporate business processes and generating information
technology
to meet the evolving and growing demands of Bell Atlantic's communication,
information services and entertainment business.
Earlier Szygenda spent 21 years with Texas Instruments, where he
served as
vice president of Information Systems and Services and CIO since 1989. In
1991, he gained the additional responsibility of Vice President for Texas
Instruments' Enterprise Systems Business Unit.
Founded in 1982, AIAG is a not-for-profit trade association of more
than
1,300 automotive and truck manufacturers and their suppliers. Originally
recognized for its efforts to standardize electronic data interchange (EDI)
and bar code standards to assist Tier One suppliers, AIAG's mission has been
expanded to cover all levels of the automotive supply chain, as well as to
include numerous programs and initiatives aimed at improving its members'
productivity and quality.
More information about AIAG and the annual AUTO-TECH Conference and
Exposition being held August 25-28, 1997 in Detroit can be found on the World
Wide Web at aiag.org.
CO: Automotive Industry Action Group
ST: Michigan
IN: AUT CPR
SU: |
