Industry News
Ford data-mining techniques to provide early warning of supplier failure could come to Europe
26th Febuary 2007
To help control supplier risk in North America, where several suppliers are actually insolvent or not far off it following the Big Three OEMs’ production cutbacks, Ford is reported by the Detroit News to be employing an external supplier expert named Kimberly Rodriguez, who uses data-mining techniques pioneered by the Central Intelligence Agency to identify suppliers heading for trouble.
Using a proprietary data mining system, Rodriguez and her team track about 1,600 North American suppliers, and are extending their coverage to Europe and Latin America. The software tracks quality and late shipment events, but also looks for suppliers which regularly ship consignments via priority freight and those asking for fast payment.
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