Ford Reaches Agreement With Covisint to Develop Supplier Portal

    DEARBORN, Mich., Aug. 30 Ford Motor Company has
reached an agreement with Covisint to develop and host the next generation of
the Ford Supplier Network (FSN).  The FSN, launched in 1998, supports more
than 4,200 suppliers, and has approximately 42,000 end users globally.
    "This new implementation of the Ford Supplier Network underscores our
commitment to leverage Ford's relationship with Covisint to create stronger
ties between Ford and our suppliers," said Carlos Mazzorin, Ford group vice
president of Global Purchasing and South America.
    "Ford is the first OEM to make this strategic move toward an industry
solution for supplier/OEM connectivity and we're hopeful other OEMs will
follow our lead," he said.
    This action will allow Ford and its suppliers to effectively leverage
Covisint's global infrastructure.  Some of the key features will include:
    *  Access to Ford specific, and Covisint industry-wide applications from a
unified, customizable portal page.
    *  A secure environment that will provide suppliers more effective access
to internal Ford applications.
    *  The first generation of a consolidated supplier directory that will
allow Covisint to enable suppliers to update their profile once, and
automatically be shared with all OEMs.
    *  Multi-language capability to improve global collaboration between Ford
and its suppliers.
    *  The ability for Ford to consolidate and offer a single global supplier
portal across all brands and regions.

    "Ford's choice of Covisint for this mission-critical initiative
underscores one of our primary reasons for being," said Kevin W. English,
chairman, CEO and president of Covisint.  "We are here to provide connectivity
for the global automotive industry.  This decision will help us make great
progress toward achieving that goal."
    The next generation of FSN is scheduled to be operational by February
2002.

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