Powerway Addresses Automotive Industry Challenge
20 April 2000
Powerway Addresses Automotive Industry Challenge; Virtual Workplace Answers Needs of Automotive Supply Chain
INDIANAPOLIS--April 20, 2000--Powerway Inc., a leading provider of business process performance solutions, today announced the first application of "powerway.com" for the automotive industry, a Web-based solution to automate the complex and rapidly evolving Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP) process and Production Part Approval Process (PPAP).The automation of these processes, coupled with real-time collaboration, will transform the industry by dramatically improving existing processes for both suppliers and OEMs through shortened time-to-market, increased focus on core competencies, global synchronization, elimination of non-value added tasks, and risk reduction.
"Powerway.com solves a major issue facing the automotive industry," states Bob Merlotti, director at Automotive Consulting Group (ACG), a leading industry expert on automotive supply chain dynamics. "In North America alone approximately 10,000 automotive related suppliers generate between 2.9 and 4.1 million PPAPs, costing the industry approximately $6.2 billion annually in supply-chain labor costs. A conservative estimate shows a minimum of $3.2 billion in overall savings by implementing an automated Web-based solution to achieve resource reduction, process improvement and efficiency gains."
Powerway.com was designed to simplify and streamline the APQP process. Effectively implemented, these world-class APQP standards enable suppliers to direct resources to satisfy the customer, promote early identification of required changes, reduce warranty charge-backs, and provide a quality product on time at the lowest cost. However, APQP requirements are complex, difficult to manage and costly to implement. Most automotive suppliers do not have automated -- let alone Web-based -- systems and must devote 250 to 500 hours to create and process the paperwork associated with the average new product PPAP.
"Because so much of the cost to comply with APQP and PPAP requirements is absorbed by the supply chain and vehicle time-to-market is so critical to OEMs, powerway.com presents a win-win value proposition with appeal for the entire automotive industry," said Neil DeKoker, managing director of Original Equipment Suppliers Association (OESA).
The first application of powerway.com enables the automotive industry's integrated supply chain and trading partners to create, manage and distribute critical PPAP documentation. This documentation is organized and secured in one easy-to-access location -- an Internet hub -- that makes the required information available at the speed of the Internet.
Recipients of critical documents are able to quickly verify and validate document content, without requiring valuable engineering and quality professionals to visually inspect each document. Ultimately, powerway.com resolves three key business issues that major automotive manufacturers face: improving quality, reducing vehicle time-to-market and reducing warranty costs.
"Because powerway.com is Web-based and uses a common Web browser interface, it allows OEM or supplier organizations to utilize the technology -- throughout the supply chain -- without time-consuming and costly system and process standardization," says Mike Campbell, CEO of Powerway Inc. "The solution resolves costly process inefficiencies, improves quality management, shortens product development cycles and significantly reduces pressures on scarce engineering and IT resources."
Future Development
The next step for powerway.com will be to provide similar B2B performance collaboration solutions for other industries, ranging from aerospace to medical devices. As with its automotive industry solution, each powerway.com solution will include industry-specific or supply-chain specific business process logic encompassing the total product life cycle: product design, process design, and production, testing, engineering change and supplier quality.
Each B2B performance collaboration solution will use a common Web browser interface for immediate, easy access to and from existing trading community portals and hubs. By providing a collaboration workplace that enables manufacturers, suppliers and online exchange communities to achieve flawless execution of critical business processes throughout the value chain, powerway.com will allow a range of industries to accelerate time-to-market and reduce costs.
Over the next several weeks Powerway will be announcing it's early adopter program for OEM's and their select suppliers. In the meantime, more information can be found at www.powerway.com.
About Powerway Inc.
Powerway's expertise in helping companies create, manage and distribute business critical documents throughout their enterprise has made them a leading provider of e-business management systems worldwide. Powerway is applying this expertise to business-to-business e-commerce process automation software that enables companies to collaborate with their supply chain over the Internet. Today the company proudly serves thousands of customers worldwide who depend on Powerway to improve the performance of their operations. To learn more about Powerway's products and services, visit our Web site at: www.powerwayinc.com.