Ford Town Hall – ‘What a Year!’
Kathy Reiss, OESA
OESA hosted a members-only Ford Town Hall meeting on Dec. 13, 2011 with Tony Brown, group vice president, global purchasing and his executive team, sharing an overview of Ford Motor Company trials and accomplishments through 2011.
After Brown introduced his executive team, he began his remarks with, “What a year!” Brown then followed with an overview of the year’s supply chain interruptions caused by the Japan earthquake and tsunami, flooding in Thailand and the U.S., and individual plant fires. His conviction was strong that the industry cannot discount these disruptions as isolated “once in 50-year events,” because in some corner of the globe where the auto industry operates the 50-year clock has counted down. “This is now a way of life; we need to evaluate our global, complex supply chain with consistency of purpose,” Brown said.
Brown took the OESA members through an overview of Ford’s third quarter company financials, market share trends and progress on its 2011 corporate full-year plan. In discussing Ford’s purchasing objectives, Brown stressed that all Ford purchasing activities are driven to be consistent with Ford’s Aligned Business Framework with the final objective of promoting bilateral communication, transparency, collaboration and trust between Ford and its suppliers.
In discussing his 2012 outlook, Brown detailed the key opportunities and risks that are top of mind at Ford and Ford purchasing.
OPPORTUNITIES
- Ford Aligned Business Framework
- Scale benefits
- Complexity reduction
- Capacity utilization
RISKS
- Global economics
- Raw material market volatility
- Supply chain/vehicle capacity constraints
- Supply chain disruptions
Following Brown’s formal remarks, Birgit Behrendt, executive director, global programs and the Americas purchasing, Burt Jordan, executive director, global vehicle and powertrain purchasing, Dave Velliky, executive director, global supplier technical assistance and Jeff Wellman, executive director, facilities materials and services purchasing, business strategy and global purchasing information management systems, joined Brown on the stage. The Ford purchasing team took a wide range of questions from the 350 participating executives. Following the meeting, the additional 17 Ford executives in attendance spoke individually with suppliers. OESA greatly appreciates the commitment of the Ford executives to make this town hall a great success.
Neil De Koker, president and CEO, OESA, closed the meeting by thanking Brown and his executive team stating, “This has been a great year with many challenges; thank you Ford and OESA members for your continued support.”
A special thanks to Link Engineering Company, the event’s networking partner.
OESA welcomes member feedback. Members should address comments and suggestions to Dave Andrea at 248.952.6401 ext. 228 or dandrea@oesa.org.