Ford Operational Efficiency

Improving Operational Efficiency through Standardized Executive Governance

The Client

Ford of Europe, with its headquarters in Cologne, Germany, is the European division of the Ford Motor Company. Ford Motor Company is an American multinational corporation and the world's third largest automaker based on worldwide vehicle sales. The Core Quality office manages several projects and programs of work such as 6-Sigma Deployment (Process Improvement and Problem Resolution), Global Quality Improvement Process (GQIP), High Time in Service (HTIS), and the Executive Governance program. The Quality Office is also responsible for all Quality Training, Quality Strategy and Communication.

The Challenge

The preparation for key quality meetings at European and Global level was becoming inefficient and increasing the risk of inconsistencies in reporting and information flow.

Other key challenges included:

• Reporting Integrity- The achievement and subsequent reporting of key quality metrics is essential for the continuous improvement of Ford Quality but confidence in the integrity, timeliness and accuracy of the reported data were impacting effective decision making at the Senior Executive level within the company.
• Efficiency- Many of the existing processes required duplicated reporting of the same data into several different forums and a large amount of manual work to produce or collate the data.
• Accountability- At Senior Management meetings the decisions made and assignments set were often not accurately captured and were therefore not adequately communicated, completed and tracked.
• Communications- The operations for reporting Quality progress, strategy and objectives was fragmented with no holistic overview for communicating to the Executive management and internal quality organization.
• Scope- The existing reporting of Quality data omitted sections of the organization that were impacting the key quality metrics used at an Executive Management level.

The Pcubed Solution

1. Identify- The first step was to assess quickly the current status or health of the existing Executive Governance Program using a Program Diagnostic tool. This helped to identify the root causes of program concerns by working collaboratively with the client and their organization to obtain a comprehensive vision of the challenges facing the program and the capability of the existing organization to meet these challenges.
2. Define- The results of this diagnostic assessment enabled Pcubed to assess which of the collection of best practices combined in our Program Delivery Kit would best support the delivery of the Executive Governance Program objectives. The tools, documents and process templates for Program Management that could best be applied to treat the client's key challenges were considered in synergy with those existing processes in the client organization to define the Delivery solution.
3. Disciplined Delivery- With the Program scope set and the approach defined, the Process Solutions were implemented to establish a foundation for long-term sustainable delivery, providing the client's organization with the ability to more effectively deliver programs and projects and their accompanying business change required to achieve organizational strategies
4. PMO Setup- A Program Management Office (PMO) capability was implemented in the client's organization; centralizing the Pcubed solution with a dedicated resource in the FOE Core Quality office to provide visibility and insight into critical business programs, enabling effective decisions and control. This single point of contact for reporting enabled the development of a holistic outlook across the organization and the development of a hub for a robust network to minimize reporting duplication, inefficiency or loss of integrity.
5. PMO Delivery-
   • Program Planning and Control - 3 month Plans and Forecasts were set to increase efficiency of reporting and minimize the impact of surprises.
   • Program Risk Management and Issue Resolution - Active assessment of potential risks to delivery of the Program objectives ensured effective mitigating actions were planned into delivery activities and enabled fast, effective resolution of issues where risks were not contained.
   • Program Change Control - Changes to the Program operations or processes were tracked, with lessons learned documented as feedback to set the Global Best Practices for Ford Quality Reporting.
   • Benefits Management - Regular reviews were held with the Client and key stakeholders to ensure the Program was achieving the set objectives and doing so within the cost margins set by the client organization.
   • Stakeholder Management - Operational forums were established with the key stakeholders to ensure the Program objectives were aligned to the Company's Strategic aims and to share Best Practices across the Quality Reporting community.
   • Dependency Management - Early identification of the meetings, reports and departments co-dependent on reporting the same Quality data enabled the development of a robust network to ensure all parties were informed, aligned and were reporting accurately.