Tom Gale and the Howler (right) and the GT Cruiser (left)

Photo: DaimlerChrysler

"Our focus now is validation of our contingency plans and our Command Center processes and structures," said Don Costantino, GM's Corporate Y2K Program Director whose headquarters is in GM's Global Y2K Command Center on the grounds of the company's technical center in Warren, MI. Costantino said that the three networks are made up of GM's centers dedicated to the operation of the company, supplier readiness centers to monitor GM's supplier base, and centers operated by Electronic Data Systems, GM's primary supplier of information technology. The other worldwide GM centers are in Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Germany, Brazil and Singapore.

The key role of the Global Command Center will be to gather information from all three networks around the globe and to report the company's status to management, employees and the media. The role of the other centers in the network will be to monitor the company for any unforeseen problems and to ensure that the necessary resources are mobilized to correct them.

GM began its Y2K program in earnest in 1996 using a seven-step process to find and fix any Y2K problems. A key step in the process was substantially completed in 1999 with the readiness testing of logical clusters of business processes and assembly plants with the computer clocks rolled forward to January 1, 2000. GM is well into the final step of developing and validating contingency plans, which spell out in detail the steps to be taken if an unforeseen problem might arise. GM paid particular attention to its critical supplier base. The company surveyed nearly 40,000 supplier sites, and conducted on-site visits to more than 4,800. GM offered more than 1,000 Y2K Program Management classes in 11 languages to suppliers around the world, providing direct assistance to some.

This all new, unique e-commerce solution replaces Fleet Central Billing and has in-built flexibility to meet the differing needs of the various user groups, including providing a multi-franchise solution for all-make fleets. Ford considered a number of options before deciding to work in partnership with Cap Gemini and its next-generation TransLease service; the two services are complementary products which draw on each other's strengths and between them cater for all fleet sizes.

Much of the technical repair validation Ford is able to provide through Ford Dealers will also be included within TransLease. "Fleet Central Billing was launched in 1996 and has remained the most successful manufacturer offering of its type ever since, growing to a customer base of 120 fleets with over 200,000 Ford vehicles" said Mike Wear, Director Ford Fleet Operations.

Ford Fleet Servicemanager is designed to meet the needs of today's fleet customers. It benefits from the inclusion of the up-front automated authorisation processes used within TransLease - which are not available from other electronic billing systems on the market. The ability of Ford Fleet Servicemanager to perform technical repair validation, through Ford Dealers, is also being developed using Ford vehicle data.

Where Fleet Central Billing was designed around paper, Ford Fleet Servicemanager is an "on-line" electronic authorisation process allowing concerns to be resolved before repair commencement, and delivers invoices through the system in a common format. Ford is funding further development enabling Ford Fleet Servicemanager to reach smaller fleets, providing benefits previously only enjoyed by larger fleets. In this way, Ford Fleet Servicemanager and TransLease are complementary products providing an industry wide e-commerce solution - catering for the needs of both large and small fleets alike.

Ford Fleet Servicemanager was launched on October 25, 1999, with Ford Business Partner (Formerly Ford Contract Motoring) being the lead fleet.

[Homepage] [ News] [ Companies] [ Management] [ Publications] [ Events] [ Careers]
[Services] [Discussion] [ Guestbook] [ Search]