Ford Motor Company

Pcubed developed a single Project Management (PM) system that allows suppliers to minimize costs and maximize efficiency.

The Client

Ford of Europe Marketing is part of the Ford Motor Company, the world's second largest provider of automotive products and services. The central communication office manages the marketing business with a budget that is responsible for all European market communication, advertising and media through external agencies. They are currently implementing a global consumerdriven Six Sigma strategy to reduce variability in products, services and processes, reduce costs and significantly boost quality and customer satisfaction.

The Challenge

Faced with ever increasing production costs while maintaining the integrity of Ford's quality brand, The Motor Company needed to provide a PM solution that:

• Supports a Six Sigma initiative to achieve savings in excess of $250,000 annually for the European marketing literature business
• Defines and maps the process to be improved
• Captures and measures data from disparate sources without imposing additional administrative burden to facilitate future analysis by the process owner, Six Sigma Black Belts or Green Belts

Other key challenges included:

• Highlight further improvements to the existing process, removing opportunity for defects and thereby increasing Sigma performance level
• PM solution that complements the control phase of the Six Sigma initiative through delivery of a Control Plan

The Pcubed Solution

Having gained an understanding of the existing process with each stakeholder, Pcubed developed a high level template using Microsoft Project. This enabled proactive management decisions based on dynamic Six Sigma metrics to reduce variability in products, services and processes, reduce costs and significantly boost quality and customer satisfaction.

Other significant aspects of the solution included the:

• Implementation of structured data capture through a single PM tool allowing defects, special causes for delay and project history to be permanently recorded
• Development of a PM framework and PMO Box toolsets that aligned with Six Sigma analyses to define sub-processes and bring transparency to the entire European operation
• Improved core operational competencies of key individuals to facilitate more informed decision making and an increased capability to manage projects
• Creation of a single system used by the suppliers to manage their projects and by the client to assess project performance and improve effectiveness and efficiency year to year

Key elements of the solution included:

• The avoidance of significant lost revenue due to delays in delivery of marketing literature within Europe
• Improved and defined process that avoids 'hidden factories' meaning fewer unnecessary costs and timely delivery at the required quality