...12-13 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Ford Motor Company is the second largest industrial automotive corporation in the world. Their operations span over 200 countries with more than $144 billion in revenues. Over the years, its market share has been on the decline due to the entrance of foreign-based auto manufacturers. They are also faced with over industry capacity and uses minimal technology in their process. In an effort to face competition, Ford is currently reviewing Dell’s Model of virtual integration to solve their supply chain bottlenecks. However, there were fundamental issues that needed to be addressed: (1) How would the virtual integration affect the operations of Ford in areas of ordering, quality control and distribution? (2) Should Ford completely Dell’s business model or which aspects would work best for Ford? (3) Could Dell’s cycle time and lead times be replicated into Ford’s automotive infrastructure and would the current technology at Ford support this? and (4) Would virtual integration be feasible in the automotive industry given the product characteristics and industry scope? It was found that emerging technologies, globalization of foreign-based auto manufacturers and intense industry competition caused Ford’s issues. Subsequently, there were two ways Ford could handle this: adopting the whole Dell’s business model or adapting aspects of the business model. It was recommended that Ford should adapt aspects of the...
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...Exchange (ANX) and the public Internet site went live in 1995. By 1997, the Internet site had more than 1 million hits per day. Ford was honoured as most improved automaker in the 1997 JD Power Initial Quality Study and by 1998 it acquired Volvo and surpassed Chrysler in profit per vehicle ($1770) while total profit hit $6.9 billion. Ford Motor Company is the second largest industrial corporation in the world operating in 200 countries around the globe with 180 manufacturing plants. Issues Teri Takai, Director of Supply Chain Systems is contemplating recommendations on information technologies (e.g., Internet technologies) from new high-tech industries could alter how Ford interacts with suppliers. • One group favoring "virtual integration" like Dell. • Another group believes differences between the auto business and computer manufacturing is substantive. Relative to Dell, Ford’s supplier network has more layers and companies, and Ford’s purchasing organization was more prominent and independent than Dell's. Sub Issue • Company-wide emphasis on shareholder value and customer responsiveness. • Market share Environmental and Root Case Analysis There exist many similarities between Ford`s processes and Dell`s virtual integration. The pertinent requirements of vehicles and computers are similar upon examination. There exist many differences that require scrutinizing....
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...Ford Case Report Virtual Integrate or Not? Table of Contents -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Executive Summary 3 Issue Identification 4 Environmental & Root Cause Analysis 4-5 Alternatives 6 Recommendations 7 Implementation 8 Monitor and Control 9 Executive Summary Being one of the top 3 auto manufacturers, Ford had been challenged for their leading position in the auto industry by their foreign-based competitors (Honda and Toyota) in past decades; at the same time auto industry was overcapacity which lead to more fierce competition. How could Ford maintain competitive power and market share in auto market? Improve quality, decrease price and fast response to...
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...new supply chain strategy of Virtual Integration and strategies from companies like Dell. Although there are several key differences between the companies, Dell’s virtual integration strategy can be applied to Ford’s supply chain operation. A modification of the virtual integration system currently used by Dell could be applied to Ford’s dependent supplier base, distribution system, dealerships and divisions. Special care will need to be taken to address the unique dependency of our custom Tier 1 supplier. The management of lower tier suppliers of general or generic components would be more effectively suited by the standard procedures used by Dell. If we at Ford could find a solution to the obstacles of virtual integration, it could make our supply chain run smoothly with less bottlenecking, inventory, and better overall performance. Managers could overcome the complex and error-prone manual process of forecasting and procuring parts which would result in reduced OTD lessen costs and enhance customer satisfaction. ISSUE IDENTIFICATION Senior Executives have asked how Ford should use the emerging information technologies and ideas from new high-tech industries to change the way we interact with Suppliers. We must find ways to improve the Supply Chain management and to increase shareholder value and Supply Chain responsiveness. Specifically we are looking at how Dell manages their Supply Chain and incorporates the virtual integration strategy. A decision is required...
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...consuming Information and reviews Price and selection Disadvantages Fraud and security concerns Lack of full cost disclosure Privacy Lack of hands-on inspection What advantages does Dell derive from virtual integration? How important are these advantages in the auto business? Virtual integration and its benefits A way of capturing the advantage of vertical integration without actually vertically integrating Vertical integration solves production problems related to communications, coordination, and control but at a cost of the increased overhead needed to arrange production organization Virtual integration therefore is the ability to achieve the advantage of vertical integration without incurring the overhead. Communication and coordination Vertical integration leads to efficient and effective coordination, through a number of mechanisms that include likelihood of physical proximity, established patterns of communications, and greater willingness to cooperate with other members of the same group. “Stitching together a business with partners that are treated as if they’re inside the company” Michael Dell Control The prospect of improved control over the actions of suppliers is another important rationale for virtual integration. Un-integrated partners can exert power over each other as transactions unfold over time Though Dell enjoy information sharing for now but inventory are not completely aligned Inventory not held by Dell may need to be held by a partner who...
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...Virtualization: • Separation of OS and hardware • OS and application contained in single file • Applications are isolated from one another • Hardware independence & flexibility Typical Consolidation: 15:1 Key Properties of Virtual Machines •Partitioning Run multiple operating systems on one physical machine system resources between virtual machines Divide Key Properties of Virtual Machines •Partitioning Run multiple operating systems on one physical machine Divide system resources between virtual machines •Isolation Fault and security isolation at the hardware level resource controls preserve performance Advanced Key Properties of Virtual Machines •Partitioning Run multiple operating systems on one physical machine Divide system resources between virtual machines •Isolation Fault and security isolation at the hardware level Advanced resource controls preserve performance •Encapsulation Entire state of the virtual machine can be saved to files and copy virtual machines as easily as moving and copying files Move Key Properties of Virtual Machines •Partitioning Run multiple operating systems on one physical machine Divide system resources between virtual machines •Isolation Fault and security isolation at the hardware level Advanced resource controls preserve...
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...------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- Ford Motor Company Case Report ------------------------------------------------- Executive Summary Ford Motor Company has a long history, starting in Michigan in 1903. They have focused on designing and manufacturing and have been very successful, however with increasing competition, global markets and over-capacity the company needs to look at ways to improve profitability. The company has implemented various programs and processes to create a lean, responsive system with better consumer forecasting. Their challenge is to continue to research ways to stay viable in current market and industry conditions. Dell Computers has been very successful with a direct model and virtual integration that may or not work well for Ford. CONTENTS * ISSUE 3 * ANALYSIS 4 * ALTERNATIVES 6 * RECOMMENDATIONS 7 * IMPLEMENTATION 8 * CONCLUSION 8 * REFERENCES 9 * ISSUE: The Ford Motor Company is facing a number of challenges including the direction of CEO Jac Nasser to focus on customer responsiveness and shareholder value to deal with increasing competitiveness, an industry with potential over-capacity and the expansion into globalized markets. Ford had begun to implement systems to reduce cycle-time, improve quality and to lower costs. Programs included consolidating product development into five Vehicle Centres (VCs), reeingineered processes such as Order to Delivery (OTD)...
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...We can use the Network Policy and Access Services server role in order to deploy and configure Network Access Protection (NAP), secure wired and wireless access points, and RADIUS servers and proxies. Hyper-V provides integration services in order to support guest operating system`s such as Windows Server 2012 operating system. It provides the integration services in between the physical computer and the virtual machine. Some of the operating systems has the integration features built-in, while others require that we should install or upgrade integration package as a separate feature after the set up of operating system in the virtual machine is completed. The below table lists the operating systems is supported in Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows 8.1 in order to be used as guest operating systems on Hyper-V virtual machines, as well as it provides details about the integration...
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...3 A. Recommend, with sufficient support, the adoption of one of the following strategies by the power tool company: a Keiretsu network, a virtual company, a vertical integration, or a different supply chain strategy. An efficient supply chain is fundamental to the success of any organization. The expense of the supply chain is usually an organizations largest cost therefore implementing a strategy that effectively minimizes costs while maintaining product quality is an effective way to increase profits. The best way to minimize costs and maximize product quality is to adopt a lean operations strategy that includes just in time (JIT) initiatives. Central to the JIT technique is continuous problem solving. JIT requires that items and materials are ordered only when needed minimizing inventory. When inventory is minimized wasted costs in layout, quality, and procurement are easily spotted and immediately dealt with. With JIT very few suppliers are chosen creating large commitments to the organization. The suppliers should also use JIT and offer their expertise in design and quality control to the supply chain. Since the owners of the power tool company are willing to own or invest in any component of the supply chain I would recommend they initiate a Keiretsu. A Keiretsu is a company coalition which includes few key suppliers and secondary suppliers. The power tool company would support key members of the Keiretsu through ownership or loans. The suppliers are...
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...1898 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON VERY LARGE SCALE INTEGRATION (VLSI) SYSTEMS, VOL. 22, NO. 9, SEPTEMBER 2014 Active Mode Subclock Power Gating Jatin N. Mistry, Member, IEEE, James Myers, Bashir M. Al-Hashimi, Fellow, IEEE, David Flynn, Senior Member, IEEE, John Biggs, Member, IEEE, and Geoff V. Merrett, Member, IEEE Abstract— This paper presents a technique, called subclock power gating, for reducing leakage power during the active mode in low performance, energy-constrained applications. The proposed technique achieves power reduction through two mechanisms: 1) power gating the combinational logic within the clock period (subclock) and 2) reducing the virtual supply to less than Vth rather than shutting down completely as is the case in conventional power gating. To achieve this reduced voltage, a pair of nMOS and pMOS transistors are used at the head and foot of the power gated logic for symmetric virtual rail clamping of the power and ground supplies. The subclock power gating technique has been validated by incorporating it with an ARM Cortex-M0 microprocessor, which was fabricated in a 65-nm process. Two sets of experiments are done: the first experimentally validates the functionality of the proposed technique in the fabricated test chip and the second investigates the utility of the proposed technique in example applications. Measured results from the fabricated chip show 27% power saving during the active mode for an example wireless sensor node application...
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...of vertical integration, Kudler Fine Foods should combine together every parts of profit chain beneath its power. The wrong way around integration, the business must invest in the market gardeners that provide these fresh products. Kudler Fine Foods should also buy a number of the company who bakery bakes different items and sell these products inside to market nationwide. In this case the corporation must improve the control relating towards any supplies or items. In support of foreword integration, Kudler Fine Foods must improve control of delivery stations. Kudler should be able to improve or increase coordination within other stores including Kudler buying location. Kudler could either buy the present delivery station but in case things may be not possible then it is best that Kudler Fine Foods should develop some channel that is better for her business in reach every requirement. For instance vertical collaboration should result with big investment and therefore, money problems may increase. During the same method by using horizontal collaboration is the monopoly of Kudler Fine Foods in providing enormous product below single business will be out of luck. Reference Calhoun, B. D. October 19, 2004. Using the Balance Scorecard to Determine Corporation Information Needs. [Pdf]. Available at: http://www.designbydi.com/documents/BalScrCrd.pdf [Accessed on January 22, 2011]. Camarinha-Matos, L. May 2002. Collaborative business ecosystems and virtual enterprises:...
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...Ford Motor Company: Supply Chain Strategy Attn: Jac Nasser, CEO Dear Mr. Nasser Please find attached the report as requested Yours Truly, Teri Takai Ford Motor Company: Supply Chain Strategy ------------------------------------------------- Case Study Response Executive Summary As Director of Supply Chain Systems and decision maker on if we should proceed with the Virtual Integration Model I have carefully analysed all aspects of this model to see if it could work within Ford and the Automobile industry. We have a rich history of success and working through difficult challenges and I have no doubt that we will do so again with the right decision on this model. The Automobile industry is a complex one with many suppliers, parts, dealerships, competitors and all this is now happening in a global market. This complexity makes efficiencies difficult to implement and drives up the costs our supply chain. Many efficiencies would require the cooperation of both internal and external parties and would require significant investment. Ford’s main problem with their current system is the inefficient usage of their huge data base, the complex network of suppliers, the presence of many independent distributors who are making forecasting difficult and the lack of direct communication with customers. Through my review I have come to the conclusion that the full implementation of the Dell Model would not work; the way customers buy cars and computers in this day and...
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...The Power of Virtual Integration: An Interview with Dell Computer's Michael Dell (Summary) Beginning in 1984 and coming up with a brave new strategic move Dell began distributing personal computers to its customers after managing to bypass the dealer channel. Virtual integration is one of the key factors that helped Dell in succeeding in the business strategically and becoming a 12 billion dollar company in just about a decade. Virtual integration captures detailed information about customers, afterwards it sends that information to suppliers periodically. This makes possible for the company to treat suppliers as inner partners and reach some level of internal coordination that does not need huge investments and an outstanding personnel. Dell segmented its customers so that 90% of its sales went towards institutions which had the largest gross margins and 70% of those customers were reportedly buying PC and Dell's other type of gadgets worth more that 1 million US Dollars a year. This segmentation was actually called "Fast-Cycle Segmentation" that differentiated large customers from the small ones. Moreover, it went through more details by putting those two types in different spots, like large customers - 1. large companies 2. midsize companies 3. government and education. This blocks were differed, too. So the company was able to get the overall picture of its customers and further manage it well by getting closer to the customers and understanding their needs properly. Dell...
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...put corporate supply chains under immense pressure. As a result, supply-chain management and infrastructure plays a significant role in organizational strategy and how a facility chooses to set up their operation. A. Analyze whether a Keiretsu network (Keiretsu: a Japanese term that describes suppliers who become part of a company coalition), a virtual company, a vertical integration, or a different supply chain strategy should be adopted. A virtual company strategy would not work for this type of operation because “vertical integration is counter to the benefits of specialization” (Heizer and Render, 2010). In this model of supply chain, the demands of more specialized products exist and there is more flexibility to waiver from centralized suppliers than Keiretsu or vertical integration offers. Much of This “fluidity” may allow for too much variability within and there is no sustainability as contracts can be short lived. Most of the transactions are done electronically and today’s customers, although many purchase online, still like to touch, feel and smell their products – especially hand tools. In addition, virtual companies employ suppliers who may have to perform all facets of the company’s operation from administrative and HR related to designing products and conducting in house test. While utilizing...
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...Grid computing Grid computing uses middleware to process and coordinate large amounts of data from different resources across a network, allowing them to function as a virtual whole. Anderson 2004 states that ‘These resources are centrally managed by IT professionals, are powered on most of the time, and are connected by full-time, high-bandwidth network links. There is a symmetric relationship between organizations: each one can either provide or use resources.’ The concept was developed to provide users with access to resources they needed at any point in time. Grid computing has helped increase the development of information systems to become more flexible, cost and power efficient, faster performance, scalability and become more available. Grid computing has enabled groups of networked computers to be pooled and provisioned on demand to meet the changing needs of business. Instead of dedicated servers and storage for each application, grid computing enables multiple applications to share computing infrastructure. As seen from the diagram above, the use of grid computing has improved information systems of a company by increasing the flexibility of resources used amongst each department. In every company the workloads are constantly fluctuating during the course of a day, week, or month. The resources are now spread across all the departments, so they are now able to demand for resources in real time and allowing the business to supply accordingly. The concept is also brought...
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