Ford.com

Pcubed created a powerful e-commerce tool that streamlined project management and facilitated informed investment analysis and decisions.

The Client

Ford Motor Company is one of the world's leading automotive manufacturers, with sales of six million units, revenues exceeding $100 billion and 340,000+ employees worldwide.

The Challenge

Staying true to its reputation of being innovative and competitive, Ford had decided to tap the power of e-commerce as the centerpiece of its customer-focused market strategy. This meant totally redesigning its global web presence at Internet speed. Ford required major overhauls to site content and functionality every six months to keep presenting fresh material and build repeat website traffic. In addition, project complexity was substantial as Ford had a portfolio of 15 major programs with at least 40 individual websites, covering multiple branded nameplates and business units.

Other key challenges included:

• Each business unit had its own outside creative agencies, web development teams, customer support and dealer organizations; all had to be coordinated in a tight time frame
• Individual website size was also a major factor, with some containing more than 100 separate pages
• Existing projects were being tracked with a variety of archaic tools
• No standard processes were in place to initiate new projects, track issues, and manage the work

The Pcubed Solution

Pcubed established a classic four-phase project life cycle that included initiation, planning, execution, and closure. All of which was supported by the tracking and critical path capabilities of Microsoft Project. Standard templates to charter new projects, gather requirements, track issues, measure risk and report status were created and implemented. Communication was supported by a high-tech suite of web-based tools.

Additionally:

• Microsoft Project was used to roll up individual project plans and deliver consolidated enterprise level status to senior management
• Microsoft Access was employed as the backbone of a Program Cost Management System

Key elements of the solution included:

• More than 85 projects were delivered on time and are now generating business for Ford
• New standard processes ensured reliable, repeatable execution
• Templates provided project managers with a consistent framework to work with multiple vendors
• Consolidated enterprise-level reporting, delivered by Microsoft Project, enabled senior management to make better informed decisions
• Program Cost Management system captured all costs associated with each project and facilitated informed investment analysis and decisions