Bond, and Thread, article...... A Glimpse Into The Future Of E-Business...
May 24, 1999
Can Ford Motor Co. use Web and IP technology to transform itself into the Dell Computer of the auto industry? Whether the auto giant ultimately makes good on its goal of becoming a build-to-order supplier may well come to define the value of e-business.
Meantime, Ford's Internet evangelism shows that you can't just throw money at the IT department and expect to easily construct an extended enterprise. You must also sell senior management on the concept of e-business.
In Ford's case, executives are responsible for making sure that their business units are continuously using the Web as the primary medium for all knowledge sharing, proving that even the largest enterprises can re-engineer their operations using the Internet.
IT and business executives should watch Ford closely as it constructs the benchmark for Web-driven enterprises. Parallel efforts inside Ford have hundreds of thousands of employees storing all of their "corporate knowledge" in a Web-oriented database, engineers collaboratively designing car components with suppliers, and dealers buying surplus parts directly from the auto giant. Consumers in Tulsa, Okla., already can configure their own Mustangs and order directly via the Web. "The Web is the critical conduit for just about all activities," says CIO Bud Mathaisel.
Now, Ford has refashioned its supplier extranet in the image of a portal site, like Yahoo or Excite. Rather than dig through layers of applications and documents, suppliers can design their own, personalized interface to track pending projects with the auto giant.
The change isn't just cosmetic. It's a potent example of a big IT shop aligning Web interfaces with business processes rather than IT architectures. And that's a good thing, because it's a sign that IT organizations are becoming more skilled at addressing the needs of business users.
The lesson: Technology shouldn't drive business decisions; rather, technology should support and extend a company's business goals.
Arguably, it might be a lot harder to pull off build-to-order in Detroit than Austin, with its countless makes and models, higher price tags and thousands of suppliers. But if Ford succeeds in porting the Dell model to the auto industry, the rewards may be even greater than information technology's greatest success story.
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