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UT Automotive Offers PERC$ to Suppliers

14 January 1998

UT Automotive Offers PERC$ to Suppliers

    DEARBORN, Mich., Jan. 14 -- UT Automotive has unveiled plans
to reduce supply chain costs through a new program being launched this month
that will reward suppliers for their money-saving ideas.
    According to UT Automotive President Scott Greer, the program, called
PERC$ (Partners in Excellence Resulting in Cost $avings), functions much the
same way as the automotive companies' programs that work to reduce costs with
its Tier One suppliers.
    "This new PERC$ program is going to help us manage our supply chain and
reduce costs between ourselves and our suppliers," Greer said.
    Tony Brown, UT Automotive's new vice president of Purchasing & Logistics,
said the PERC$ program also will help the company better organize its supply
chain, as well as identify those suppliers UT Automotive will want to work
with in the future.
    UT Automotive and its parent company, United Technologies Corp.
(UTC), plan to dramatically reduce the number of suppliers as part
of the company's efforts to lower purchase costs by $750 million during the
next four years.
    "The PERC$ program is integral to our current initiative to transform our
supply management process from highly decentralized, fragmented and tactical
to collaborative, integrated and strategic," Brown said.
    Elements of the newly launched PERC$ program include:

    *  Key strategic suppliers will be required to participate in joint
process improvement initiatives with UT Automotive's lean practices team.
    *  Participating suppliers will be required to submit implementable costs
savings proposals to UT Automotive.
    *  Suppliers will receive "PERC$ Points" for implementable savings and
will share in those savings.
    *  Suppliers will be given higher sourcing priority based on their
performance in the PERC$ program in conjunction with their operational
performance on quality, delivery and innovation, which will result in
maintaining or growing their business with UT Automotive.
    *  PERC$ is Web-based and will allow for automated tracing of proposals,
cost savings and PERC$ Points.

    UT Automotive is a $3 billion tier-one supplier of electrical, electronic
and interior trim systems and components to car and light truck manufacturers.
Based in Dearborn, Mich., the company has 40,000 employees and 90
manufacturing, engineering, sales and marketing facilities in 18 countries in
North America, Europe, Asia and South America.
    UT Automotive is a subsidiary of Hartford, Conn.-based United Technologies
Corp., which provides a broad range of high-technology products and services
to the aerospace, building systems and automotive industries.

SOURCE  UT Automotive