Auto Exchange Adopts Collaborative Tools To Drive Quality StandardsAuto Exchange Adopts Collaborative Tools To Drive Quality Standards

Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp. have joined DaimlerChrysler AG in adopting the use of Powerway.com's Web-based collaborative quality-management tools to drive adoption of the auto industry's Advanced Product Quality Planning standards. Powerway's quality tools will be hosted on Covisint LLC, the automotive supply-chain and procurement exchange sponsored by the Big Three and other automakers.

Kevin English, Covisint's chairman and CEO, says the use of common real-time quality-management tools will help drive adoption of APQP quality-control standards among suppliers, which AMR Research analyst Kevin Prouty says will result in significant improvement in the quality of parts, and ultimately vehicles. Powerway's tools will be integrated into Covisint's quality solutions as Advanced Quality Planner this year.

Prouty says adherence to APQP standards is common among the auto industry's largest suppliers, but uncommon among smaller suppliers. "The adoption of collaborative tools to manage the APQP process is a bellwether for Covisint. The question was if they can't unify the APQP process will they ever be able to do anything else?" says Prouty.

Gary Valade, DaimlerChrysler's executive VP of global procurement and supply, says nearly 70% of his company's largest suppliers have already signed up to use Powerway's quality tools, an adoption rate Valade says will let a much larger number of suppliers begin to adhere to APQP standards in the next few months.

Carlos Mazzorin, group VP for Ford, says Powerway's tools integrate seamlessly with Covisint's existing supplier portal. Bo Andersson, GM's VP of worldwide purchasing, production control, and logistics, says integration of Powerway's quality-control tools will encourage rapid communication of important quality information between automakers and suppliers to ensure on-time, high-quality engineered products.