Triumphs & Trip-Ups In 2004 - ' ' (
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$220 Million">
$220 million: Estimated sum Ford lost on installing an electronic purchasing system.
When Ford Motor Co. launched a procurement system dubbed Everest in 2000, the game plan was simple: exchange information on orders, accounts receivable and inventory status with suppliers electronically.
The system, based on Oracle 11i e-commerce software, was announced in 1999-and dismantled in August 2004.
"We evaluated it and decided to transition back to our current legacy systems," says Paul Wood, Ford's manager for global purchasing and information-technology public affairs.
AMR Research's Mixer estimates the auto giant spent about $220 million over four years on Everest, and pulled the plug when it realized more heavy investment was needed. The big issue: Ford's suppliers were already tied to the automaker's systems via electronic data interchange applications and didn't see a benefit in changing to Everest.
Mel Duvall and John McCormick contributed to this report.
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