AIAG'S Year 2000 Readiness Program Prepares the Auto Industry
21 December 1998
AIAG'S Year 2000 Readiness Program Prepares the Auto Industry For The New Millennium
SOUTHFIELD, Mich., Dec. 21 -- While some industries believe
you can prepare for the Year 2000 overnight -- like a college student cramming
for a final exam -- the automotive industry has been hitting the books since
1997 to prepare for the new millennium.
"The auto industry realized early on that correcting the Year 2000 problem
was essential in ensuring the continuity of the entire supply chain," said
Fred L. Craig, Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG) Year 2000 program
manager. "With AIAG's cooperative, common approach for assessing and
monitoring supply chain Year 2000 readiness, we are confident that the auto
industry will be well prepared for the new millennium."
According to Craig, most companies have made assessments and changes
within their organizations and will spend 1999 testing their systems with
their trading partners.
For the few suppliers that may be lagging behind, the OEM Year 2000 Task
Force -- consisting of representatives from DaimlerChrysler, General Motors
Corp., Ford Motor Co., Volvo Corp. and Toyota Motor Manufacturing North
America, Inc. -- offers suppliers a variety of training and support
mechanisms, including a:
* Year 2000 project management course and web-based learning program --
which provides suppliers with an eight-step methodology and tools for planning
and managing their Year 2000 readiness projects. (For more information or to
enroll, call 800-532-5422 or log onto http://www.y2kprojectmanagement.com.);
* Year 2000 website -- with multiple databases to monitor supply chain
Year 2000 readiness, offer tips and techniques for achieving readiness and
provide plant floor equipment information and lessons learned on preparedness;
and
* Year 2000 Information Center -- to consolidate the Year 2000 Self
Assessment Questionnaires (SAQ), to develop and manage the Year 2000 website
and to provide a knowledgeable help desk to support suppliers taking advantage
of the AIAG Year 2000 readiness program.
The mission of AIAG's OEM Year 2000 Task Force has been to create an
awareness of the inherent computer problems associated with the Year 2000 and
to develop a standard approach for assessing and monitoring the automotive
supply chain readiness for the new millennium. This common approach has
helped to speed implementation and reduce overall costs.
The task force distributed the Year 2000 SAQ to more than 120,000 supplier
sites worldwide since 1997. The SAQ helped to guide suppliers on where to
look for potential problems and has assisted automakers in tracking and
understanding the readiness of their own supply chains.
Founded in 1982, the AIAG is a not-for-profit trade association of over
1,500 automotive and truck manufacturers and their suppliers. Originally
recognized for its efforts to standardize electronic data interchange and bar
code standards to assist tier one suppliers, the AIAG's mission has expanded
to cover all levels of the automotive supply chain as well as to include
numerous programs and initiatives aimed at improving its members' productivity
and quality.
More information about the AIAG and its Year 2000 initiative can be found
at its website at http://www.aiag.org.